the Africa they Never show You

donquixotic asked: While you might disagree with the goal of the One Day Without Shoes movement, I don't think it's fair to judge anyone participating in it or anyone who buys TOMS shoes. Any compassion is a step in the right direction. I'd rather see young people caring about a cause than being apathetic. I really don't mean to sound contentious or like I'm trying to start an argument. I understand that Buy One Give One marketing can lead to dependency and that TOMS is another case of corporate social responsibility. But still, I see the One Day Without Shoes more as an opportunity to unite over common feelings of compassion, and a way to spark peoples' interest in giving back to the global community. I admire those who are going without shoes today because it's an instance of people caring about others more than themselves.
Regardless, I love this blog and keep doing what you're doing.

Hi Mysaladays!!

(sorry if there are any typos:)

I don’t expect everyone to agree with what I have to say, so I welcome the different opinions that people have about issues relating to Africa.

While you might disagree with the goal of the One Day Without Shoes movement, I don’t think it’s fair to judge anyone participating in it or anyone who buys TOMS shoes.

As i said in the reply to the subbie, I think its fine that people buy shoes from TOMS, but I’m not going to go sit in the corner and pretend that this is the best solution. People can easily go and research how to buy African products from Africans who will use that money to support their families and communities.

I don’t want to get too side tracked but as of lately, I have not been a fan of the “you shouldn’t judge others” line everyone seems to be using. Every time someone I know says that, I know they are trying to shut down any criticism about a not-so-good choice they have made.

If I know there is a non-profit is Kenya that has high school and college students flying in from the US to build schools and bond with kids in an orphanage for a week, I’m going to judge the students and the organization. I’m going to ask myself, why would this organization have these kids waste thousands of dollars to do a task that we know most of them, if not all of them, are not qualified to do?

Couldn’t they have used the money they would have spent on plane tickets to pay the wages of workers in the villages who are qualified to build? Why would we have the students who will only be there for a week, bond with these orphans only to be ripped away from them after a couple days? Doesn’t that have a negative affect on the child with all these “volunteers” in and out of their life? Sure their hearts were in the right place, but their feelings are besides the point. Why shouldn’t I judge both parties in that situation?

Any compassion is a step in the right direction.

This reminds my of the post I did about how good intentions are not enough. Saundra’s site really tries to educate people to look past that “good feeling” they get and really look at their actions and determine whether or not what they are doing is beneficial or not and what they could be doing instead make a difference.

But still, I see the One Day Without Shoes more as an opportunity to unite over common feelings of compassion, and a way to spark peoples’ interest in giving back to the global community. I admire those who are going without shoes today because it’s an instance of people caring about others more than themselves.

We’ll just have to agree to disagree. Maybe its just me, but I really don’t see anything admirable about not wearing shoes for a day as an American. I know, I know. That sounds harsh.

It’s funny because I saw a pretty good representation of every social group on my campus taking part in One Day Without Shoes. Not one of the them was an African or foreign student, except for this one girl I know from France. I’m sure there were foreign students on other campuses taking part, but it’s not what I observed on my campus. We have a pretty sizable population of foreign students, especially Africans and Indians, studying here and they just rolled their eyes. And some of these students are from the same poor villages that TOMS promotes in their ads. I just thought that was very interesting.

Regardless, I love this blog and keep doing what you’re doing.

Thank you for leaving your thoughts and I’m glad this disagreement hasn’t prevented you from continuing to follow this blog!!

obsessionfull asked: What are your opinions on this whole "Don't wear shoes for a day because the kids in Africa don't have shoes!!!" movement on Facebook? Because I have to stay off Facebook today to not argue with everyone.

long response with grammatical errors below :)

Hey Obsessionfull!!!

Ohh it’s just another one of those “make people feel like they’re actually doing something” awareness events and if you tell people they aren’t really, they bite your head off :)

Because I have to stay off Facebook today to not argue with everyone.

LOL I know what you mean. I made the mistake of commenting on the different TOMS shoes this guy in my French class wears all the time (I was pretty polite because I truly wanted to hear his response) and all hell broke loose.

I talked about how it hurts the local economy. They and my classmates argued. I said there are websites (which I should post about if anyone wants me to) where you can buy shoes directly from African business that will directly put more money in their employees pockets, food on their families tables and money that will go towards their communities.

They said people can’t afford to buy shoes so the businesses wouldn’t suffer (I think it should be mandatory for every college student to take at least 1 economics course). Then they asked if I had even been to Africa, as if that would prove their point…

That one conversation was so exhausting so now I just keep my mouth shut. I really don’t like confrontations. The argument people like that use to make you feel guilty is, “So, you think these kids should go around walking with no shoes and get infected feet, etc?!”

Why can’t we focus on the many entrepreneurs in these countries that do sell items like shoes where we could invest our money in? I give $$ dollars to ABC business and they then produce ##shoes for ##kids in the local village (CNN International has done several interviews with credible African businesses in which you can do this very thing). But I guess that would eliminate the need for TOMS…

I don’t have a problem with TOMS shoes if it were just a regular old shoe business. Their shoes are stylish to many people, so by all means, buy as many as you want. But don’t try and make me feel guilty or stupid by telling me their shoes are the solution to the shoe-less children situation in Africa/S.America.

And don’t let anyone try to tell you they’re trying to raise awareness and get the word out about African kids with no shoes:

“Eat your breakfast sweetie, there are kids in Africa with no food.”
“Don’t waste all that water darling. There are people in Africa who don’t even have water to drink.”
“You want your own room, son? Did you know that some African people live in huts? You should be thankful!”

People are aware alright…

p.s. When i tell my Grandma in Nigeria about all these events, she gets so annoyed:
“I didn’t spend all that money on boarding school and send your mother to America so that my grandchildren would be walking around with no shoes! Those kids need to to find something more productive to do.”

Helping Africans 101

Your friend goes,”OMG! I got a couple pairs of TOMS shoes!! It’s gonna help so many children in Africa. I really made a difference today!!!”

You’re like, “Umm.. wouldn’t that flood villages with thousands of extra shoes and slowly destroy the local economy for shoemakers and sellers??”

Then they freak out cause they have no money left to pay their rent.

You laugh cause they have no money left to pay their rent.

Then you remember they’re your roommate.