Students forego their shoes for a day to raise awareness
Many children in developing countries grow up without ever owning a pair of shoes, suffering illness as a result.
TOMS Shoes is a company hoping to help these children. According to www.toms.com, in 2006 a traveler named Blake Mycoskie befriended children in Argentina and noticed they had no shoes to protect their feet. Desiring to help, he created TOMS Shoes, a company that would match every pair of shoes purchased with a new pair of shoes given to an underprivileged child. One for one.
Junior Molly Noonan learned of this predicament from her roommate who helped promote awareness for the cause.
Noonan decided she had to make others on campus aware of the company and what they were attempting to do for children without shoes. She introduced the international organization to UIndy, which participated in the One Day Without Shoes event April 8.
“When people hear of this news normally they have a reaction but they don’t do anything about it, and I wanted to do something about this,” Noonan said.
In order to participate students did not wear shoes for a day. By doing so, they got a brief glimpse into the life of living without shoes. Noonan, along with an estimated 30 UIndy students, participated, a huge increase from last year when only 10 students participated.
Junior Melanie Orr participated both years. Despite her efforts, she explained some people were unfriendly.
“People were very unreceptive to the movement,” Orr said. “At one point a complete stranger looked at my feet in Schwitzer and said ‘That’s just nasty.”’
Noonan also said she experienced negativity from some people on campus, but that was to be expected. She just hopes those who did participate received something valuable out of it.
At the end of the day, Orr exclaimed that her feet hurt. At one point she was carried across the street. However, she wouldn’t change any of it.
“I’m saving for a second pair of Tom’s. I’ll participate again, definitely,” Orr said. “It’s important to continue supporting the cause because it’s an ongoing problem. If the problem hasn’t gone away why should we?”
DID YOU KNOW
• In some developing nations, children must walk for miles to school, clean water and to seek medical help.
• Often, children cannot attend school barefoot.
• In Ethiopia, approximately one million people are suffering from Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil.
• Podoconiosis is 100 percent preventable with basic foot hygiene and protection.
Information provided by www.TOMS.com
