Shoes to Share

Shoes to Share

Andy & Ellen Collins – Nepal

It’s mid-January in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal.

Imagine snow…cold, icy snow on the ground…

Andy & Ellen Collins – Nepal

It’s mid-January in the Himalayan kingdom of Nepal.

Imagine snow…cold, icy snow on the ground…

And now imagine a pair of little bare feet gingerly making their way through that snow to collect firewood…

In Jumla, in far west Nepal, many people are so poor that they cannot afford to buy their children shoes. In the summer it doesn’t matter as much—kids are used to running around on the stony ground—but once the weather changes, and the snow begins to fall, it’s a different story. The United Mission to Nepal has sought to raise the standard of living among these Jumli people through education, health and development work, but change takes time…and many kids still walk barefoot in the snow—or tie plastic bags around their feet.

Meanwhile, scattered throughout Nepal are people of the Sarki caste, that is, the leatherworkers, who are some of the poorest and most despised among the Hindu castes. They make their living tanning and sewing things from the hide of cattle that have died from natural causes. Many years ago a missionary with the United Mission worked with these people and taught them new skills so that they could expand their market for leather goods. Among the things they learned to make were hats, belts, bags and…shoes.

So how do these two scenarios fit together? Well, during his time in Nepal, CGMB missionary and videographer Andy Collins has produced videos about many different projects run by the United Mission. These have included both the project to train the leatherworkers and the project to help the people in Jumla. While the Collins’ were on home assignment a few years ago, they showed the Jumla video to many congregations. On one occasion a church asked if there wasn’t something the children of their congregation could do to reach out to the children of Jumla. This gave Andy an idea. He suggested that funds be raised to help pay Sarki shoemakers to produce leather shoes for Jumli children. In this way both groups of people would benefit.

The church responded, and currently the project is underway. The little gifts of some caring kids in the USA will make a big difference in how some little feet half way around the world will feel in the snow this Winter. Sturdy, warm shoes for the bare feet of a Jumli child; extra income to enable a Sarki father to buy his own children school supplies…these are gifts that change lives. God’s gifts…enough for all to share.

Written by Ellen Collins
Missionary in Nepal, with Andy and sons Christopher and Jonathan

Andrew & Ellen Collins are missionaries with the United Mission to Nepal. Andrew works as an audio-visual consultant with the Development Communications Productions of the United Mission to Nepal in United Mission in Kathmandu. Ellen is responsible for the primary health care training and the development of training skills, curricula and materials for the United Mission to Nepal in Kathmandu.