Ian Allen/ Staff Photographer
Climax 'works' in New Kingston and has moved from singing to baking to begging.Robert S. Beers, Gleaner Writer
Beggars may not be able to be choosers but an increasing number of Jamaicans have chosen to be beggars.
The begging business can be more lucrative than one might imagine.
Beggars, not offering any services for the handouts, tell The Sunday Gleaner that they can make up to $1,000 a day.
When street-side fruit vendors and intersection newspaper sellers were asked what is their average daily profit, they said between $300-$600.
The minimum wage is $1,800 a week, or $360 a day.
Of course, beggar record keeping can be suspect and all those questioned said there is no such thing as a typical day as amounts vary widely over the course of a week.
"It's seasons too, holiday time you can get $1,000 from one man," said 'Climax' as he stood in his usual spot at the fence of the John R. Wong supermarket in New Kingston.
Climax might be called a designer beggar. He is donned in green nylon track pants, a matching wind breaker, shiny yellow running shoes with a clean black and white headband decorated with Japanese characters. His worldly goods are tucked in a backpack.
Early in the morning he walks up Knutsford Boulevard listening to CDs on a Discman. As he approaches the grocery store's fence and prepares for another day of panhandling he tucks the small CD player and headphones in his back pack. A beggar never wants to look too flush.
Climax was asked why he has chosen this way to make a living. "I used to work over there," pointing to the Spanish Court offices and stores complex. He said he used to work at a bakery.
This tall man, who refused to reveal his age but might be around 50, was once in the music business, he claims. Then, things went awry. The specifics are kept vague, no matter how many times he is asked to explain how he went from singer to baker to beggar.
What does emerge in this country of well defined communities, where street identity is often tied to territory and turf, is the significance of location to the begging business.
"This is my home," said Climax. "I live here, sleep around here."
Intersection begging is also about familiarity.
Omar is one of many with a hand out or armed with a squeegee at the Oxford and Old Hope roads crossroads. "I know the cars that give here," said Omar, who claims he makes somewhere between $300 and $800 a day working both rush hours. "Rain's bad, windows up."
Children report smaller daily takes. "At least $200," said one barefoot boy near Sovereign Mall.
Meanwhile at the nearby Orchid Village shopping centre, off Barbican Road, a man approaches, speaking humbly and respectfully, smiling, at first. "You remember me," then not waiting for a negative response, "my child is sick and I got a prescription at the pharmacy over there. I got some of the money but I need the rest."
The 'rest,' he explained, was at least $500.
"Begging is about professional story telling," said Dr. Pat Anderson, head the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work at the University of the West Indies, Mona.
"There is an effort to convey that you could be in this situation, too," said Dr. Anderson.
On Old Hope Road there is a man who uses his alleged asthmatic condition to get money. He asks for money for an inhaler. But, when he was offered an inhaler instead of the money the beggar became angry. People who frequently pass by say the man has about a half dozen attacks a day.
Another frequent story is to say your car has a flat, according to Dr. Anderson, or that you need cab or bus fare, due to an emergency.
"Drugs are the saddest element to the begging today. You can watch the spiral downward over two years or so, very sad," said Dr. Anderson. Law enforcement studies say drugs are the reason why many of the young beggars are on the street, either to pay for their habit or their parents'.
The police do pick up children for begging, charging them with loitering or public nuisance. But Dr. Anderson says they cannot be placed in a youth facility until a court hearing. Holding areas for minors are usually full, the alternative of placing them in cells with adults is unacceptable, so they are released and without money, they are back begging.
Poverty contributes - with one in five Jamaicans below the poverty line - as does high unemployment, to the amount of beggars on the streets. Experts in social work have long pointed out that there is a cycle to the homeless who make up a large percentage of those angling for a handout.
Once you are on the street, it is about daily survival, it is also dirty and dangerous. Getting one's life together enough to apply for a job suddenly becomes a seemingly monumental effort.
In general, sad as many cases are, it is the recommendation of many who study the phenomenon to give to organisations helping the poor rather than to individuals.
One argument is that giving to one is a "drop in the ocean."
Psychologist Leachim Semaj warns that beggars should not be encouraged, as the next step, he says, from begging is stealing.
And there are those begging on our streets who are neither homeless or even unemployed. One beggar who refused to be identified said, "I work but I add with this." When asked if he ever thought anything might be wrong with asking for the money of others, the man panhandling at a shopping centre on Constant Spring Road, got angry. "I do what I feel like doing," he yelled, walking away.
Dr. Semaj says begging is part of the cultural norm of this country. Some say it has roots from slavery. Others say it is carried on in a Jamaica that is a nation heavily in debt, relying on loans and aid from other countries to survive. In essence, some ask, where is the leadership when Ministers of Government scour the globe "begging" for millions of dollars to cover fiscal mismanagement and financial scandals?
"The General" is a physically disabled beggar who mans the door at a pharmacy near Half-Way Tree. He is a thoughtful man who smiled wryly when asked about the morality of panhandling. "Don't tell me begging is wrong, our Government does it every day," he said.
