TOMS A Day without shoes

Do you notice anything strange about this picture?  

Look closely......

If you looked closely, you could see mud splattered all the way to the very top of the building.  No, this is not the result of a jolly neighborhood mudfight. These are remnants of Tropical Storm Agatha that pounded Guatemala last May.   The entire country was affected and many are still recovering. 

This is a tortilleria that I pass on my walk to school everyday. 

Below is, or what was, part of the neighborhood that feeds into our school, San Miguel Escobar. Here, many houses were washed completely away by the mudslides. About a dozen students and their families lost everything--house, clothes, shoes, etc. Classes were canceled for about a month and the school was used to bathe and cook food and the church in front of the school was used as a shelter.  To better comprehend the tragedy that struck this community watch this video

 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8anFGw65JPQ&NR=1
    

Last October, I arrived just as the school year was ending.  I did have the chance to visit the school a few times, meet the teachers, be introduced to the students, observe a few lessons, etc.  As I sat and took everything in, a pair of feet under a desk in the front row caught my attention.  Are those...??   They looked like TOMS... I looked down at my feet. TOMS.  Hmmmm.... Curious.  I began to look at all of the feet and several students were wearing plain black, Argentine style shoes.  And the little blue and white striped flag on the back that reads TOMS confirmed it.  Wow.  I wonder if there was a drop here?  Actually one of the first interactions that I had was with that front row student.  "Look! We have the same shoes!"  I couldn't tell if he thougth I was crazy or if it was really cool. :)

I found out that there was a drop (seeing many running around in their TOMS at recess pretty much confirmed that)....

aaaaaannnd I just realized that not everyone might know what I'm talking about.  Here is some information taken from the website http://www.toms.com/ , which I encourage you to visit for more information, or to buy a pair of shoes anytime you have a gift-giving occassion!

In 2006, American traveler Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and found they had no shoes to protect their feet. Wanting to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a pair of new shoes given to a child in need. One for One. Blake returned to Argentina with a group of family, friends and staff later that year with 10,000 pairs of shoes made possible by TOMS customers.


Why Shoes?
Many children in developing countries grow up barefoot. Whether at play, doing chores or going to school, these children are at risk:
--A leading cause of disease in developing countries is soil-transmitted diseases, which can penetrate the skin through bare feet. Wearing shoes can help prevent these diseases, and the long-term physical and cognitive harm they cause.
--Wearing shoes also prevents feet from getting cuts and sores. Not only are these injuries painful, they also are dangerous when wounds become infected.
--Many times children can't attend school barefoot because shoes are a required part of their uniform. If they don't have shoes, they don't go to school. If they don't receive an education, they don't have the opportunity to realize their potential


The Toms that we buy in the US and the ones given to children in need around the world are a little different.  They don't have all of the cool designs, in fact, they are black so that they can be worn as part of a school uniform.  They also have a thicker sole in order to stand up to weather conditions and wear and tear.  As you can see, my TOMS got in a fight with the cobblestone streets and the cobblestone streets won. 



Tomorrow, April 5th TOMS is encouraging everyone to join in on One Day Without Shoes, and it's just what it sounds like--everywhere you go tomorrow, barefoot.   The thought is that people will be curious, this will start a conversation, which will lead to action (one way, buy a pair of TOMS!) and this will lead to change. Big change.  One pair--well... two pairs--of shoes at a time.

 

Peace