Shoes for Sharon

Thursday, July 15



Hospitals. Ugh. Depressing in any country. A quick free association leads to the following:



- Fear

- Boredom

- Bills

- Pills

- Funky Smells

- Hope

- Help

- Needles



Our day included all of these. Sharon's grandma had knees the size of large grapefruits. We think Mercy has malaria. Again.




Her baby brother Daniel might have sickle cell anemia. Blood draws. Tests. Doctors. X-Rays. More doctors. A few pills, some bills and a come-back-tomorrow for results and scripts.



Thankfully, Sharon wasn't sick but she did need shoes for school.


Off we went. We stopped first at a Bata showroom. Big glass windows. sparkling white (well, relatively) floors and walls. Pairs of shoes neatly lining the shelves. Sharon was walking in front of me but stopped just shy of entering the building. Just stopped. Like she wouldn't be allowed to enter. Broke my heart. Again.


I gently nudged her inside, making every effort to communicate that SHE was the reason we were there. She smiled. A little. Nothing fit so we left. I asked our interpreter to tell her that we left because they didn't have her size not for any other reason. We went to their warehouse off a dusty side street in a dingy space. Never mind that. There they were. Fabulous shoes. A perfect fit. Strong and sturdy (necessary, as they will likely be her only pair beyond flip flops). Stylish, even. She's pretty reserved but man, was she proud. :)



A little girl from back home emptied her piggy bank so Sharon could have something nice. I'm as proud of her as Sharon is of those shoes.



I loved today. Yesterday we saw bunches of kids and got to offer a little help to lots of families. We spent today with just two: Mercy and Sharon's. We really spent time together. We got to address the details, right down to the shoes.