Shoes

So one of the next disheartening things that has happened to me is a story of shoes. I finished early one day at school and I headed toward the center of Keyo to find a boda. To do so, we have to walk through the campus of the primary school. As I passed one of the little girls, she stopped me and asked me if she could have my shoes! I just looked at her with a distraught look and said, “I don’t think so.” It was so hard to refuse such a precious face. Couple thoughts on this experience. Damn those people who are handing out free things in developing nations. It is not sustainable! I mean, thank you for having a charitable heart, but give them something that lasts. I often think if the fish parable. “Give a man a fish, and feed him for a day, teach a man how to fish and feed him a lifetime.” The one thing that I have learned and witnessed here in Uganda is the importance of sustainability in development work. I look at a lot of things now through that lens. Don’t get me wrong, I am thankful for the many great NGO’s that are here doing great things, but when we hand out freebies, we create people who are dependent and not independent.