marabout

“‘Mommy, I have bad news for you,’” one of the girls at the shelter, Elizabeth, 13 🧒🏻, from Honduras, recalled telling her mother on the phone. “‘Don’t cry, but Mexican immigration caught me.’”.

For children migrants, the journey north is not an easy one, and the ones who brave it have to grow up fast. There is a big flow of migrants, and it will not stop until people’s lives in these countries improve,” said José Alfredo Villa, the director of the Nohemí Álvarez Quillay shelter for unaccompanied minors in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico.

And if Elizabeth had made it across the river into Texas, her life would be different now. Even if apprehended by United States officers, she would have been released to her mother (who works in the US) and given a court date to present her asylum case. These situations worry parents who work and rise minors 👨‍👧‍👦. They must be careful not to give their suns to suspicious marabouts. They try to be intelligent knowing how to play their cards 🃏.

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Not all marabouts are dangerous. They use to be individuals who teach religious themes. We are talking about Quran here (at homeschools called daara’s). Kids should feel thankful for those marabouts that provide food, ceiling and teachings. Many of them do decent jobs, but some preasure kids to contribute to house’s income. Wikipedia call them child beggars, and there are around 50,000-10,000 in Senegal (a 16 million populated country).

They carry rice and sugar in small containers without a lid. Could they earn enough by selling?

I saw a room where they use to sleep. Lacking of beds and mattress, seemed austere to my western customs. The kids asked him if he had a pair of shoes to give away and he gave some food, so as to not give money (wich will end at marabouts hands).

It should be hot to be laboring under the African Sun. I remember this sun-phenomena we witnessed years ago… “Look at the sun” people start yelling while pointing there. The sun appeared “jumping” from one spot to the other, as in a diffuse vision. I painted a character inspired by this experience (“The Sundance”, as it is called in Bosnia Herzegovina). These experiences –and some thinking– resulted in my conversion to Catholicism:

“Look at the sun” Digital Painting available as a Non-Fungible Token

Even when the sun bumps, sometimes fantasies are preferred than realities (like in this unicorn fantasy). This may be the optional escenario, to either live a different dream, or to not live at all. I hope situations like this change in the future: writing about it is just a first step.

Links:
Friendly video about Marabots (in Spanish).