Did you know that shoes in your closets or storage bins can make a difference? In other words, it could help someone help themselves. In developing nations, such as Haiti, people want opportunities to work. Often, selling is the path to a sustainable living wage. So, find how how shoes do that!
But first, did you realize the vast majority of textiles, including shoes, could get reused? That’s right; they don’t need to get thrown away. Instead, they should get disposed of in a socially responsible manner.
The Environmental Protection Agency reported a few of the following facts:
- Textiles, including shoes, represent 65.7% of the content in landfills.
- Americans throw away an average of 4.48 pounds of waste, each day.
- The average person doesn’t know that people around the world reuse apparel.
- In fact, of the global population uses shoes and apparel previously owned by others.
- A primary reason for textiles ending up in landfills is consumers.
What is Life Like in a Developing Nation?
Haiti is the most impoverished nation in the Western Hemisphere. And, according to the World Bank:
- Is the third largest in the Caribbean following the Dominican Republic and Cuba.
- 4 million people live in Haiti.
- 59 percent of the population, or 6 million people, live below the poverty line of $2.41 per day.
- 24 percent, 2.5 million people, live in extreme poverty by global standards, with a family making less than $1.23 a day.
- The annual per capita income in Haiti is $480 USD. By comparison in the U.S., it’s $33,550.
Why Shoes Can Make a Difference
Millions of stories exist, such as the ones written about Silvia and David, of people overcoming difficult circumstances of living in poverty. Unfortunately, daily struggles exist of people in developing nations struggling to get the basics. Moreover, a lot of it is stuff we take for granted, such as shoes.
Shoes are essential for the prevention of disease. In short, lack of shoes could cause extreme illness or even death. It’s because parasites could enter the bloodstream from open wounds or cuts in the feet of shoeless people walking on public roads and paths outdoors. Moreover, children going to school or adults going to work in most jobs require shoes. Unfortunately, millions live in poverty. As a result, the primary mode of transportation is their feet. Therefore, affordable and high-quality shoes are essential.
In developed nations, people give their gently worn, used and new shoes to a good cause during a shoe drive fundraiser. After, the footwear gets consolidated and shipped to micro-entrepreneurs in countries like Haiti. In turn, they sell the shoes in their communities. Because of the lack of high-quality education and sustainable job opportunities, many people sell merchandise. And that includes shoes to create small businesses, also known as a micro-enterprises.
The footwear collected in a shoe drive fundraiser become inventory for micro-entrepreneurs. Other times, the shoes not sold become insulation, stuffing or padding for furniture or playgrounds. Further, it’s essential to create commerce. You don’t want to flood the markets in developing nations by giving away shoes and clothing. Doing so would destroy trade and business for people trying to escape poverty. So everything done by social enterprises, such as the Funds2Orgs Group, gets done with those realities in mind with its programs.
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