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Children collect shoes for peers in Middle East
By Ambria Hammel, ahammel@catholicsun.org
December 18, 2008
SCOTTSDALE — Many parents would smile upon hearing the pitter-patter of little feet.
For parents in war-torn countries like Iraq and Afghanistan, however, the thought of children walking around barefoot — as many of them do for miles at a time — is a bit scarier.
Students at St. Maria Goretti’s preschool and kindergarten decided to let those children walk in their shoes instead. They collected hundreds of pairs of old shoes from their own closet and everyone else in the family as part of the grassroots effort, “Walk a Mile in My Shoes…on the Path to Peace.”
“People were walking a mile in the dirt to the doctor’s office without any shoes,” Lex Doering, the pre-kindergarten teacher, told students. That forces doctors to treat the children’s feet before addressing other medical concerns.
It was Doering’s idea to collect the shoes after reading an article about the shoe program. The collection also became an easy yet meaningful service project.
“It’s really teaching them that they can make a difference,” said Kathleen Bies, the school’s director. She dedicated the whole year to service.
“As small as they are, they can make a difference,” Bies added.
DonnaChristine Park, an East Valley Christian who founded the “Walk a Mile in My Shoes” program, agreed.
“Their desire to serve is absolutely incredible,” said Park, who dubbed herself “the little ol’ lady and the shoes.”
Park picked up the school’s shoe collection Dec. 1 and read the students a quick story about the shoe program’s young history, which dates back to June.
“You now have a chapter in that book,” Park told the children. “You are bringing such joy to my heart that you are going to help other children in the world.”
Captain Michael Wikstrom, a Catholic chaplain deployed in Afghanistan, sees that joy firsthand. He runs the Volunteer Community Relations program, which distributes the shoes and other items donated by American schools, churches and community groups.
He said the children are very excited when the packages arrive.
“Almost every child is so grateful and excited to get these things,” Wikstrom said. “Some have shoes that are in such disrepair that I am amazed they can wear them at all.”
Some of the students included notes of well-wishes with their shoes saying things like “I love you” and “I hope you like your new shoes.”
Park knows the shoes and the notes go a long way.
“The shoes become the children’s basic luxury of comfort and security,” Park said.
She described shoes as a person’s foundation. It’s that foundation which inspires hope.
Wikstrom said programs like “Walk a Mile in My Shoes…on the Path to Peace” provide a source of hope. It shows the Afghans that rather than oppressing them like the Taliban, people like the Americans want to care for them and develop them.
“It’s a way for us to show the love of Christ,” Capt. Wikstrom said. “I think it is important to teach our children these things at an early age and help them understand that even at their young age, they have an important place in the kingdom of God.”
Park agreed noting that, “We’re all part of the puzzle of peace.”
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