My Father's Experience In A Close Encounter By Udozinmaiweala

During his visit to South Africa on a work assignment, my father had an encounter with street beggars, though it was not similar to what Iweala experienced in Nigeria.A Close Encounter by UdozinmaIweala is a story of a young man from an affluent family in a country full of many less fortunate people and how his perception about helping strangers in the streets was challenged by the sincerity of the motive of a little boy who sold fruits and roasted nuts. Unlike Iweala who had been to Abuja many times before and knew the about the huge economic disparities in Nigeria, my fatherhad never been to Johannesburg before this particular visit. Therefore she was really unfamiliar with the culture and the ways of the people.
While the character in Iweala’s story was a little boy who was doing business when he was supposed to be in school, my father’s experience was with a man who seemed to be in his late 30s but was begging for help. It was his third day reporting to the office where he did his work, and his attention was caught by a crippled beggar whom he noticed he had seen at the same spot for the first two days.He recognized that the man put on the same old faded red t-shirt for the three days he had passed …show more content…
After my father gave the man a similar amount as before, they walked away and his friend skeptically warned him about falling for frauds in South Africa.Iweala had also been warned by his mother’s security guards about his helping behavior. However, in his case they warned about people forming a habit about Iweala’s kind attitude and beginning to expect form him all the time. The man told my father that most beggars in Johannesburg are distributed in the streets by individuals who drop them by car at dawn and pick them late at night. The beggars hand over their day’s income to the boss who treats them to a meal in joints in the lower ends of the town and sometimes, a drinking