Summer in Johannesburg means rain nearly every day and shoes can often be taken for granted during these wet months.
To both celebrate the benefits of walking barefoot and to aid those in need, Abbotts College Northcliff students and staff donated their shoes to those who don’t have any, or have shoes with thinning or broken soles.
On the morning of 11 October, students and staff left their shoes on the pavement at the entrance of the school for passersby to take home. Above the pairs of shoes was a sign for them to help themselves to a pair of shoes.
Students and staff then spent a day without shoes to reap the benefits of walking barefoot, and also to feel what it’s like for those who go barefoot without a choice.
According to the event organiser and Abbotts administrator, Melissa Massey, over 200 pairs of shoes were donated. “These are also not old pairs of shoes. Students left some of their best pairs of shoes on the pavement to be taken.”
Massey said that a crowd of people gathered on the school’s pavement which gave their students the opportunity to not just leave their shoes behind but to hand them over.
“The shoes went in no time,” Massey laughed.
She said she hopes to continue the project in future and would like to hold an annual shoe donation drive. “There are just so many health benefits of being barefoot and we can help people in need while we enjoy the benefits,” Massey explained.
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