Remember when you were a kid and your parents told you to “think about the poor starving children in Biafra/Somalia/Darfur!” when you didn’t want to finish the food on your plate? That one always worked on me. Then, there was the one about keeping your room clean to show respect for those who had nowhere to live (that didn’t work as well on me).
Do you ever think the same way about the people in the world who have no shoes? Most of us probably have more shoes than we like to admit to (I’m definitely guilty of that one).
One Day Without Shoes encourages us to think about the challenges suffered by those who cannot afford shoes. Their reality is far less pleasant than this. Photo by Xavier Encinas, Creative Commons.
Today, TOMS shoes wants the people of the world to walk barefoot in solidarity with children and adults in the developing world who cannot afford to buy shoes. These people frequently suffer cuts and sores on their feet that can lead to serious infection. In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil; it is 100% preventable with basic foot hygiene and shoe-wearing. In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to find clean water, seek medical help and get to school (which often they cannot attend without proper shoes).
A Nepalese porter’s foot. Photo by Peter Byrne (ca 1958), Creative Commons.
The One Day Without Shoes initiative encourages us to imagine a life without shoes; constantly aware of the ground in front of you, suffering regular cuts and scrapes, tending to infection after each walk, and enduring not only terrain, but heat and cold.
The problem is large, but the solution is simple. Wearing shoes and practicing basic hygiene can prevent both infection and disease due to unsafe roads and contaminated soil. By imagining a life barefoot, we can all contribute to the awareness of these conditions.
Go barefoot to the store (just stay out of the sticky soda aisle). Photo by colorblindPICASO, Creative Commons.
Kick your shoes off at work, just make sure to tell the boss why… Photo by slworking2, Creative Commons.
Join the communities, campuses, organizations, and individuals who are banding together today, to walk barefoot for One Day Without Shoes. Find a barefoot event near you, or kick your shoes off at work, bare your soles in the store (and prepare to give the security people a lecture in humanity when they try to kick you out for not wearing shoes), go to the park, the street or the beach and just let your toes be free. For most of us who have no issues with access to shoes, it will feel quite liberating.
Let your toes be free today! Photo by frigginacky, Creative Commons.
Part of the emerging BOGO (Buy One Give One) movement, TOMS donates one pair of shoes for every pair you buy to a child in need.
Top photo by dhammza, Creative Commons.
