An amazing girl and a tired way of thinking...

Last week, my parents told James and me about a spectacular young woman named Victoria, who decided to go one year without wearing shoes in order to raise awareness about the need for shoes in Haiti and money to purchase 365 pair of Crocs to send over.

This girl's heart humbles me. I wish I'd been as aware of the whole wide world as she is at her age. I covet her spirit to do something, and to sacrifice herself to draw attention to a need. She is absolutely ahead of the game when it comes to loving others and wanting to serve humanity. I admire her, and I can't wait to see what she will accomplish with her life.

There is a side to this story, however, that is a little disheartening. First, watch this video so you can just totally fall in love with Victoria. Especially, I adore and identify with what she says at the very end. I'm sure that almost everyone who has been to Haiti can say the same thing, if not with such simple eloquence.



Haiti Follow-Up Shoot from Alex Jeffries on Vimeo.

To recap: Between the Jeff Probst show, this sweet girl, and Crocs, they sent and distributed 730 pair of shoes. This is great for the 730 recipients of the shoes; it's great for the economies in which these Crocs are manufactured; it's great for whatever shipping service was used to move all of those shoes; and, of course, it's great Crocs and the Jeff Probst show (PR-wise)...

But what about the Haitian economy? Are there no shoe-makers in Haiti? Although it would take more time and effort to partner with local artisans in order to perform a large-scale give-away like this, ultimately, it would be better for the country this girl wants to much to help.

We get so caught up in the "we rich Americans are going to send some cool stuff to those impoverished people" that we run the risk of doing a thing that looks great on television and makes us feel like we've done something, but if we could just slow down and try to involve the people we're trying to help in the decision-making and implementation processes, we could actually make a long term difference for a lot of people.

It's a little ridiculous, but sometimes I get the feeling that this is how we might come off to other people.