Barefoot for a day
Ever spent a day without shoes? Children in Africa do that every day, and a group of Maltese youngsters is spending the day barefooted today to raise awareness of the plight of many for whom shoes are a luxury.
Around half a dozen teenagers stood, without shoes, outside Tigne Point in Sliema, where they carried posters with slogans such as "I'm not wearing shoes because they can't" and "surrender your shoes". They also stopped people, who as a gesture of solidarity took their shoes off for a while.
One Day Without Shoes is an event in which people are invited to spend the day or even a few moments without shoes to realise what a difference they make. The official website of the international activity, onedaywithoutshoes.com, says that in Ethiopia, one million people suffer from a condition called "Podoconiosis, a debilitating and disfiguring disease caused by walking barefoot in volcanic soil".
The disease is preventable with basic foot hygiene - and wearing shoes.
16-year-old sixth form student Jamie Iain Genovese is the person responsible for the local version of the event.
He came across the idea when he discovered the company which organises the activity. Called Toms, the company gives children in Africa a pair of shoes for every pair bought. "I discovered that for some reason, these shoes are not available for purchase in Malta, so I thought this would be a good idea to raise awareness on this kind of poverty. And who knows, perhaps they can start selling their shoes to Malta," the young man said. "We're not raising any money, all we're trying to do is raise awareness" he told timesofmalta.com.
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11 Comments
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Paul Caruana
Apr 9th 2010, 10:07
One may want to remember that, 60 years or so ago, it was quite normal for many maltese people to go about their daily activities barefoot!
How times change.....
Philip Paris
Apr 9th 2010, 03:26
Great work . Lets take it a step further and collect used shoes from people and sent it to Africa.
Jamie Iain Genovese
Apr 9th 2010, 00:49
Erm not sure if I'm overstepping any boundaries but I might as well come out with it.
The idea was to raise awareness, I mean, when you think about problems in Africa, you don't instantly think shoes, am I right? In fact most people don't think about the shoes, period. Even though the health problems caused by no shoes are dire, especially so considering the simplicity of the solution. It is possibly the single simplest solution to any one problem in Africa. Easier than making farms, or irrigating lands and installing plumbing, easier than protecting from marauders, or making schools or fixing governments. Buy a pair of shoes, ya know?
I found out about the activity, and for some reason, I felt called to do it, and I've more than reached my aim, I don't need you to agree with this or anything but it needed clarification.
Also, TOMSshoes doesn't recognise Malta, so all this was meant to raise footage and media that I can send to them so that Malta gets recognised, and can join in on solving this massive problem. It's a first step to a solution.
Keep on postin'. =)
K. Camilleri
Apr 9th 2010, 00:32
I totally agree with Mark here. ... they could have gotten an infection and the benefit would go to a negative marking right away.
Anyway I really did not agree with a comment made in the video clip .. when someone said "he wear shoes because we are lucky" ... i dont think the Maltese society's advancement came by luck ... I think we now wear shoes because we come from a nation who always tried to overcome difficulties ... succeeding in some, failing in others... since ancient times
Jamie Iain Genovese
Apr 9th 2010, 13:10
The idea wasn't that Malta is lucky (which, sometimes it is, because not every blessing on this island happened through our own work ey) but rather that we [the people participating and speaking] considered ourselves lucky that we were born in Malta. We were 'fortunate' to be born here, ergo the term 'the less fortunate'.
Jesmond Micallef
Apr 8th 2010, 22:54
Very good indeed. A very warm well done to these youngsters. Shoes indeed do contribute to a much healthier living, thats for sure. What came across my mind here is that people spit and it might so happen that people tread on this without even being aware. That spit might indeed contain disease and thats a very good way of spreading disease too. So just imagine this scenario in Ethiopia. Its not too difficult.....................!!!.
Well done once again.
Anthony Paris
Apr 8th 2010, 22:21
"Ever spent a day without shoes?" Yes in the 50's it was not uncommon to see people walking in the street barefoot.
Mark Seychell
Apr 8th 2010, 21:26
I hate to sound insensitive, and i really wish we could help people less fortunate than us, but how on earth is taking your shoes off for a day going to help them?
With the same argument, we might as well give up food and water for a day.
However, on the other hand, anything for a good cause, well done
Juanita Cassar
Apr 8th 2010, 21:40
I never thought that shoes were an issue before seeing this... so I guess it works.
Johnathan Harrington
Apr 8th 2010, 23:37
In a multitude of ways. First of all, people that see you barefoot ask you why you're so and even such an answer could raise awareness.
Furthermore you can explain how Toms donates shoes to shoeless people, thus encouraging people to buy shoes from poor-people-friendly companies.
And even if this is all trivial, the fact that youths are sending a message out there that they are not happy with something is already something we need more of. Our current state of apathy is unbearable. But hey, if you view this as useless Gandhi would really like a word with you. He just got the memo that his fasting was completely useless
Mike Gatt
Apr 9th 2010, 09:48
In one very simple way... I for one had never heard of Podoconiosis and leastwise how it can be caused, nor had I ever heard of TOMS. So if through this simple activity Master Genovese manages to create enough interest and bring these shoes to Malta some good will definitely be done!
Well done to Jamie!