Shopping for Clothes in the Open Market

When we took clothes to the boys at the Caring Place, we soon discovered that we had underestimated the size of four of the boys and didn't have jeans that fit them. On Saturday morning we all loaded up in a taxi and picked up Serah and the four boys that didn't get a pair of jeans and went to the market to buy what they needed. Abdu had advised us to buy at the open market since jeans there come from the U.S. and even though they were second hand they were still better quality than the jeans you could buy in the actual stores in Jinja. He said they were cheaply made and would fall apart after the first wash.

The boys were so excited to get to go shopping and met us at the gate of their compound with big smiles, hugs and tons of enthusiasm. Serah had requested that we stop at the shoe store first, because these boys also needed shoes to go with their school uniform. She was grateful for the taxi ride and wanted to take advantage of the opportunity to have a way to bring things home without carrying them while walking. She was getting ready to check out and we decided we would bless her by buying the shoes for her even though she was fully prepared to buy them herself. When we approached her to offer to pay, she said "Why?" She said we had already done so much and couldn't understand why we would do more. To us it was such a small thing. We just told her that we wanted to bless her. She was so appreciative. Then we made our way to the jean section of the market. It was such a joy to watch how excited the boys were to get to pick out their own pair of jeans. When they each had found the pair they wanted, they wouldn't take them off. They were so proud and you couldn't wipe the smiles off of their faces. Then we waited while they each picked out their own book bags (backpacks). Serah then decided she would buy a few tomatoes since she didn't have to buy the shoes and again we decided to help her with that. When we told her we were going to buy them for her, she was overwhelmed to say the least. By the time we left, she had picked up a pineapple, mango, garlic and some beans. Some much needed food that they would have otherwise not had.

When we took them back to their compound and let them out, we got out of the taxi to tell them goodbye and the water works began to fall. Serah was so grateful that she wrapped her arms around us and held on. She kept telling us she loved us and didn't seem to want to let go. She hid her face with the plastic bag she was carrying, because she didn't want us to see her crying. One of the boys named Pas-cal was so upset that he had to tell us goodbye. He had a frown on his face and kept turning his face away from us. He ignored us when we told him bye. We were so sad to have to leave. Meeting the boys and Serah at the Caring Place was one of the highlights of our trip.