Malawi faces extreme poverty, with over seventy percent of the population living below two dollars a day. For school-age children, this means malnutrition and limited access to education due to costs or long walks—often barefoot—and working to support families instead of studying. 

Hope Endeavors—a nonprofit whose purpose is to bring hope to orphaned and vulnerable children suffering in extreme poverty—believes “that the best way to address such daunting hopelessness is through partnership.” Their strategy is “to align ourselves with nationals who are already doing the work but are in need of resources and encouragement.”

One of the resources that Hope Endeavors’ local partners in Malawi request are shoes for the children they work with. Teachers and community leaders share that most children come from homes that are deeply impacted by poverty and cannot afford many school necessities, like snacks, uniforms, shoes, school bags and basic learning materials. Long, difficult walks and inadequate resources to cover both school fees and household needs are major barriers to school attendance. 

Hope Endeavors is our newest partner in distributing pairs of The Shoe That Grows funded by The Sole, the Because monthly giving community. Hope Endeavors and Because International have a shared commitment to poverty alleviation by meeting immediate needs and removing barriers to education. Their work—particularly with orphan children positive for HIV/AIDS—provides critical health intervention as well as long-term care and a path out of poverty.  

Hope Endeavors supports children through children’s homes and community projects, including HOPE Village Orphan Care Center, nursery school and kids clubs. Co-founder Darcy McLane shared about three groups of kids that will receive pairs of The Shoe That Grows:

“The children at the HOPE Village Orphan Care Center are all HIV/AIDS positive orphans who live at HOPE Village in residential care. They range from age six to 18. All of these children come to us due to extreme poverty, being single or double orphans. Their situation is compounded by the fact that they have HIV/AIDS and need additional nutritional and medical care.

“The children in our nursery school are ages two to five and are also impoverished, but we do not know their HIV/AIDS status. For most of these children, this will be their first pair of shoes!

“For our kids clubs, these children range in age from seven to 16. These clubs are in remote villages where poverty is high and most kids do not even have a chance to have a pair of shoes. Most of these children walk about 10km from home to the kids club or school barefoot. These are very challenging treks as they are primarily along dirt paths and rough terrain. 

“Our weekly kids clubs are designed to bring the children together for fun and friendship.  Activities include games, dramas, story time and singing, to name a few. These activities build community and emotional support for these children who are impacted by HIV/AIDS and poverty. In addition to our staff, these clubs are supported by local leaders.”

The first distribution by Hope Endeavors of 250 pairs of The Shoe That Grows went to kids at HOPE Village Orphan Care Center and HOPE Village Preschool in June 2025. An additional 275 pairs will be distributed in August to children attending Mpata Kids Club. 

Join The Sole to help provide more pairs of The Shoe for distribution by Hope Endeavors and other partners focused on poverty alleviation and humanitarian relief around the world.