Back in 2018, shortly after my family moved to Nampa, Idaho, I walked into the office of Because International. Like many of us when we first became aware of Because International, I was drawn to the idea that a product as “simple” as a growing shoe could make an impact in the world. The same idea that drew me in is the same thing that keeps me here: our mission, which is to alleviate poverty by delivering products that impact lives.

In our early years, we understood the impact of The Shoe That Grows through our own lens–everyone needs shoes, right? Practically speaking, kids need shoes. 

Several years ago I took my first trip to Kenya and participated in my first distribution of The Shoe That Grows. We spent time kicking around a soccer ball with the kids. They made me laugh, and as they made silly faces, they reminded me of my own kids back home in Idaho. I met a little girl with the cutest glasses, who approached me timidly when she found out we shared the same name. That young girl named Sarah didn’t leave my side for the hours I was at her school. As I heard from teachers about what it meant to them to be receiving The Shoe That Grows for all of their students, the impact came to life. 

We believe education is a long-term solution for alleviating poverty. Education unlocks opportunities and can make a huge impact for the future of any individual. As our shoes are geared toward school-aged kids who often run around barefoot and whose feet are still growing, we have intentionally worked with organizations that include access to education as part of their mission.

I was introduced to the Multidimensional Poverty Index a while back, which gave us the lens to better understand how poverty on a global scale is being measured. The MPI identifies Education as one dimension of poverty—and so we find ourselves aligned, viewing The Shoe as a tool to help kids access education. While we know that a pair of shoes will not alleviate poverty, we recognize that it can remove one barrier that will make it easier for kids to attend school. 

With this new big picture framework, we started working on a process to understand and measure the impact our product is making on a more immediate level. 

Over the last couple of years, we have focused our distribution efforts in Kenya. We have a team who is actively involved with distributions, and we are well-connected to large organizations we can partner with for distributions. With more of a “boots on the ground” approach, we have had a much closer look at the communities we seek to serve. This has helped us tremendously as we began our journey of understanding impact, figuring out ways to measure it, and eventually being in a position where we could start to more accurately report that impact. 

With curiosity leading the way, we’ve learned. A lot. 

We began with observational surveys. As we drove around different parts of Kenya, in and out of various communities, we took note of what we were observing: What kinds of shoes were kids wearing? What condition were the shoes in? How many kids were barefoot? What was the weather like? What activities were the kids doing? Curiosity led the way, and we recorded everything we observed.

Our next step was to learn more from those we were currently serving and working closely with. From this set of surveys, we received information from the kids receiving the shoes, from their parents, from the teachers within the school, from the headmasters, and from the leaders of our partner organizations.

Through this process, we discovered our impact. 

The biggest impact of The Shoe That Grows happens in three areas:

• Protection of feet. This includes injury walking along the hot roads encountering thorns from acacia trees, burrowing sand fleas called jiggers that cause parasitic infections, and parasitic intestinal roundworms called hookworms.
• Financial support. On a daily basis, families have to make difficult decisions about how to spend their money—struggling to stay on top of school fees, provide more than one meal per day, and make sure their kids have the proper uniform and shoes necessary to attend school.
• Self-confidence. Students who have torn uniforms or have no shoes have lower self-esteem, recognizing that their appearance makes them feel less than their classmates. 

Each of these areas of impact continues to point toward education as the long-term solution for alleviating poverty. But in the process of understanding the communities better, we can now measure the more immediate impact as well. We have stats to report that give validity to the stories we’re sharing. Percentages of kids who don’t have shoes, who get injuries or are affected by jiggers, families who struggle to meet their kids’ basic needs financially, and how many kids face issues with self-confidence from torn uniforms or showing up barefoot. 

Through numbers and stories, we’re giving a voice to communities all over rural Kenya.

I’ve met kids like Boniface, a spunky 5-year-old who received his very first pair of shoes and told me, “I am excited to wear my shoes so I don’t get hurt by stones or thorns. I want to play soccer with them on!” I’ve met teachers like Moses, who feel the burden and told me, “Getting basic needs is a very big problem. It’s up to us as teachers to help provide everything.” 

We still have a ways to go. But we are understanding the communities much better than before, and we are excited to tell these stories. 

Meeting these kids and their teachers, hearing their stories, gives me hope and fuels me to continue on our mission. Stats are important because they give validity to the work we are doing. But we feel compelled to share the stories that go along with the stats because they represent the students and teachers we regularly come in contact with, who each have their own struggles, joys and hopes for the future. 

Thank you for joining us in this process! With curiosity leading the way, I am excited to have this platform to continue sharing what we are learning.

February 2026 Impact Dashboard