The goats are wearing clothes
The Most Needed Gift
The winters we faced in Pakistan were very cold.
The traditional clothing they wore, called shalwar kameez, was made from a single layer of fabric, making it incredibly thin.
Even in the dead of winter, children would run around in these fluttering clothes.
Some children didn't even wear underwear, so their bare skin was visible.
In winter, they should wear a sweater or jumper over it, but children from slightly better-off families had at least one extra layer to wear, while most children in the village had to endure the whole winter shivering in thin clothes.
In the nearby town, there were thrift stores, but they didn't always have clothes in stock, and being imported from abroad, these clothes were quite expensive, almost like luxury items.
For the villagers who survived on chapati meals, buying such clothes was unthinkable.
One day, the thrift items we had requested from a Korean church long ago finally arrived.
The boxes were filled with a wide variety of items, including school supplies, children's clothes, and adult clothes.
The beautiful spirit of helping, loving, and sharing among the Korean people was truly remarkable.
Fortunately, winter hadn't passed yet, so we were overjoyed to distribute several boxes of clothes to the villagers and church members.
Both the givers and receivers were happy.
A few days later,
I noticed that while the students of the tree school brought their bags and school supplies, they were still wearing thin clothes. I asked the children why they weren't wearing the warm clothes sent from Korea. They said they weren't cold, so it was fine. It was hard to believe their words, as they shivered in short-sleeved t-shirts and torn shorts, claiming not to be cold.
So, I went around the village, visiting the students' homes one by one.
To my surprise!
The goats were wearing the clothes.
A goat in a red striped sweater,
A goat in a white t-shirt that had turned yellow.
“Why are the clothes meant for the children being worn by the goats?”
“Ah... Goats are very important to us. They provide our winter food supply.
Our children have been living like this every year and are still healthy.
But if a goat gets sick, our family's livelihood is immediately at risk.
So, we dressed the goats in these clothes instead of the children.”
Understanding the importance of goats, I felt their situation, but it broke my heart.
I distributed the remaining clothes generously and strongly urged them to dress the children, warning that I wouldn't give out more clothes if they didn't.
In such poverty, it's hard for families to pay attention to small children when everyone's survival depends on day-to-day living.
Although the hot summer is challenging, winter is indeed a tough time for children and animals in such poor countries. The used clothes sent from Korea every winter were truly good clothes and were the best gift for many people without clothes to keep them warm through the winter.
