International Impact

Beyond just helping people in need by giving them basic necessities, I believe that From Hearts to Soles is making a legitimate international impact. This is due to a variety of different sociocultural and economic factors that cannot all be covered in one blog post, but the following is a simplified, digestible rationalization of my belief. In many developing countries, the priority is to make sure the boys of the household have adequate supplies, and the girls are a second priority. Many families cannot afford to buy shoes for their daughters. As a result, the daughters are rarely, if ever, allowed to leave the house, go in public, or obtain any sort of education. Women in these environments are typically oppressed and have no way out of their situations because of factors that are not and were never in their control.

However, by providing goods such as shoes to young girls, we are able to increase their chances of obtaining some sort of education and help prevent them from being oppressed in their personal and professional lives. If families cannot afford to properly clothe their daughters, they will not send their daughters to school, but if families have all the basic necessities for their daughters, they are far more likely to send them to school in hopes that their daughters will someday be able to help support the family. To put it simply, giving shoes helps some of these young girls get an education.

Even if you are not a staunch supporter of women’s rights, there are reasons you should care about women’s education in developing countries. For example, observational studies have shown that increases in the amount of female education in regions tends to correlate with high levels of economic development. Economies have proven to grow faster and with less volatility when women are better educated. In other words, when young women get an education, the economy thrives. In an age where billions of dollars of aid are given to developing countries to no measurable avail, it seems that the answer lies in giving developing societies the tools and goods needed to survive in the modern world. Instead of giving money that is often stolen or wasted, we must give education and basic necessities to people living in the impoverished corners of the world.

When putting this all together, one can conclude that giving shoes is the start of the proverbial domino effect which leads to a variety of benefits. In this post, I only briefly discussed the economic advantages of educating women, but other benefits include decreased infant and maternal mortality, equal opportunities for men and women, and stabler communities as a whole. From Hearts to Soles is not able to change the world on its own, but it is able to start a chain of events that could certainly lead to many positive changes across the globe. As Mother Teresa said, “I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across waters to create many ripples.”