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nItnis illegal and unsafe to go many places without shoes. So…why wouldnpeople walk around barefoot all day long today?
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nMillionsnof children in the world have no proper footwear for ANY day of thenyear, and this is the day set aside to draw attention to that! Bynencouraging people who can afford shoes to go about their dailynbusiness without shoes—feeling the discomfort and vulnerability ofnhot or cold pavement, stickery plants and mucky mud, pebbles andntwigs and splintering wood—Tom’s Shoes and Partners in Health hopento make a real impact on people caring about those shoeless kids.
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nIt’snsooooo nice to be barefoot on a beach, a well-cared-for lawn, or innmy cosy, carpeted home. But going barefoot all the time, everywhere,nsummer and winter isn’t so much fun. Diseases plague many kids who gonbarefoot because they have no choice. Podoconiosis is just onendisease that could be prevented with proper footwear.
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nNaturally,nI don’t encourage you to injure yourself just to observe “One DaynWithout Shoes,” but if it’s safe and legal to do so, walk barefootnin public and tell people why you are doing it. An even betternresponse to the day is to make a donation of “lightly used” ornbrand-new shoes to a local charity—or donate money to Partners in Health.
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nBynthe way…
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nThosenof us who are lucky enough to be able to wear shoes every day—andneven choose which shoes to wear!—might also like to designnour own shoes. Here is a website showing a bunch of shoe-designnoptions.
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nAlsonon this date:
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nAnniversary of the first bananas sold in England