Day 19 ❦ A simple gift can carry with it many complex layers of appreciation.

Day 19

The Gift: A necklace

When I returned from Africa, I brought back with me many gifts. While I was in Ghana, Togo and Benin I stopped at roadside vendors, went to market, stopped women carrying things on their head, asked for clothing to be made and purchased as many native pieces of jewelry, clothing and wood carvings I could carry. I bought these gifts with no one in particular in mind, knowing that when the time to give arose, I would know to whom I would give each gift. I spent two days shopping at Street Girls Aid in Ghana, a refuge for girls who live, work and sleep on the streets of Accra with their babies. The goal of Street Girls Aid is to teach these girls a new trade such as sewing, batiking, hair design or jewelry making as well as provide their children with medical care and child care while their mothers learn a new skill. While we were visiting, we got to watch the girls tie-dye, batik, sew, make jewelry and put fancy shells on some of the skirts they were making for us.

I was visiting Street Girls Aid to look at the viability of  developing some sustainability projects between multiple funding partners, one of which is my Rotary District. While we were there, we met several other Rotarians (Kay and Bob) who were also looking at combining forces with Rotary and Street Girls Aid to develop an export market for their wares and expand the shelter. Kay brought back with her twelve boxes of beautiful fabrics, table cloths, napkins, dresses, skirts and wine bottle covers. I limited myself to one suitcase full of jewelry, fabrics, clothing, and tablecloths from Street Girls Aid.

Today I had the opportunity to give a necklace from Street Girls Aid. Shortly after I arrived home from Africa in May, I gave away tons and tons of gifts. I seem to still have hundreds of necklaces and bracelets left and realized that I am not giving them away as freely as I had anticipated. So as I walked by the large basket that contains many of the necklaces - I picked one up and gave it to my daughter Alison. My kids tend to not get gifted as much as many of my friends and co-workers, so I decided that it would be nice and spontaneous to just give her one. It felt nice and since she knows the story of Street Girls Aid, she carries their energy with her and can appreciate her life and the gift that was made for by the street girls.

❦ A simple gift can carry with it many complex layers of appreciation.