In My Shoes is a non-profit organization that strives to provide comfortable and durable school shoes for all school going children in poverty-stricken communities in South Africa. With the support of donors, volunteers and school uplifting programs we aim to identify public schools in the provinces within South Africa and to bring awareness of the need for school shoes and effective distribution.
With unemployment being the key driver to poverty UNICEF reported in the Children’s Rights to an Adequate Standard of Living” publication that In South Africa, 11.9 million children (64% of all children) live in income poverty-stricken communities. The families in these communities focus on providing the bare minimum basics to the household with the focus being food and shelter.
In My Shoes wants work in partnership with donors to impact the lives of school going children and allow them to enjoy the benefits of protected feet from the cold in the winter seasons and also the joys of kicking a ball, running around without the worry of getting injured on happy summer days. In Addition to the shoe initiative, In My Shoes understands that there are more aspects that affect the livelihood of school going children such as the need for reading books to children promote foundation learning and promote literacy and also the need for sanitary pads for school going girls to reduce the numbers in school drop out because of challenges of accessing the basics needs for girls to get proper personal hygiene and sanitation through sanitary pads and also the softer more fundamental enablers such as stationary.
These aspects will serve as a compliment to the shoe distributions to ensure that there is a holistic approach to serving a community and also the children as individuals.
Please list links to your Website and Social Media Platforms here:
website: http://inmyshoesza.org
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/InMyShoes100
Describe in detail what your Organisation does:
n My Shoes is driven to reach out to poverty-stricken communities that are far to reach and distances away from urban areas, these are villages, farming communities and in informal settlements where the existing conditions are a challenge to school going children. In My Shoes will work with the schools in these communities to identify the age, sex and grade of the children and their shoe sizes to ensure an effective exercise of donating shoes that fit comfortably. The donations can either be through individuals, groups or organizations. Each shoe box will be accompanied by a message of motivation and encouragement.
The shoe distributions will be an ongoing initiative and in this process In My Shoes will strive to come up with sustainable models to ensure an annual yearly supply of shoes to the children in the identified communities to achieve seeing the children through to the end of their matric.
In My Shoes aims over time to have mapped out the schools in the poverty-stricken communities to provide its donors with numbers and targets on schools to assist donors in fitting their personal drives on assisting with creating concrete impact. This will be made possible by the partnership with the schools, volunteers and donors who aim to alleviate the burden of no shoes vs the need to focus on education and future success for school children.
How long has your Organisation been operational?
1 year
In your opinion, what has been the most challenging aspect of running your Organisation?
Funding
Describe your Nonprofit Journey in three words:
In My Shoes is a fairly new organization which is a passion project that is still in it’s growing stages. We have not yet been able to reach out to many rural schools due to limited funds and also to avoid bringing up hopes of schools as we do not have a stable pipeline as yet.
Do you collaborate with other Causes? If yes, would you like to mention them?
We are willing to collaborate with other causes such as school libraries, sanitation, mentoring etc
If you had one Organisation wish, what would it be?
Funding and branding support
In your opinion, which skills do Nonprofits in your Country lack?
The ability to provide M&E and also a strong narrative on impact on-ground
Looking back at your Cause Journey, what advice would you give a newbie Organisation?
As a newbie organisation, I would advise that once you have a cause, run with it and though the journey may be challenging there is greater fulfilment in doing something you love
If you could change one thing about the Nonprofit Landscape, what would it be?
The funding models that turn to come with the mandate to address a specific cause whereas the NPO could have a more effective strategy to address a specific community for better results
Which Cause achievement are you most proud of? Feel free to elaborate on why and include any links:
We are still a work in progress
Last question, if your friends had to describe your Organisation in three words, which would they use?
Exciting
Fulfilling