More than just begging

As I said before the North appears to have a lot more poverty than the South of Cameroon. At many point along our journey there and back there were many children running along side the train or bus. These children were poor, very poor, their clothes were thread bare with holes everywhere. These children were as you would expect begging, on the roadside or by the train. They would see the train coming in to the station or along the track near their home and run as fast as they could to keep up with the train as long as possible. However these children were not begging for money, they were begging for our old plastic bottles. 'Bouteille bouteille bouteille bouteille' you hear them shout from the window. These children want the means to make their own money. They will collect bottles, fill them with water from the public tap and sell the water - it costs them nothing and they get 100 francs for each bottle they sell. I think it is great these children are trying to help themselves in what small way they can.