Pink Boots

Today I handed out a doll and some children rubber boots one of my Canadian work colleagues family donated. I dragged these little pink boots with me all the way from Canada.  When I was home in Edmonton I was not sure if I should bring them with me or not, my bags were so heavy but boy am I glad I did. Once I got them here who to give them to? I think I made the right choice, they went to the right little girl today.

Here is the story of where those boots went.

I had just arrived at the dump it was 315pm and very very hot. I was carrying 2 bags of food that I intended to donate way on the other side of the dump. I was marching through trying to get to my destination as quickly as I could (rice is so heavy!), when I spotted a young girl in a mid dump small shaded structure. I usually do not make any photos until I hand out the food donations but this girl froze me in my tracks, I had to stop. I made some Rollie portraits close and far and then remembered the boots I carried. Originally I planned to donate these small boots to another family but this weak looking little girl child seemed to need them so much more (she was barefoot). She reminded me of my coworkers young daughter back in Canada. They had the same eyes. The lives of these two young girls from two different countries, cultures and economic situations will go in two very different directions. The luck of the draw, where your born and into what circumstances.  

Later I also gave her a small Barbie doll. Most children here react with a big smile and are very happy when they get their toy but this poor little girl did nothing, she barely held on to her new blond haired toy. I worry for her, her mother was nearby and full of smiles but this young girl did not seem to respond well, she only looked at me with a sad sickly face.

Update* I was thinking today about how a little girl in Canada helped a little girl here in the Mae Sot dump. She took her Canadian doll and boots and gave them to a girl who had so much less and lives on the other side of the world. There is something hopeful and very beautiful in that.  The world is bound to continue to become a better place, generation by generation.



Young girl with her donated Barbie in the dump today

Mother with her daughter