Just for Fun - 'People wear the darndest things' - 11 Nov. 2010

From my first day in Kigali something struck me as odd, that I really didn’t expect (but probably should have). People here sometimes wear the darndest things. Mostly, I’m taking tee shirts.

I get it – individuals (and manufacturers) give to charity unwanted clothing. Some of this clothing inevitably makes its way to Africa. And, some of this clothing makes its way to Rwanda. It can, however, get a bit surreal.

First, I find a category of clothes that makes me think of friends and family back home. The young teenager wearing a red tee reading “Badger Grandpa” and a guy I regularly pass on my way to work with a 2007 NY Giants NFC Football Champion shirt (sorry Packers fans). I even saw a man outside the Supreme Court with a polo shirt with a BP logo, and the words Lima Refinery Plant (a mere 30 km from where we live in Ohio – and not a major city).

Then there’s the more interesting category. The category of “why the hell would you donate that garbage instead of burning it or turning it into household rags." Example 1: walking through a dirt road in a more impoverished area of Kigali, I saw a young boy with a tee shirt donning a confederate flag, and some ‘redneck’ message. He had no clue – no one did. Sadly, it took me so long to gather my wits that I didn’t even think to take a picture. Example 2: Another great one, and something that I saw my first day in Kigali. Picture this: a tall, and extremely thin man at a bus stop. He was wearing a black tee shirt with white letters reading “Man Boobs Are Sexy.” No, seriously, he was.

But, I get it. Clothes are clothes, especially in the developing world. But, this in no way explains the epic ‘short tie’ that is prevalent here amongst professionals!!