I have a great little story to tell you about one of my shopping adventures in Senegal.

My last trip to Senegal was quite a busy one as construction at Son of Africa took much longer than originally planned.  My days there turned into weeks, that turned into months, and in what seem like no time at all, it was time for me to return to Canada.
For the past couple years, I had been visiting an market in Dakar and dealing with one of the artists there that supplied me with hand-crafted leather boxes.  They are beautiful and locally made and some of my favorite items to bring home as gifts.
It just happened that my time had run out and I had not been to the market to buy yet and now it was the day before I was to leave.   It shouldn’t have been much of a task, but that morning, we had problems with the car.  Since Son of Africa is located about 40 minutes out of the city, it meant that we would have to hire a “small car” to take us to the next town, then find another car that would take us into the city.  We walked down to the route and waited for a car that had room for two..and waited…and waited, and finally convinced a car that held 6 people, to take 7.  That’s really comfortable in 35 degree weather, but we squished in and were happy to be on our way.  At the next town, we waited again until, finally, we found a driver to take us to Dakar an into the market.   Happy to see our artisan friend, I began picking out boxes…..many of them, until I had all the boxes I thought I could fit into my luggage.  After I had paid for the boxes the man told us his story, which still brings tears to my eyes as I am writing this post.
It turned out on that very day, his wife had just given birth to his son.  He didn’t have money to pay for his hospital bill and had called many of his friends and family to ask if they had any money, if they would come and buy from his shop.  He told me all the boxes I had purchased had given him enough money to pay for the hospital and more.  He was so grateful and thanked me over and over again.
Funny how sometimes you think everything is going wrong, and then it turns out that everything is exactly as it is supposed to be!  The leather boxes have a special meaning this trip and if you are lucky enough to visit Scuttlebutts in Chemainus, BC, you will find these boxes, complete with a hand-crafted shell ornament for Christmas.

I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas!  Be thankful for everything you have and remember those less fortunate this season.