On our last day in Kathmandu we became part of a unique project. One that touched our souls and lightened our feet. Wandering for gifts in Thamel we were accosted by a group of volunteers from the World Hope Asia & Africa Foundation supported by Microsoft as part of the Art Miles Project. In the middle of a market square a box of white keds lay open and volunteers in yellow jackets asked passers by to participate in “painting shoes for Nepali children at work in various industries.” Eager to learn more my son Sahil, his friend Rishu and me stopped to ask what the initiative was all about. It seems each year the volunteer activity picks one nation from the Developing World. Thosands of white keds land in the country, to be painted, tagged and sent off to some grateful hapless child, earning his daily bread and a square meal for his family through his daily toil, never setting sight on a school, a classroom, participating in an assembly line or enjoying the cumbersome routine of completing homework and scurrying to class early every morning.
We painted a pair each—Sahil, Rishu and me. Leaving simple message cards tied to the shoelaces in the hope that someone would read them and be warmed by the love in the effort. Sahil scribbled: “May this shoe reach the person who is in need of it. Love n Peace” Rishu scribbled –“Best wishes n Love” It took maybe half an hour, forty-five minutes from our day but left us with a really “Feel Good” memory of the effort. And on my return I often wonder which child will be trudging to work in brightly coloured rainbow-hued keds with a message written on the front—“With Love from India”
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