One Day Without Shoes

Okay...so what's the weather like where you are?  Is it gonna be hot, cold, rainy, snowy, muddy where you live tomorrow?  Imagine the conversation at the office or school or the grocery when you join me and thousands of others and show up barefoot tomorrow.  Wait.  Why are we going barefoot tomorrow??????? 
MILLIONS of people in the world go barefoot every day and in an effort to raise awareness of that fact, April 5th is the day we go ONE DAY WITHOUT SHOES.  Just one.

Did you know...

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.

When we were in Uganda, we met people whose feet were literally oozing from sores and infection due to the fact they walked barefoot day in and day out.  There are bugs called jiggers that burrow into the skin and cause infection.  Many of the kids we saw in uganda were walking around with feet that looked like this:

Walking in the wrong places without shoes can cause serious health problems which can lead to paralysis.  Can you imagine having to live your life paralyzed simply because you didn't have shoes to wear?? Here in the U.S. we are likely hard pressed to ever think about the fact that people all over the world suffer because they lack one thing that our closets are bursting with - shoes.  All it takes is one pair to do the job. 

Tom's Shoes is a great organization that gives one pair of shoes to someone in need when you purchase one pair.  That's great math.  Get a pair.  Give a pair.  Check them out for an easy way to help put a dent in this crisis. 

Talk to your family and friends about this and consider going without shoes tomorrow.  What a great way to help people learn that there are millions going barefoot every day who have no other choice.  Sometimes, we don't know how good we have it.  So, as you walk on the smooth pavement, on the carpet in your house or on the grass tomorrow barefoot, be thankful.  There are millons of folks walking on hot roads with sharp rocks, glass and metal who don't have the luxury of knowing a day WITH shoes is coming.  But with your help it can. 

Get one.  Give one.  There's no time like the present.  www.toms.com