Kenton Lee worked at an orphanage in Kenya when he discovered a little girl with way too small shoes. The shoes were cut off at the front so she would be able to get her feet through. That was when he got the idea of the shoes which grows and that idea has finally become reality.
In 2006 Kenton Lee founded Because International with some friends. It’s an organisation that works to help people in extreme poverty.
He reached out to several major shoe factory’s with his idea of a shoe that grows, but no one was interested. Eventually, he found the company Proof of Concept, who agreed on helping out with the design.
The shoes are produced in soft leather with extremely sustainable rubber sole. With the help of clips they can expand into five sizes, and the children can wear them for at least five years. The shoe is available in two different sizes. The smaller one fits for kids in preschool up to fifth grade. The larger one fits from fifth to ninth grade.
– I had no idea how important the shoes were before I went to Kenya. If the kids are barefoot they can get infections and contusions on their feet. In worst case scenario they can miss out on school because of that, Kenton Lee told Buzzfeed News.
So far, almost 2500 kids in seven countries have a couple of these shoes, for example, kids in Ghana, Peru, Haiti, Colombia and Kenya.
The shoes cost 10 dollars a pair and the manufacturing cost is financed by donations. They are being sent out by nonprofit organisations.
The news about the shoes have been spread all over the world and is praised by hundreds of thousands of people. Hopefully, that will enable more people to donate money to the project.
There are over 300 million kids in the world who doesn’t have shoes and it hurts when I think about the ones who has to be barefoot. Thank Kenton Lee for this great invention who helps so many kids!
Here you can read more about how to donate money.
Next Order of The Shoe from Because International on Vimeo.
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