Toms

Just in case you were wondering if Tom’s really does send one pair of shoes for every pair you buy, it’s true. I saw the storage room in Yako piled to the ceiling with boxes and boxes of black Toms – around 18,000 in all – just like the ones you buy in the store.  

On distribution day, I was in charge of the educational session. Half of the children in the orphanage got fitted while the other half stayed with me for a lesson on the importance of wearing shoes, using a latrine, and washing your hands and feet.  

I began by asking, “Who is excited to get a new pair of shoes today?” and every hand in the classroom shot up in a split second. Some children almost fell out of their chairs they were so excited.  

“And why are you getting shoes? Who can tell me? Is it so you can run really fast?” A few children smiled. “Is it so you will look really good in a new pair of shoes?” More children smiled. “Maybe that is part of it,” I said, “But did you know that your shoes are important for your health?” 

The dirt here is dirty, dirty dirt, and when the children run around barefoot, parasites and infection can enter the body through tiny cuts in their feet, which can even cause serious illness. Toms shoes are not just a cute fashion. They are protecting lives.  

We probably gave away close to 200 pairs of shoes that day. And oh, it was worth it just to see the delight on those children’s faces.  

All these shoes remind me of my new little friend, Fanie. The other day, we walked to the store to get a soda. We sat down to rest and sip them slowly, and I felt her playing with my feet under the table. I looked down to see that she had taken her flip-flops off and were trying to slip her feet into mine. I happily traded and walked back to the orphanage in her shoes, which were so small that my heels hung off the back.  

They say if you want to really understand a person, you should walk a mile in their shoes, right? There is no way for me to fathom what it is like to walk even a step in these kids’ shoes. I didn’t have to watch one or both my parents die before I turned ten years old. I don’t have to fight for my own education. I don’t have to ride my bike 18 kilometers to get to school. I don’t live in a place where I have to forfeit studying because I have to work in their fields until dark and then I don’t have electricity to give light to study by. At this time of year right now, the kids at the orphanage are finishing school, which means that they now have to return to their villages to help their families in the fields. I don’t know what it is like to fear going home because of the neglect and abuse that awaits me there. I can’t understand what it is like to live in a place where I won’t get to eat as much if the rains don’t come to make the crops grow.  

I looked down at Fanie’s tough shoes on my wimpy feet, and I realized that she gave me big shoes to fill. I saw her as a hero.  

Some nights before I go to bed, I look at my feet and sigh. A lot has happened to those poor feet in the last four weeks. “I might actually break down and get a pedicure when I get back,” I said to myself as I examine the big cracks in my heels, the blisters off my toes, and the dark dirt rolls that flake off each night when I rub my feet. Are my feet tan…or is that just dirt? I think they may be permanently stained African orange.  

But after passing out Toms’ shoes and trading shoes with Fanie, I look at my own feet and think about hers. Although I really cannot walk a mile in her shoes or fathom what she has been through in her life, I am thankful that I am here to walk beside her through part of it all. I am thankful for the cracks and blisters and stains and flakes on my own feet because they remind me of why I am here.   

The next time you put a pair of Toms on your feet, think about the child who has a pair because of you. Think about Fanie. And please pray for them. Pray for their little feet and for your own to be cracked and caked with the dust that accumulates from following Jesus. How beautiful are the feet of those that bring good news.