Camel Jockeys, A Rough Ride Through Childhood

Craig F. Walker

The Denver Post

When they are not working, the little Sudanese boys run in the sand outside the gates of the Kuwait Camel Racing Club, playing at their work. Each has a thin white leash around his wrist, dragging the attached riding switch through the sand. They make toys from trash which is strewn among the sand. Some pick-up plastic bags, hold them open and release them in the wind - kites without strings. Or turn cardboard boxes into trucks. A young jockey plays with a tire he found in the garbage. Even while at play the boy is a jockey and he pretends the tire is his camel.

Craig F. Walker, "Camel Jockeys, A Rough Ride Through Childhood," in POYi Archive, Item #33622, http://archive.poy.org/items/show/33622 (accessed November 23, 2024).