I'm not sure if people know this or not, but I'm pretty bad at getting rid of clothes. I don't buy new clothes so often, but even when I do, I struggle to give away old ones, because "what if they come back in style? then it's a waste to give them away." Or I just become attached and have too many memories with an article of clothing, or any other number of reasons. Basically, I'm just not good with change.
This morning we did laundry to wash the clothes we wanted to give to the women, as well as do our final wash of our own clothes that we'll need for the next week. When I started packing up the clothes to bring with me to Namatala, I decided to take some of the ones I'd been planning to keep.
After giving the women some snacks (including some treats like ice cream) and photos which they really appreciated and loved, we set all of our clothes on the table to let them pick. I have never been so happy to give clothes away. I'm so glad I decided to add to the pile. Seeing the smiles on the women's faces, even if the clothes don't fit them, most of them are tailors, and will find use for the fabrics. I have more clothes at home, and these women will find more use for them than I will.
Marjani then added her shoes to the pile, as did Kaliya and Jessica. Toward the end, I realized that the only other time I'll want my shoes is when I come back here, and by then I'm sure I can get another pair. I gave them to Peace, who I don't think would be able to afford the sturdy sandals I had. When I walked out of the school room, all of the kids commented on how I was barefoot, and you know what? I was proud. I gave my shoes to a good friend who needs them more than I do. I have 3 other pairs of shoes with me here, and who knows how many at home. If Ugandans can walk around barefoot every day, I think I can make it one afternoon.
Susan, Mary, Lofisa, Peace, Sarah, and Hadijjah sifting through our clothes
Hats off (or shoes off) to you on the giving. Just heard a story this week by a chalutz-pioneer of the third aliyah: in his group building roads in the Galilee, only about a quarter of them had shoes. He described how one of the leaders came back from a trip to Egypt with a gift of used shoes from the Italian army in WWI, and how he has treasured that gift and its memory his whole life long! Peace will probably treasure yours that way, too...
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