shoes

Just a few days remain before my shoes which are embedded with Canadian mud and American grass will mix with Ugandan dust. Although my running shoes have been in my possession less than one year, they are accompanied with memories, stories, experiences, pain, victory, and uncertainty. My shoes have supported my body running through suburban neighbourhoods, sprinting along gravel pathways, pedaling faster on my bicycle, tracking a football for a touchdown, jumping to block a spike, and various other endeavours. Through endurance, flexibility, movement, and willingness, my shoes have offered me comfort, protection, stability, and growth.

These same shoes will travel with me to Uganda. Additional memories, stories, experiences, pain, victory, and uncertainty will follow. With hope and and humility, I will learn to mold a new pair of shoes according to my life in Uganda. Yet unlike my current running shoes, these shoes will be uniquely Ugandan. They will not possess the Western assumptions, power, wealth, and values. While the wearer of these shoes will offer a Canadian perspective based on personal experiences and limited knowledge, the shoes will ultimately mold to the Ugandan landscape, the Ugandan pathways, the Ugandan mountains, and the Ugandan valleys. Through personal endurance, flexibility, movement, and willingness, these Ugandan shoes will offer me comfort, protection, stability, and growth.