Blessing, the little girl with the black shirt and dirt-pink skirt, wasn’t going to try on her dress or come anywhere near it while the muzungu was around. Sometimes it’s disappointing when the children don’t warm up to me, particularly when I want to talk to them to learn more about them for their dress sponsor. This girl, though, didn’t even want to see the dress. Her mother was so pleased anyhow. She adored the pink and white seersucker dress and kept it well hidden for a future fitting.
Interestingly, however, Blessing was quite happy to receive a giant orange sucker although it was delivered via her big sister. She sucked and slurped on that sucker until the sugar ran down her arms. Perhaps I should have led with the candy and produced the dress after. Of course, this approach would have likely resulted in a sticky new dress.