J.T. McVeigh Photo - Donald Potter holds a picture of the city in Kenya where his Shoes for Africa campaign is directed.
Donald Potter spearheading Shoes for Africa campaign to help the needy
By Nicki Cruickshank, Barrie Examiner
A pair of shoes is a daily necessity to us.
But for thousands of children in Nairobi, Kenya, it’s a privilege few are granted.
Donald Potter saw the battered bare feet of these children during a trip there with Sleeping Children Around the World (SCAW) four years ago, and has a plan he knows will be a ‘shoe-in’ for support.
“We’re trying to get shoes for the women and children over there,” said the 80-year-old Barrie man, who is a nine-year volunteer for the Canadian foreign aid organization.
“They are very poor there and it’s just terrible to see the condition of their feet.”
Potter travelled to Dadaad Camp in Nairobi with other SCAW volunteers to deliver and distribute more than 4,000 bed kits to children, which provide them with a comfortable place to sleep off the hard earth.
SCAW distributes these kits to many impoverished villages in Third World countries.
Potter said he took one look at the children’s feet as they lined up for kits and his heart sank.
“I noticed all these children and mothers with no shoes and their feet were scraped, cut and bruised,” he said, grimacing. “These children walk several miles to school every day in bare feet through broken glass, rocks and mud.
“I just couldn’t bare to see that and I thought that someone had to do something about it.”
Last October, Potter began organizing the Shoes for Africa campaign.
Although this project was independent of SCAW, Potter consulted the group’s Rotary Club contact in Kenya to help facilitate the purchase of shoes.
“I contacted Parmindar Lotay in Nairobi, and he told me to leave it with him,” Potter said, noting that Lotay contacted Bata, an international shoe company, and cut a good deal on 5,000 pairs of flip-flops.
“I got the OK on the deal, and I had started making and distributing DVDs to local schools and churches, and to the local Rotary clubs,” he said.
“For my 80th birthday, I told everyone not to buy gifts, but to donate to Shoes for Africa.”
Potter made presentations to local Rotary clubs, and the community, and has managed to raise $5,000 to purchase 5,000 pairs of shoes.
“We’ve reached our target, and the flip-flops will be made in a Bata facility in Nairobi,” Potter said. “This will help create jobs for the local people.”
Rotary in Kenya will assist in the distribution of the shoes.
With the campaign meeting its first target, Potter now plans to focus on another impoverished area.
“Now that we’ve got enough donations for shoes for Nairobi’s children, I’ll start fundraising for India, Sri Lanka or the Philippines,” he said.
“We’re just a small ripple in the pond, but we are doing something to help these poor people.”
Potter is reaching out the community for help him continue providing much needed footwear to Third World villages.
He has opened an account for Shoes for Africa at TD Canada Trust on Big Bay Point Road.
Anyone wishing to donate to the cause can contact Potter at 705-737-2027 or potterdonald@ymail.com.
