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These Shoes Grow With Your Feet
Thanks to Because International, footwear has a whole different meaning for children in developing countries.
The Shoe That Grows is truly changing the way children in developing countries wear shoes. The charity designed a shoe that can adjust to up to five different shoe sizes. Founder Kenton Lee got the idea when he saw a girl in Kenya wearing shoes way too small for her feet.
“For years, the idea of these growing shoes wouldn’t leave my mind,” he told BuzzFeed News.
Lee designed the footwear with compressed rubber that is similar to a tire, velcro, and pegs to fasten the shoe. Lee pitched his idea to several companies, including Crocs and Nike, but they weren’t interested. Luckily, he stumbled upon a company called Proof of Concept who was ready to take his idea to the market.
The footwear is designed to fit preschoolers through ninth graders. Not only will the shoes provide some necessary foot protection, they’ll also help many kids attend school, as shoes are part of the required uniform in many schools.
“I had no idea how important shoes were before I went to Kenya,” Lee told BuzzFeed News. “But kids, especially in urban areas, can get infections from cuts and scrapes on their feet from going barefoot, and contract diseases that cause them to miss school.”
The $15 shoes will transform many of the lives of children living in poverty. The shoes will help prevent soil-transmitted diseases, which impact 1.5 billion people each year.
“If I can provide a kid with protection so they stay healthy and keep going to school, I’ll have done my part,” Lee told BuzzFeed News.
Lee has already distributed more than 120,000 pairs of shoes in 91 different countries. For more information on the Shoe That Grows, check out Because International. Don’t forget to SHARE this post to spread the word.