Soles4Souls in Honduras

Soles4Souls focused this week's distribution on the poorest of the poor. Honduras is well-known to be a third world country, but it's not without it's successful businesses, shiny SUV's, and fine restaurants. The capital city, Tegucigalpa, can show the gap between the rich and the poor quite plainly. About 20 city residents recieved athletic shoes from Soles4Souls featuring the New Balance, Asics, and Reebok brands. Most feet in the city have shoes, so Soles4Souls turned to those without.

The Isle of Tiger lies south of Tegucigalpa, within an inlet that protects it from the Pacific Ocean's rough waters. The team brought about 3,000 pair to the island, mostly in a Holey Soles unisex shoe. All the Holey Soles along with See Kai Run and Teva brands, were loaded into 15 foot boats and headed to the Island. The shoes coursed just a mile or two to the island's dock where they were reloaded onto 4 pick-up trucks for transport inside. Team members piled on top of shoes stacked 8 feet tall and held on for dear life along the rough roads.

"It feels like we're on National Geographic", commented team member Chris Baldwin.

A site near a school was chosen for distribution, and the community rallied together quickly upon the team's arrival. The trucks parked in a circle and three lines were formed for shoe distribution. Each person was sized by shoe sizers donated by the Woodrow Engineering Company in Sister Bay, WI and Justin Blair & Co. of Chicago, IL. Thanks to the sizers, each person was appropriately fitted.

"I think everyone here has been served", said team member Jerry Cotney, after several hours of intense distribution and accomplishing the day's objective.

Indeed, Holey Soles, Teva, and See Kai Run shoes could be seen in bright colors up and down the dusty roads. Team members said their farewells and traversed back across the island with the remaining shoes left over. They went back into storage in a warehouse within Tegucigalpa for later distribution.

Paul Wilson