Fuggy-Jaaye

Another thing worth mentioning in this blog is something that in Wolof is called the fuggy-jaaye. (But before I go further on that topic, I would like to quickly note that the shoe of preference for Senegalese villagers when they play soccer is nothing other than jelly shoes! Yes, the celebrated shoes from my childhood are enormously popular here amongst the male athletes!) There are also many knock-off Dolce & Gabanna items for sale in this country, from sunglasses to t-shirts to bags… but apart from traditional Senegalese clothing, the majority of people here wear clothes that have been donated from America and Europe… and the medium in which they are sold is called the fuggy-jaaye (which literally translates to SHAKE and SELL…because you need to shake the dust off the items that are found in the piles of used clothing). Most of the time the clothing that I see on the streets is cute… I often see kids wearing old Boy Scout button-down shirts and the teenage girls often wear what looks like old prom dresses (they LOVE those dresses!) But sometimes the clothing that I see on the streets down-right embarrasses me. Once I saw a little girl of about 6 years old wearing a t-shirt (she was so tiny it fit her like a dress) and in big letters the shirt said “I’M A VIRGIN” and written in small letters underneath that was “This is an old t-shirt”. I’ve seen old, wrinkly grandmothers wearing highly obscene t-shirts as well… and the thing that bothers me is that these people have NO IDEA what they are wearing. In a way it’s funny (comparable I guess to someone getting Chinese characters tattooed on their back to only find out later that it means something completely different from what they were told), but in another regard I find the whole thing to be completely disgusting and even sad. The clothing is sold at the fuggy-jaaye for about $2 an item… I’m not really sure who the money goes to once it’s sold… it is blatant that the clothes being sold are gently used donations… but the fuggy-jaaye seems to be a fairly steady source of profits. I’m sure that a percentage is used for transportation, but I am interested to know where the rest of the money goes.