Jaap van Ark – SCIENTIA POTENTIA EST

Travelling is the only thing you buy that makes you richer, is what they say. And yes it’s true, travelling teaches you more than the best university can do.

One of the most important things I learn every day in the streets of Marrakech is how rich I am in a material way. I’m not really interested in material wealth. Why not? Because I’m a good man? No, because I don’t have to worry about it. I don’t even have to think about how to get my food and find a place to sleep. Here I see beggars on every corner of the street: mothers with children, blind people, old people and many more. Sometimes I stop to give some money, but I don’t know where to start and I don’t know where to end, there are too many. Most of the times I walk on, I try to ignore the begging eyes. And it breaks my heart, over and over again. I can’t give every beggar money, but the least I can do is create awareness. That’s what the people do here during Ramadan, they fast to feel what the poor people feel and give extra to charity. Can you imagine what it’s like to drink no water for 16 hours with temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius? I can’t, but I really respect it. I’m not religious and I don’t like the obligatory part, but I think it’s a great thing to show solidarity with the poor. Definitely something we can learn from, in the West.