couple stories

Since we last spoke we have given away nearly 6,000 pairs of shoes.

Imagine that, just for a moment. 25 of us giving 6,000 shoes away. It can be both pure madness and sheer bliss.

We drove 5 hours into the most rural areas of southeastern S. Africa. The land here is breathtaking. It's as lush and green as any land I've ever seen. And the people are wasting away. They have nothing. They walk hours for water everyday and have very little education to advance their lives.

But there are these few saints who are here helping. There is 1 therapist in a 4 hour perimeter. There are educators and orphanage mothers and doctors who are out here doing an impossible mission with endless energy and heart. They stared me in the eyes and offered at once more faith in me and more challenge for my goals than anyone I've ever met. They are true heroes. Everyday, sweating, bleeding, crying heroes.

There are a couple moments worth remembering.

We were driving on this winding road up a mountain and when we stopped these boys came up to our window and begged for water. Of course we gave them our water and frantically began looking for shoes to give them. As it turned out, we had exactly two pairs of Toms in the car. We gave them to these boys through the window and asked them to try them on. Perfect fit. Their eyes went huge and they hugged eachother laughing. I couldn't help but cry and laugh at once as we drove away from their waves.

We went to a school for the handicapped and discovered it was the first school of its kind in the entire region. There are over 1,000 handicapped kids on record for this area and estimates suggest there are many many more thousands who are unaccounted for. 22 of them get to go to school. That is where we went. At some point there was a miscommunication and we only ended up with 2 sizes of shoes at the school. We were trying to make it work and I went to this one boy in a wheelchair who had, quite simply, the most horrific feet I've ever seen. It was obvious no person had touched his feet to clean them in many months. I had a moment of panic when I saw them and a compulsive need to cover them with shoes. The size 10 was so tight I couldn't get it on but that was all we had. When I looked up at the boy I realized that, though he couldn't speak, he wanted those shoes far worse than I wanted to give them. The internal panic was overwhelming as I stretched and pulled on the seems of this stupid shoe in order to make it fit. By the time it finally got on the feet my heart was beating out of my chest and I was covered in sweat. But I looked up and his eyes were as joyful as any I've ever seen.
I'll never forget that moment as long as I live.

There are many more stories to share and I'll keep them coming as long as you'll allow me into your inboxes.

I do love you all and miss you.

love wins.sean.