I get one shoe, you get one shoe ....

I have a story stuck in my head.  The story was told by Ed Kujawa, the Dean of Education for Dominican, and the person (I think) in charge of those of us on the trip from Dominican.

And for those of you that keep asking me "Deb, why are you going to South Africa??"  - it is this heart-breaking story that is at the base of why I am going.

I am going to take some writers' liberties here, so I am not quoting Ed directly, and I may get facts and dates wrong, but none of that will effect the point of the story itself. (Is that enough of a disclaimer??)

A year ago, Ed was in Cape Town, meeting with LEAP staff and putting together the program I am participating in.  Someone (maybe a 2009 Fellow?) had donated a pair of soccer shoes to the school.  The staff offered the shoes to a male student, who promptly offered to his best friend one of the shoes.  That way, both he and his friend would have A soccer shoe.

How can you hear that story and NOT be impacted?

Ed went on to tell us that the kids at the school play soccer in their school uniforms, that there is no gear.  I found this photo, and I would imagine it is a pretty good view of how Cape Town kids play soccer - in the sand in their regular clothes.

All week long I have been thinking about this story.  We signed up Grant and Alex for the fall season of soccer here in Novato, and there is no question that both of them will have two soccer shoes.  And shin guards and new jerseys, and socks, and maybe a bag to put it all in. There will be Gator-ade and snacks at the games, and they will be playing on "groomed" grass, not playing in sand or dirt.

Now, the logical thing for me to do would be to put together a Donate your Soccer Gear drive.  See how much I can gather, then ship it all over there. Or even, pay the extra cost and throw a big box on the airplane as checked baggage (even though Jim is worried about how much luggage I will be hauling around).

Less than two weeks before I leave. I am not sure what I am going to do, but I DO know I will do something.  At the very least, both Grant and Alex have cleats that are outgrown.  Grant thinks he may have four pairs.  Alex has a couple of pairs.  That is six pairs of cleats, or 12 shoes.  In three weeks, will 12 SA kids be wearing one new shoe each?