beggars

In Kampala there are a lot of street beggars. You see ones that are crazy, ones with no clothes (literally) young boys who live on the streets and beg, able bodied young and old who beg to make a living, small children who's parents or guardians put them on the street to beg for them, disabled people of all ages and disabilities and so on. You see them so much here that you get hardened to it all.
There is a group of people who come to Kampala to beg from the north east. Their tactics are to bring young girls 5-10 and have them put babies under 6 months on their backs and beg. These girls are all dirty, clothes tattered,if they have any and the babies look very sad and lethargic on their backs. These never cease to tug at my heart when I see them. I have tried different tactics to help them with out giving them money as I don't think they ever get any of it as an adult takes whatever money they get.
Yesterday, we were in town and we passed a woman who was begging. She had the usual tattered clothes, but not too bad. She looked relatively clean and seemed as though she hadn't missed any meals. In her arms was the smallest baby I think I have ever seen. This child had to be about 9 months old and probably weighed 3 pounds. Words cannot describe the sight. I found the picture above that I think would best describe what I saw.