Shoe Frenzy

Today was an exciting day for the kids of Oasis of Life.  New shoes for everyone!  I headed to Owino, which is the craziest market in the country.  It’s sort of like a flea market, but more crammed, crowded, and claustrophobic than you can imagine.  I took the group of college students from OBU with me and my friend, Billy.  Thankfully, Harriet and Ellen decided I better leave Mercy at home with them. (Bless them both, especially since they ended up with her all day!  Love them!)  Last night I divided the tracings of all of the kids’ and caretakers’ feet into groups.  Then I divided up the money and got everyone a roll of tape and a pen to label the shoes as we went.  I’m so glad I thought to do that ahead of time.  We bought each child a pair of school shoes (they must wear sturdy black dress shoes to school) and then a pair of plastic sandals or croc-type shoes to wear when not at school or church.  We also bought each caretaker a pair of sandals and a pair of rubber work boots.  It ended up being more than 150 pairs of shoes.  We also bought socks and some of the school supplies they’ve needed desperately.



Picture I found online of Owino.  I'm not brave enough to take out my camera and take pics.  This is the outside of the market, and then you walk in deeper and deeper.  It goes on forever.

After the market, we headed to the orphanage to drop off our purchases.  The children who were at home were so excited to see the shoes.  The rest of the team had to head back, so Billy and I stayed to sort out the shoes.  We had to match up the school shoes, sandals, and socks for each child.  The children who were at home tried them on.  Overall we did very well on the fit.  One of the caretakers promised to have all of the other children try their shoes on when they returned from school and make sure they fit.  I can’t wait to see all of the kids in their new shoes.



The boys' shoes



The girls' stash



I was hard at work sorting socks.

Today was long, exhausting, and a bit overwhelming.  We sat in traffic, waded through people, and spent lots of money.  But it’s all worth it when I see children going from this….   



To this.  



One little boy, Elisha, was so excited about his new school shoes that he came up and bowed down in thanks three times and then gave me the biggest hug.  That is what this is all about.  

Sweet Elisha