Shoes!

Shoes. Everyone loves a new pair of shoes. Especially when we’re talking about the first day of school. We all had to have the newest style, the best brand, and to top it off even an extra pair with non-scuff soles for gym class. In Haiti the children all wear uniforms to school. They have matching shirts, skirts, hair bows/barrettes, socks, and black shoes. Each child files into the school exceptionally clean and beaming with pride. Today, we started physicals and it was beyond adorable to watch the preschool class come through the clinic. Some were giggly and others were in tears simply because of being in the clinic. Each child received a head-to-toe assessment, height and weight check, pill to kill any worms, and had their feet measured for shoe sizes. Measuring feet is where the real story begins. A fellow nurse and friend, E'Tienne, was measuring each child’s foot and as she removed a little girls shoe she felt something on her hands. She looked at her hands and they were covered in black ink. The children are required to wear black shoes to school, but this little girl’s shoes had been colored or painted black to disguise the white tennis shoes she was wearing. We were all silent. I was struggling to get over the sight of E'Tienne's black, inky hands while holding back tears. I was overwhelmed with sadness that not only was this the saddest attempt at "black" shoes, but they didn't even fit her little feet. I wondered if the other kids noticed or if the little girl even realized her shortcoming. Working through the surprise and sadness I found myself feeling proud. I was beyond proud and encouraged that her parent chose to do whatever it took to make sure she was in school. Even though her parent couldn't afford or didn't have access to the "proper" shoes, s/he chose to find a solution. That solution was black ink on white tennis shoes. Black ink that stained my friend’s hands and broke each of our hearts, but also left us smiling. Squeeze your foot into a shoe that’s covered in ink and two sizes too small and let me know if you could ever swallow your pride and truly understand what it’s like to “walk a mile in someone else’s shoes”.