After 34 hours of travel and several lost bags in Frankfurt, the Herdegen family arrived in Addis Ababa, the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. There, they picked up 300 pairs of The Shoe That Grows, which were stored for them prior to their arrival. Scott recalls, “The boxes were the size of a couch.”

Distributing The Shoe That Grows in Ethiopia

After exploring the city and reuniting with their luggage, Scott, Tarah and their kids Chandler (16), Jack (14) and Tezeta (12) headed to distribute 300 pairs of The Shoe That Grows in a small village called Gimbichu, where their youngest daughter was born.

Months before the trip, the idea to distribute pairs of The Shoe That Grows came to School during a school assembly at Ridgevue High School, where he works as a counselor. When Scott heard Because International’s founder Kenton Lee speak to the students during the assembly, he knew this project was something that could empower students and foster compassion. So, Scott and the National Honor Society came together to plan a school fundraiser: Ridgevue High School would raise funds for 300 pairs of The Shoe That Grows during the fall semester.

While Tarah lined up funds and supplies for 157 water filters (her passion lies in the medical field), the shoes were ordered and the plan was set in motion. Shortly after, the National Honor Society made The Shoe That Grows fundraiser an annual endeavor with a pizza party incentive for students. However, The Shoe That Grows was more personal for students than the incentives. About students donating, Scott says, “If a high schooler knows one person is walking with shoes, they can sense the impact. It is tangible.”

Scott knew that they could reach out to other networks in the community but wanted this fundraising effort to be student-driven. As National Honor Society president, Sophronia Brice, puts it, “one of the coolest things that I’ve discovered is how willing everyone is in our community and in our school to step up and to be part of something bigger than themselves.”

Once in Ethiopia, the Herdegen family went from Addis Ababa to Hosaena, a town of about 80,000. From there, they crowded into a van atop boxes of shoes, hugging water filtration buckets, on their way to Gimbichu. With the road conditions, Scott recalls, “the drive from Hosaena to Gimbichu is about 30km but it took hours.”

Children in Ethiopia at a The Shoe That Grows distribution

When the family thinks back to the distribution day in Gimbichu, they smile as they remember the chaos and excitement. Children flocked to the van, wanting to know what, and who, was inside. Schools had closed, and many kids followed the car as it pulled into the village.

The Impact of Shoes

That afternoon, leaders of the Orthodox Christian church called out names over the buzzing crowd to locate each of the children receiving a pair. The church had taken care to find many children in need of shoes, but there were still children awaiting nervously. Tarah says, “You know there is such a need, and that’s why there was such a dispersion.” The children waiting did not have a backup pair.

After the shoe distribution, the Herdegens didn’t stay long. As Tarah put it, “We wanted to come in and do what we could but we didn’t want to stop their production of life.”

Though they left quickly, Tarah keeps in touch with many people in Gimbichu and Hosaena, and members of the Hosaena healthcare community say they are seeing children wearing the shoes. The pairs of The Shoe That Grows and the water filtration systems that Tarah distributed will last for several years, but their impact on the health and well-being of the community will last even longer.

For the Herdegen family, the impact is lasting as well. Scott and Tarah want Chandler, Jack, and Tezeta to use this trip as a building block for creating change in their local and global community. Tarah says, “I hope our kids have learned that they can step out and do anything.”

The family talks about plans to return to Gimbichu with a medical team for a longer period of time. Right now, though, they encourage their children to get engaged in causes they are passionate about. “I think it would be really cool to help in any way I can,” Chandler says. He adds that the trip “definitely got me thinking of things I can do.”

Thinking about the expense of travel before taking the trip, Tarah and Scott often debated back and forth. They asked, “Is it better if we had just sent the money?” But after talking with encouraging friends in Ethiopia, they found an answer. Just as friends in Ethiopia were hugely generous of their time, the Herdegens were able to share their time by distributing the shoes face to face. “It is better to go and see the faces you are giving the shoes to,” Tarah concluded, “because you’re more likely to want to help … It changes who you are as a person.”

Join The Sole to fund pairs of The Shoe That Grows for kids in communities around the world.

Photos courtesy of Bunce Photography and the Herdegen family