Day 470: Bags

By claire a. williams

In a life of few material possessions, most of the Tumaini girls want bags.
Not the "paper bags" (which are plastic trash bags) that they carry to
school, but real, live, Claire and Lara-like bags of cloth that hold things.
It is a strong desire. They comment on our bags, ask for our bags, and tell
us to give us their bags when we leave. They really like bags - and not in
the Kate Spade matures to Coach kind of way my friends have over the years.

What remains to be understood, however, about the Tumaini girls' bag fetish
is what precisely they would put in the bags if they were to have them. Of
late, we have gotten some answers.

One day, the week Stephanie left for the states after her year in Kenya, she
and Joki, a tiny tiny girl, wanted to look in Stephanie's messenger bag.
Stephanie allowed her to, and Joki carefully examined each pen, shilling,
and piece of paper inside.

Then, because Joki always carries a small backpack, Stephanie asked to look
in hers. Joki's bag, Stephanie swears, contained the following items.

- a leaf
- a bug (dead)
- a stick

It is unclear if any child was every cuter than Joki, being proud about the
items she carried around with her every day.

On Sunday the situation repeated itself when a recently departed volunteer,
Emma, found Stella carrying a new purse.

"Why are you carrying a new purse?" Emma asked Stella.

"To carry my things," Stella responded. (duh Emma)

"Oh, what are you carrying?"

"A rope."

"For what?" Emma asked, envisioning some school project or upcoming task
Stella had to attend to.

"For skipping," Stella responded. (duh Emma)

Given that I scour ebay for months searching for the right, non-knock off
designer purse at the right price, I can understand the allure of bags.

Sent using the Microsoft Entourage 2004 for Mac Test Drive.