Barefoot Smiles

Fish pedicure

 There is a unique phenomena here in Asia when it comes to shoes and feet. It's hard to explain but in many countries like Japan and Korea the culture is very particular about where you should put your shoes and what shoes you should wear in certain places. Your feet should not get dirty, and dirt from outside should never get inside your home. Also there are numerous different ways to treat your feet to a little R & R with some ways being quite exotic; such as a fish pedicure. This is where the client will put their feet in a modified aquarium and the fish will bite the dead skin off of their feet. Supposedly it does not hurt, it only tickles a little bit, but it seems so gross to me so I won't 

be trying it!

I remember when I first arrived in Korea and was told that at school I was not allowed to wear my regular shoes; I had to wear different work 'indoor' slippers. I would constantly accidentally walk outside in them or walk home in them as changing my shoes when I came to work was so odd to me and a completely new sensation. My Korean coworkers would be appalled if I ever left the building in my slippers as I was getting them dirty and bringing that dirt from outside back into the building. It all seemed so clean, so proper, but also so obsessive. There were multiple reasons to change your shoes, with one being the nicer wood floors that they wanted to keep looking like new that were in the classrooms. But also it was just the custom. The children here would have their regular outdoor shoes and then have their indoor shoes that they left at school and changed into when they arrived. Their indoor shoes look like this:

 There would be a wall of shoes in each classroom at school as well as shoes 

still on every child's feet.

 

 When I get reprimanded at work for letting a child accidentally go home in their 'indoor shoes' I can't help but think it's ridiculous. God forbid your child leaves in a shoe that is less stylish or not what you consider good enough for the outdoors. Most of them are just like crocks and are just fine to be outside in, so if a child slips past me in the wrong footwear its truly not that serious. How far do the kids have to go anyway before they are home and able to change into another pair of shoes they own......onto the bus and then off again? Is it really something to be so upset about?

At least your child has shoes.....and numerous pairs at that......

When I went to India on a mission trip my heart broke for the children who had no shoes. It was more common for children to be running up and down the slums barefoot than to have shoes, let alone many pairs. Many of their families could not afford such a luxury as shoes and so their calloused feet became accustom to constantly feeling the earth beneath their toes.

The few kids that did have shoes usually had flip flops, and whenever they entered a church they kicked them off outside. In their culture it is a sign of respect to take off your shoes as you enter a church so I would follow their lead and go inside barefoot. We would worship and pray feeling cold cement or sometimes just the ground, in some of the poorest areas, underneath our feet and it made me feel very connected with God. There were no indoor shoes needed in a church where the floor was the same as the ground. Dirt was already inside getting in between our toes and God was invading our hearts. In this instance we may have been in a poor country where shoes were scarce, but in that moment they seemed overrated. 

When I went to Belize it was the same story. If the kids had shoes they were torn apart and completely ragged. I remember seeing the kids running around a field right outside of the church we were volunteering at, and the field was covered in trash including some glass bottles. I was worried sick about these kids stepping on glass and cutting their foot open but they kept playing games and laughing and having fun. Their feet were calloused and scarred from God knows what, and they were often covered in mosquito bites as well. These were all problems a good pair of shoes could have prevented, but they were too poor to afford such a luxury. Many of the children that came to the church for our activities said they had a pair of shoes, like flip flops or something, but the farther we traveled away from the church to serve the community, the more barefoot people we would encounter. These were some kids that I met when my team delivered a hot meal and ate dinner with their family. 

 We played in the street while other adults prepared the plates of food, and not one of them had shoes to wear. My heart strings were continually tugged as I stomped around in my sturdy sneakers. With every step that hit the ground I kept hearing "Your so blessed, your so blessed, your so blessed." People don't think about the simple things in life, like a pair of shoes to be such a blessing, but around the world it is a luxury that is hard to come by. 

The Korean children I teach daily have no idea how lucky they are to have been born on this side of the world with parents that not only can afford outdoor shoes but indoor ones too. They are taught to be extremely concerned about not bringing dirt from the outside into school or anywhere else, because their beautiful little feet must stay clean. They have no idea that children around the world go to school in places that the floor is the ground, so this concern would be invalid.

I look at my closet and I think of how spoiled I am with my numerous heals, sturdy running shoes, and trendy flats. I've got shoes for every season, and am in considerable abundance with what I own. I choose not to pity the kids I met abroad because although they do not have shoes they have something that many of the Korean children I teach do not. They have a grateful spirit for even the smallest things; your time, your love, or your gifts. I have always held in my heart the spirit of the kids that I met in India and Belize and remembered their joy amidst their poverty. They taught me that I'm extremely lucky to have a choice of whether I want to wear shoes tomorrow or not. I also learned that sometimes you just have to run around barefoot with the innocence and worry free attitude of a child.