The success of the shoe campaign!

Last week we distributed the new school shoes that were so generously bought in the run up to Christmas last year.  As you can imagine, organising the sizing of approximately 400 pairs of feet, ordering the correct sizes, and communicating with those carers whose children were getting new shoes was so small operation!

Giving out the shoes last week was very humbling.  Children came with their carers, they tried on the shoes to ensure they fit, and the carers signed for the shoes saying they had received them.  I sat with my spreadsheets, welcoming family after family that was receiving this gift for their children.  Many children came with shoes that were too small, soles that were coming off the rest of the shoes, others didn’t have school shoes at all.  One girl had so outgrown her shoes that she had folded down the backs of the shoes and just wore them with her heel hanging significantly over the end.  As the shoes had a bit of a heel this must have been so uncomfortable to wear.  There aren’t many even roads in that community – I can’t imagine her walk to school in those shoes.   It made my heart glad to give children like this girl something comfortable to wear on her feet.  400 children are now walking to school in comfortable shoes, running around at playtimes with sturdy shoes that support their feet and ankles, and have a sense of pride in their new shoes.

In addition to the shoes, we gave out school socks to all of the children from grade 1-7.  The children were very excited to all be receiving the new socks.  It was lovely to see their smiles as they received this gift.  Thank you so much to those in Canada who were part of the donut fundraiser and helped raise money for all of these school socks.

Last week Emily’s mum and Auntie Lynnie were visiting as well.  As they are excellent seamstresses we thought we’d put them to work mending uniforms for those children who needed buttons sewn on, pockets secured, as well as some more involved mending.  We brought a whole load of extra clothes that the children put on as they tackled these projects. They spent hours helping tidy up many uniforms that just needed a bit of TLC.  Thank you Lesley and Lynnie for all of your help!

Thank you again to everyone who gave so generously!  Words can’t express our gratitude to those who helped us give these incredible gifts to these children.