Oh where is my paintbrush?

I find that one does not think outside the box in Sudan because one does not have a box to begin with.

I found myself once again stumped. We had several paint brushes but all of them were at least 4 inches wide. The mouth of the paint can was half of that. Mushkelah Kabiir. (Big Problem) Where was I going to get a 2 inch paint brush in the middle of Sudan?

I remembered back to my days as an adolescent where my father used to use his boys as cheap labor during the summers. He was wise enough to pay us in one lump sum so it looked like a whole lot of cash but now that I think back, he was making a killing off of us. Every four years we returned from Kenya to find our house in need of painting. He would round us up as soon as school was out and set us to work in the blazing heat of summer. There was one paint brush we boys always fought over: The Pig Bristle Brush. Coveted for its ability to hold 1/4 gallon of paint at a dipping, draw a straight line, and clean out like new after each day, it is no wonder the brush mysteriously disappeared. Rumor has it that Christie Rupp took it. I never knew if it was actually made of Pig hair, but this got my mind working several years later as I stood over the box, puzzling about where I could find a paint brush.

Pigs we did not have, Bethany would kill me if I shaved Evan's head, so what was I supposed to do? And then it hit me...we do have donkeys! A quick haircut for the donkey, a little bamboo for a handle, some string and a zip-tie (thank you Ottos), and we are back in business. It is no Purdy, but this paint brush got the job done.