No Shoes by Tenesae

No Shoes

I’m walking on the path

And I see a poor child,

I’m thinking that child must be very wild,

For that child does not have shoes,

 and wears tattered clothes,

the flies are on his face.

The child must have nothing to lose.

I see the child and I feel bad,

I am wishing that child had…had,

Shoes!

I own many pairs of shoes,

Here this child has none and it gives me the blues.

 

Tenesae wrote this poem one day after we encountered 4 kids on the road on our way home from school. It was hard not to have your heart break for these precious little ones who were wandering barefoot and alone, probably all under the age of 7. Shoes is something that can be taken for granted in North America, we have a pair for each activity and sometimes for each outfit. Tenesae has always loved shoes and she remembers being a small child with bare feet and she still has scars to show for it. Most of the kids we visit even within our project only have a simple pair of flip flops or little plastic shoes.