Just some bags

My story is about giving the widows of Chikumbuso a few plastic bags.

It was after the second activity of the day and Elizabeth came into the back room where a few of us students were hanging out. She asked us to go and “browse” in the bag shop that Chikumbuso owns. So we go and “browse.” After 5 minutes of “browsing” Elizabeth walks into the store hands held high, holding 2 of the largest ziplock bags full of plastic bags. All of the widows sitting on the bench next to the front desk instantly released cries of joy. As Elizabeth walked over to them, their excitment visibly grew with each of the 5 steps that Elizabeth took. The widows then started going through the bags and then one of them stood because she was either speaking in English or she was filled with too much joy to express, her words failed her. But she managed to thank us for the bags and she tried to express what they meant to her.

The widows moved over to their work mats to sort the bags and as they sorted the bags they began to sing out of pure joy. As these women were singing so beautifully it made me realized just how happy they were to receive these simple plastic bags. These bags would help them feed their families, help them improve their community, and help fund Chikumbuso. These bags could do a million times more good here in Zambia, for these widows, than back home in the US being recycled in front of Giant.

-Grace