In the modern Senegalese cityof Dakar, the blind Saar and other begging poor impinge on the success of the tourist industry. But, ironically, they fulfill a necessary function for devout Muslims offering alms to the poor in exchange for personal wealth. The agitated Minister of Public Health and Sanitation imposes a novel way of eliminating the problem. His assistant Keba is given the job of organizing extreme military action against the poor and homeless, and shipping them out to a village in the country. This violence, mirrored by news reports of African immigrants being beaten in Paris, generates opposition, particularly from the socially aware, militant daughter of the minister and from Saar, who attempts to politicize and organize action among the ghetto poor, with surprising results.