The refugee women wait upstairs for their appointment. Their “shopping” appointment that is.
Once their name is called, they shuffle into the room where the rules of clothes distribution are discussed. They get 5 items for themselves and 5 items for each child they have.
The “store” consists of racks to the right full of clothes for women and racks to the left full of clothes for children, ranging from infant to teenager.
Once they pick out their items, the items are counted to make sure they are only taking what they are allotted. Then their free clothing is tossed into a bag and their shopping trip is complete.
Does it sound like how we shop in America? Didn’t think so.
These women are refugees from various countries, including Syria, Afghanistan, and Zambia. They have fled to Athens, Greece for various reasons and are trying to recreate their lives amidst survival and destruction.
While working clothes distribution at Good Samaritan Refugee Center, I had a perspective change.
Not only is the amount of items they take restricted, but they don’t have the privilege of shopping in regards to style or even SIZE.
Good Samaritan does an excellent job distributing clothes in a fair and dignified manner, but I couldn’t help compare the refugee’s shopping experience to mine…to ours…to America’s.
It was difficult seeing women take home shirts for them that were not going to fit, no matter how much they tried to stretch it, or a pair of shoes that were dirty and at least two sizes too big.
BUT I also got to see the pure joy that my friend, Rachel, had when we found her a shirt that would fit her well. She was so excited, that it was HER idea to take a photo so she could remember the moment. The moment that is pretty much always taken for granted by so many of us.
Not only do we shop online and get emails informing us of new clothing items, we can search countless stores and even check for more sizes in the back.
And I’ve never really thought twice about it. Until now.
*I got an email from Anthropologie while writing this blog.
I’m not trying to change the ways us, Americans, shop or shove conviction down people’s throats, but I’m trying to figure out the balance for us. What can we do to make refugee’s lives better and have our lives filled with a little better perspective and a lot more thankfulness?
Let me know if you’ve figured it out because I haven’t yet.
