Shoes and socks

I have mentioned before that the school approach to discipline can be unreasonable.  In no case more so than last week, when the headmistress decided to clampdown on shoddy school uniform.  Uniform is often ragged and very big for them, presumably to make it last a long time.  Many students come to school with bare feet or flip flops.  Without any notice, the school suddenly decided to send students home if they did not have socks and black shoes.  This included the children from the children’s home.  Suddenly I found a lot of children hanging around the children’s home unable to attend school.  To make up for this I started to give them lessons during my spare time.

On day two of this hard-line policy, four Americans, two of whom are members of Fulaa, the charity that funds Cornerstone Children’s Home, arrived. As mentioned in a previous post, they came complete with lots of clothes for the orphans.  Unfortunately this did not include socks and shoes.  However, they had brought a lump sum of money from Fulaa for any other necessities.  As soon as they saw the situation, they headed for the local market and found a shoe stall-holder who was willing to make a trip to Uganda to buy a large quantity of shoes.

Here are some photos of the delighted children with their new footwear.