We recently sent a team of Crocs representatives over to Nairobi to give a donation of Crocs™ shoes to those in need. Here’s a quick note from the team:

As a part of our Crocs Cares program, Melissa K. and Kathi M., together with Global Aid Network, are traveling to desolate areas of Africa to and donating 15,000 pairs of shoes to people who desperately need them.

Day 1 (Nairobi Kenya)

The first day they visited the Mji Wa Huruma which translates in English from Swahili to “Home for the Elderly”, a home to 40 elderly men and women. These Kenyans do not have land, family and have no where to go for caretaking. This is a fabulous place with a sense of comfort and support for the members who are happy to have friends and what they call “family” all living together.

When we arrived, a couple of the folks had already received a pair of new Crocs from a previous donation. One elderly man in his nineties, never had a pair, walked with a cane and stated that “these shoes are the best things to wear and they are great in the shower because they don’t slip”.  At this location we continued to donate shoes to the ladies and men of the residency who laughed and enjoyed their new footwear very much.  Even if the shoes, especially the Mary Janes for the ladies, were too big, they would use the smaller strap on the back of the heel for sizes 8 and the larger original strap on the back for the 10’s. Very inventive ideas we were thinking, and although they did run big they made it work, for bigger shoes are better than no shoes!

Later that day we traveled to a place quite unlike any other we have seen, the Marurui slums. This is an area that although seemed peaceful and quiet-fights, tension and rioting are typical. This is a one “street” area that is overpopulated with over 100,000 people, 5,000 are kids who many times do not own a pair of shoes. Each rental is close to 200 to 10,000 shillings per month ($2.68 to $33.78 USD), depending on the structure and location. What brought these families here is the “stream” of water that runs down Main St, which sad to say, is not clean drinking water. Shoes are a definite advantage for this area as we see many kids and adults running through the garbage and unsafe water while acquiring cuts and abrasions on the foot. We were able to donate many shoes to the adults in this location and will be sending more of the kid’s shoes here in the future. We were also lucky enough to be a part of the children’s feeding program and watching their faces light up at the smell of food is priceless.

Thanks Mel and Kathi for the pictures and the update. We’ll be posting more as we get updates from their African trip.