More from our SolesUnited^sm team:

The Fundacion de la Escuela was very interesting and is a good example of what other schools should be doing to teach kids and parent’s sustainable living. The school was founded in 1990 with approximately 10,200 children in attendance. Since inception they have dedicated themselves to improving the quality of family life in Darien to provide food, educational support, preventive health care, community development skills, agricultural production techniques, and care of natural resources.

The most unique part of the school is they provide training and technical assistance for agricultural and ecological model farms, organic production and the establishment of school gardens farms for the family and community. The organic crops and animals can provide the right nutrition needed for their families. The communities grow items such as plantains, coffee beans, yucca, pineapple and other foods.

Upon our arrival we were greeted by the children and the teachers of the school. There were about 200 children present all sitting down eagerly awaiting our arrival. After the presentation and thank you’s, we were able to witness the cultural dances from a couple of the children in their brightly colored attire and paint. This is a way of thanking Crocs for the gift of shoes.

We noticed that each pair of shoes already had a name printed on the tag matched with the correct sizes. The children waited patiently for the shoes to be handed out and were gracious to get a pair. These shoes will be very helpful for them while working in the fields learning how to grow their own food. They will also wear them to get to school everyday while walking through the jungle and river areas. For more information on this model of teaching visit http://www.darien.org.pa/.