Garbage School shoes

Feb. 13, 2009
Seventy migrant children walked home from school wearing new shoes today. Last week, one of our teams donated money for shoes for the children that go to the “garbage school” (it’s right in front of the garbage dump in Mae Sot). And we got to have the fun of shopping for shoes and then delivering the presents! The children lined up by class level to try on shoes, found a pair that fit, and then happily compared their gleaming white shoes with each other.

All of the children are migrant kids from Burma . They affectionately call their school “The Garbage School.” Three of the children we sponsor are enrolled here. Every day the children pack themselves into a bamboo classroom with only thin dividers between the three levels, and the babies in the nursery sleep curled up side by side in a small room off to the side. Today the teachers woke up the toddlers to come try on their shoes, and they stumbled over bleary eyed, shirts falling off one shoulder, hair all a mess and they found a gift waiting for them that made them smile. It was kind of like being woken up on Christmas morning to open your stocking. It’s amazing what $1 flip flops can do. Now the children can walk to school down the pot-hole filled roads, with shoes on their feet and a smile on their face.