One of my little dancers the other day came to me all excited because she'd just got a pair of Tom's.
She said, "I know you love Africa too Miss Candice. Do you have a pair of these?"
No, I don't.
And the honest truth is that I would never buy a pair of Tom's.
I have a huge heart for Africa
(mostly thanks to my sis, who's been over there twice now and got me all fired up!)
and have big hopes of making my first trip to Uganda, in the near future.
I'm on the board of directors of an NGO called Renew Humanity
and we work at finding Canadian donors
to sponsor deserving children to attend high school in Uganda.
It's pretty awesome stuff
and I highly recommend you check us out when you have a free moment.
But getting back to the Tom's thing,
my work with RH has really started to open my eyes to aid/relief work
and the many many projects that are out there that you can support by giving your time and money to.
We all want to do something good,
to feel like we're helping.
And while we have the best of intentions, the repercussions of what we've done are not always immediately visible.
This article does a really great job of explaining what I'm trying to say.
The only other point I would add to it
is what happens to those little feet after they've grown out of the free shoes?
When the calluses have softened and now they're back to walking in the dirt?
The chances of getting cut and then getting an infection are much greater
and those free shoes may sadly cause an even bigger problem
than if that child had never had them to begin with.
Lace and the staff of the Kakunya School for Children with Special Educational Needs
in Masaka Uganda in 2009
You can read about this very special school here
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