by Jessica Shortall, Director of Giving, TOMS Shoes

TOMS Shoes’ (www.TOMS.com) 3rd annual One Day Without Shoes campaign is asking you to go barefoot on April 8th – to spread awareness about the hundreds millions of children who are barefoot around the globe.

As for me, I’ll be barefoot in Little Rock, Arkansas, walking with American Idol Kris Allen and a huge crowd who are learning that being barefoot is about much more than the occasional scrape or stubbed toe.

As the director of giving for TOMS, I spend my days (and some nights) thinking about where all of our One for One shoes should go – because with every pair you purchase, TOMS gives a new pair of shoes to a child in need. As we grow, our opportunities – and responsibility to give well – grow. And what I’m hearing from all corners of the globe – from Zanzibar to Haiti to Peru to Bhutan – is that one of the most pressing health issues facing kids today is soil-transmitted diseases. Hookworm is a great example – hundreds of millions of kids are exposed to this intestinal parasite that comes from the soil, often through bare feet. It causes malnutrition, anemia, stunted growth, even cognitive damage. And while mass de-worming drug distribution is of huge importance, as long as kids stay barefoot they will remain at risk. That’s why, along with our NGO and public health partners, we’re excited about integrating our shoes into existing de-worming programs.

Similarly, in Ethiopia, we are regularly giving shoes to tens of thousands of kids who are at the highest risk for podoconiosis, a debilitating, geochemical, soil-transmitted disease that affects millions in the tropics but is so neglected it has yet to appear on any official NTD lists. Without shoes, about 25% of these kids would suffer the same fate as their affected parents, whose resulting elephantiasis (non-filarial) causes swelling, pain, loss of mobility, and smell that result in significant lost productivity and often complete ostracization from the community.

It’s clear to me that the time has come to see shoes as a key piece in an integrated approach to NTDs. We still have a lot to learn, but now is the time to start.

So when I’m barefoot in Arkansas tomorrow, and people ask me why, I’ll tell them it’s to remind myself, and to have the opportunity to teach others, about the huge impact that shoes can have on a child’s health and education. Step 1 is awareness. Step 2: join our movement at www.TOMS.com. Support organizations combating the effects of being barefoot. Take off your shoes with me tomorrow!

www.OneDayWithoutShoes.com
Twitter feed at #hardwithoutshoes