From the outside looking in

Several years before we arrived at GSF, someone donated hundreds of meters of lion king material to the orphanage to do whatever they wanted to do with it and that they did. They made curtains hung by string, they used it for diaper material, towels, wrap around skirts and almost anything else you can imagine. After being here only a few weeks, I was tired of the material. By the time we had been here for over a year and much of the lion king material was hanging by threads on the windows or gone, I decided it was time for new curtains. While we were going to be gone on furlough, I enlisted the help of the guesthouse helper to sew curtains for the houses. When we returned we set work to hang proper curtain rods so we could hang the new curtains.

I noticed the other day that the last of the curtains had been hung in the houses but my American mind stopped in disbelief. Those mothers hung the curtains "backwards" (facing outward not toward the inside of the house)! "I can't believe they hung the . . ." I stopped my thought, wait a minute, who says the curtain has to be hung where you can see the beauty of it from the inside. Why not hang so everyone on the outside looking in can enjoy the beauty? I had to remind myself that these women live most of their lives outside. With Uganda being a tropical country, Ugandans do not need big houses. They cook and visit outside. The bathrooms are even outside. So from the outside looking in, the visitors will be able to enjoy the beauty of curtains even if they do not go inside.

Who says you have to have your curtains facing the inside?