Tag: travel

This Means Happiness

On a Monday afternoon in the humid forests outside of Tela, Honduras, a group of 15 Soles4Souls travellers caravan down rough, dirt paths with bags of shoes strapped to the top of vans. Upon arriving to the first distribution of the week, the group learns the only way to the remote village of La Vente […]

Every Little Bit Matters

What were you like as a second grader? Do you remember your classroom? Your teacher’s name? At recess, did you race to the swingset or to the basketball hoop? Were you happier about the first day of school—or the last day before summer break? For the great majority of kids in the United States, having […]

This Spring, Help Make a Difference Through the Gift of Shoes

The dawn of spring often brings travel plans for millions of people around the country. Eager to beat the winter blues or take advantage of school breaks, many of us pack our bags and head to sunny vacation destinations. Spotting an exotic capuchin monkey while hiking the rainforest in Costa Rica, swaying to the reggae […]

Struggle and Hope in the Batey

Life on less than $1.90 per day is defined as extreme poverty. Extreme because it deprives its victims of the most basic needs—including an adequate pair of shoes. Extreme because it stretches the limits of what a human being should bear, adding impossible complexity to even the most mundane tasks. There are few places where this extreme […]

See how the Simple Gift of Shoes Gives Julio Hope

Where’s Julio? A question the teachers at the Hermano Pedro school in Antigua, Guatemala ask often. The answer is usually found in the kitchen, where this mischievous eight-year-old boy likes to hide. After sipping from the milk jug, that is. Beneath Julio’s playful spirit lies the heart of a fighter. He has down syndrome and has […]

Serving the Underserved

While serving those in need of immediate relief will always be a fundamental part of our impact, creating sustainable employment opportunities for people in need is essential to finding a long-term solution to poverty. Soles4Souls has direct micro-enterprise operations in Haiti, Honduras, Transnistria and Sierra Leone, and we have witnessed firsthand the positive impact our […]

A Full Circle Moment in Transnistria

Lena Ahremtseva was raised in a Transnistrian orphanage with 200 other children from birth through the age of 16.   “Our days were all alike,” said Lena. “We would wake up, go to classes held there, and then we had free time for a couple of hours, but we could not leave the grounds. Then […]

A Commitment to Change

Working in partnership with NicaRise, an organization in Nicaragua committed to creating sustainable economic change, Soles4Souls will begin supplying entrepreneurs with a consistent supply of high-quality, affordable shoes and clothes so that they can begin earning an income. To say that launching a new micro-enterprise operation was an easy task, however, would be deceiving.   […]

Change is Possible

This past holiday season, we had three amazing families leave the comforts of their homes to celebrate the season with us in Haiti to give back through the gift of shoes. Among them were Laura and Mark Howard and their 12-year-old daughter Kaia.   The Howards and their three children live in East Tennessee, a […]

Sometimes One Word Says It All

A lot happens on our international shoe distributions. There’s the obvious process itself, of course.   Men, women and even kids from different cities, backgrounds and walks of life volunteer to give back. They load and unload bags of shoes together, sweat together, laugh and cry together, and make new friendships that last a lifetime. […]