Round the World with Us

Looking for Work in the Village

Yesterday Meagan and I talked to the home manager to see if there was anything we could do to help in that department. Bernard, the Home Care manager, told us that if we gave him a day he would have work for us to do. Today we went to his office, excited at the prospect of doing work that didn’t involve harvesting in the fields or mulching trees. Although both of those experiences were worthwhile, I wanted to have some work to do that I could really get into and also enjoy.

After speaking with him for a few minutes, we headed for one of the village’s storage containers. He told us that there we would be able to sort donated clothing with one of the sisters who is also visiting the village. The container was a large, long, railroad-car type space, and against either wall were bags and boxes full of clothes, books, and other supplies that have been donated.

From Your Town to Their Village

I didn’t expect to be so surprised upon seeing all of the donations. I asked Sister Odette where most of them came from, and she said that many of them were from America. I imagined the big metal donation boxes that we find in parking lots in America, and for the first time it actually hit me that the clothing put in there actually goes somewhere. It seems like such a simple concept, but it didn’t really understand until I was in a metal container at a village full of orphans in Africa.

One Man’s Trash…

Boxes of toothbrushes were stacked in one corner of the container, and next to them was a palette’s worth of sanitary pads marked “DO NOT SELL. Sanitary pads for charity use only.” I saw I pile of cloth bags, castoffs from a retail store. They advertised that “students get 10% off year round.” Did the store know that these bags would end up being used in a village in Kenya? A plastic bag held at least 50 pens, each printed with the phrase “Give Blood: Join Ireland’s Largest Club” What are considered castoffs and extras to the blood banks and stores and families who donated these items are looked upon as blessings and gifts from God by the people in the village.

As Meagan and I sorted piles of shirts into size categories, I imagined each of the families who had put these clothes into those into a large metal container in a parking lot, or given them to their school or church or place of work during a clothing drive. I wanted to be able to show them where their hand-me-downs have ended up, because I know that I never really imagined them going anywhere besides Goodwill or a Salvation Army store.

REALLY, One Man’s Trash!

Our second job, after sorting a bag of clothing, was to separate a large box school and art supplies into smaller categories. Sister Odette left us to our work and went to get something to eat, telling us that she would be back soon.

After sorting all of the pens, pencils, and colored pencils, Meagan and I filled a bag with the garbage that was leftover- mostly plastic wrappers and cardboard. When Sister Odette returned she picked up our garbage bag and, looking inside, pulled out a beaten up-looking bar of soap. “But this is soap!” she said, placing it aside on one of the clothing piles. Meagan and I had decided that the soap was kind of dirty looking and not worth saving, but as soon as sister set it aside I realized that that was a silly thing to think. I am used to living in such a way that I can get rid of things if they are worn or beaten up or not completely desirable; even though I try not to waste to many things, I still do. To me that bar of soap was garbage, but to the people here it is valuable- a way to wash themselves and their clothing for a long time.

Sister Odette next pulled out a single, tiny sock from the bag and said, “And this is a sock!” She put it into one of the large bags full of donated socks. I had seen that sock, but only in her hand could I imagine it going onto the tiny foot of one of the babies here. Why had we put it into the garbage bag? My initial reason was that it wasn’t part of a pair, but I had seen that the sock bags were full of single socks and that having matching pairs isn’t important here. Again, I realized that I am so used to not needing things that I throw good things away without really thinking about what I am doing.

Finally, she drew out a package of garnier facial wipes. I had put them into the garbage bag because one side of the package had been ripped open, causing all of the wipes to dry out. Sister Odette explained that even thought they were dried out, some of the children who didn’t have handkerchiefs could use them. This just carried the point home. Here, everything that has some use is valuable. Empty detergent bags are cleaned, then used to carry food to each of the clusters of houses in the village. A few scraps of paper and a long nail become a pinwheel.

Every Small Thing you Give or do Really Helps Someone

My morning’s worth of work sorting donations affected me in a way I had never imagined would happen. My task left me with so much love and gratitude in my heart; the power of the generosity of others has never been so clear to me. I just want to say that to anyone who has ever donated an old Easter dress or a bag of baby clothes or thrown what you thought was some worn out clothing into a donation bin- thank you. Those bins do get emptied, and the clothes really do go somewhere. They go to places you wouldn’t imagine. Your small contributions add up, and it is partly thanks to you that 700 children in Kenya have clothes to wear.

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