TOMorrow’s Shoes

I am a huge fan of TOMS shoes.  My mom bought me my first pair years ago, when they were much less well known.  Since then my collection has grown and I have been an admirer of their business model and the work that they do.  I had always thought that it would be wonderful to be able to go on one of their shoe drops and help them distribute the shoes to kids that really needed a pair.  I never thought that would be something that I would have the chance to do while I was here.  I also never thought that it would be so difficult.

There is an organization here in Haiti called Food for The Poor that has partnered with TOMS to help distribute shoes throughout the country.  Gros Morne received a shipment of 11,000 pairs of Haiti-made TOMS (because they now have a factory here) that were to be distributed to a handful of schools in town as well as the schools other RJM sisters work at in Jean Rebel.  I was away for Christmas when the trucks with the boxes got delivered and the initial distribution started to happen (shows you how far behind I really am), so I really only witnessed the tail end of everything.

Beth - getting all artsy!

I was under the impression that when schools received TOMS, every student would receive a pair that fit them perfectly, or at least close enough.  This is not the case.  Before the shipment came in, information about each school enrollment was collected.  I believe that the first few schools that came to pick up shoes received enough for every student to receive a pair, but there was no guarantee that they would actually fit.  The schools that came last only received maybe a hundred pairs of assorted sizes and were left to figure out which kids/classes would get shoes.

Food for the Poor wanted us to pick two schools that were going to be “highlighted.”  In other words, they were going to come and actually distribute some of the shoes, take pictures and do some interviews for their website.  Fon Ibo was one of the schools that was chosen because we could help facilitate everything.  So, Beth and I, (but especially Beth), spent tons of time at school measuring every child’s foot from a chart given to us by Food for the Poor and recording the data.  Beth and Frankie then made sure that the school received exactly the number of each size that we needed.

One of the first problems that we faced was the fact that the shipment did not include every size.  Kids who were measured to have a size 35 (European sizes) were getting 37s because we had tons of 37s, but no 35s.  Although this wasn’t ideal, the sizes weren’t too off, so we figured that some of the kids would just have to squeeze and others would have to grow a little bit, but it was something that we could work with.

Although some kids were mad

because they got shoes that didn't fit and

some didn't even take a pair, 

some of the kids were happy and 

thankful for their new shoes.

(Beth took this)

We had gone through all the shoes, divided them into classes, wrote down what each child was getting (with the corrected size) and waited for Food for the Poor to arrive.  When they finally did, we gave them the boxes, the charts and watched as they started to give out the shoes.  But we noticed that many of the shoes were too big.  They distributed two classes worth of shoes and left us with the rest.  So Beth and I got to work.  As we gave out shoes in the first few classes, we noticed that every pair of shoes was way too big for every student.  We were so confused.  If a couple of the pairs had been a little off, it would have been understandable because of the mix-ups with the sizes that they sent and potential errors on our part, but every kid?  Finally, I suggested checking on the sizing chart that we used.  It turns out that the chart that we used to measure every kids foot did not correspond with the sizing of the TOMS – it was about 3 sizes off.  This meant that in addition to having to adjust some of the pairs to fit with what we got from Food for the Poor and TOMS, they were adjusted even more because of the mess up on the chart.

I had been really looking forward to giving out shoes.  Many kids here either do not have shoes or have shoes that are falling apart or are way too small.  You can buy decent shoes, (used ones from Goodwill), in the market but they are incredibly expensive.  Most people have rubber sandals or some kind of plastic shoe.  We’ve had tons of kids ask us for shoes or tell us that they can’t go to school because they don’t have school shoes.  While giving out TOMS at Fon Ibo didn’t necessarily help the kids that couldn’t go to school because they didn’t have shoes, I knew that many of the kids at the school could use a new pair.

But giving out the shoes was an absolute nightmare!  We had to explain to every kid that things got messed up and that the shoes were too big, but that we didn’t have anything else.  Kids got mad at us because the shoes weren’t good and couldn’t understand why we couldn’t give them a different pair.  It was frustrating to deal with the kids but even more frustrating because in my mind, it seemed like TOMS was failing.  Although some of the kids got pairs that fit and others were able to share with family members or are holding on to them for when their feet grow, we’ve seen tons of TOMS in the market.  It was sad to see how something that sounds so good on paper can be so dysfunctional in real life and it really got me thinking about what happens on their other shoe drops.  How much good are they actually doing if kids don’t even get a pair of shoes that fits?  I appreciated that the shoes themselves were made in Haiti, but there is always a concern about just bringing things, whether they be shoes or food or anything else, into a country instead of doing everything “in-country.”  In other countries where TOMS gives, they are not providing people with jobs, they are not boosting local economies or really doing anything that will, in the long-term, resolve poverty.  This idea has become more and more evident since I’ve been here, but seeing it with an organization that I loved and admired was sad.  It’s sent by brain abuzzing as to what are the best methods and solutions in countries like Haiti that need so much.

Distribution.

(Beth's photo)