dresses.

as you drive through the streets of kampala, you see many small shops along the side of the road, selling phone time, sofas, bicycles, food, pretty much anything you can think of.  there are also many shops with dresses and other clothing displayed on mannequins outside the shop.  the first time i saw these mannequins, i noticed that something was different about them.  the second time, i realized what it was.  the mannequins have REAL HIPS!!!!  they are not stick thin like the mannequins you see in the malls in the U.S., wearing size zero clothing and making women feel bad about themselves.  no, these mannequins have real curves.  they all do!  it's been so refreshing that i look for the mannequins whenever i go out.  yes, there are still many ways in which women in uganda do not have the same opportunities as men, are not valued as men are, live in a patriarchal society.  but at least they don't feel the pressure to starve themselves to squeeze into a size zero.  they celebrate having bodies with shape. 

it reminds me of a pretty amazing community meeting at j-house one day.  we had been watching kirstie allie on a daytime talk show, and she was talking about her recent dieting and exercising fad to try to loose more weight.  she was self-deprecating and so negative about her body.  in reaction to this, the staff and residents at j-house made a video for kirstie (i'm not sure if it ever made it to her or not!).  we told her that she was beautiful just the way she is, that having weight on you, having curves, means that you're alive, that men and women at j-house struggle to keep on weight as their diseases progress and death comes nearer; having weight means you are alive!  i'll never forget this moment. 

i hope that women around the world can see themselves as beautiful, their bodies as beautiful as they are, that they can strive for health rather than become unhealthy with an impossible obsession.  i'm grateful to all the real women in my life with real curves who have taught me how to love myself.  ladies, we are beautiful as we are!  let's get ourselves some ugandan mannequins with curves and get rid of this toothpick-thin image of beauty.  let's celebrate our bodies!