About four decades ago when i was but a very young girl in the hinterlands of the northern part of the country, i went to school in bright red sandals with two-inch thick soles. I loved that pair. It was a gift from my mother when she came back from the city.
I used to prance around the house in them. It was almost as if i didn't like to take them off.
Every school day i would kiss my mother goodbye and walk to school which was some distance. But just before i would catch up with my schoolmates, i would take them off and hide them in the bushes.
You see, most, if not all my classmates were unshod. I didn't want them to see me as different. And i wanted to belong.
