Credit: google images.

Something to think about…

Toms produce their shoes in India, Argentina, Ethiopia, and China. The exact locations of the factories is unknown,  probably for ‘legal reasons’. They  give plain black canvas shoes to over 50 countries, they give colorful shoes in Argentina to keep with tradition and they give winter boots in colder climates. They give shoes  in the same countries that they make them, so do they pay really fair wages but not give shoes to their kids because their families wouldn't be as poor as families who have somebody working in a factory making nothing? Or do they give them the same wages as other factories do and give their families shoes because they would still be considered poor? When it comes to this it all confuses me. Something else that I don’t understand is why they only give colorful shoes to kids in Argentina? They say its to keep with the tradition in Argentina  but why don’t they extend the same courtesy to other countries? They give in countries like South Africa,  Swaziland, Mexico, Romania, and Jamaica but surely those countries, along with the other countries they give in, have their own traditions and those should be kept with as well? So why don’t they give colorful and individual shoes to all the countries? Or why don’t they give all plain black or navy shoes in every country? 

Where am I wearing?

I know this is a little off topic because it is not fully about toms but I want to make you all aware of a book written by Kelsey Timmerman called “Where am I wearing?”. Although the title may suggest it is a debate on people wearing clothes that were made in horrible conditions and by people who get paid next to nothing to make them , its not. It is however a book about Timmerman travelling to different countries trying to find out where an outfit of his clothes comes from, although he says himself that it was more of just an excuse to get paid to travel! Anyway he goes on to find some of the factories that make is clothes and he interviews some of the people who work in these factories. More often not he finds that the workers are happy working in these factories as it gives them a job and some pay, however little it may be. He then discovered that working in a factories and the horrible conditions present there are some of the more ‘glamorous’ (for want of a better word)  jobs in these poor countries.  If you don’t work in a factory you are left with very little options as to where you work.  More often than not the workers n the factories just wanted the more developed countries to stay  out of it. So I ask you this: is toms better to just stay out of it or is it good to ‘help’ them?

Is it all for charity??

Toms give Shoes in over 60 of the world’s poorest countries including Haiti, India, Albania, Angola and Kenya. Toms give “sight” in 12 countries Bangladesh, Egypt and Paraguay. If you go onto the Toms web site you will see for yourself that they do in fact say they help over 60 countries by giving them shoes and vision but you will also see on their website that they have clothes, ‘tribal’ collections and even phone covers but nowhere does it say where the profit from these products goes. I mean don’t get me wrong I think that the whole one for one movement is really good and it is an idea that should be supported but some aspects of the company seem a little shady, like if we go to one of the places on their list are we going to see kids walking around with I-phone 4 covers or clothes with the toms logo printed on them? It’s not all bad though,  the money taken from those products might go into marketing or shipping but the fact that they don’t state what it actually goes to makes me a little specious as they have ONE FOR ONE printed all over their website. So I ask you this: should we be a little bit suspicious of Toms or should we just believe what we are told?

How and Where it all began.

In 2006 Blake Mycoskie, an American traveller from Arlington in Texas, returned to Argentina for the second time in his life (the first in 2002) this time as a tourist. He began to notice that all the local polo players  wore slip on canvas shoes called ‘alpargatas’ and he began to wear these kind of shoes as well. The farmers of Argentina have been wearing shoes like this for hundreds of years and this inspired the first designs for Toms shoes. The One for One movement began when Mycoskie was doing volunteer work outside a town called Buenos Aires and he noticed that most of the children had no shoes and were running across the streets barefooted. He was struck by the poverty in the village and he decided he was going to try and help them.  He decided that he was going to create a product to sell in North America and that all the profits would go into funding shoes for the “shoeless youth” in developing nations, not just in Argentina but as many as possible.  He set up Toms headquarters  in Santa Monica, which he says ‘is short for a "better tomorrow."’ and he began to make and sell his shoes to North America.

One for One Movement

"With every pair you purchase, TOMS will help a person in need. ONE FOR ONE"

Weather it's a new pair of shoes or a pair of sunglasses, with every purchase Toms will give to people in need. If you buy a pair of shoes Toms will give a free pair of shoes to somebody who has no shoes in a developing country. If you but a new pair of sunglasses Toms will help give sight to somebody in the developing world who cannot see properly. They provide eye tests, surgery and glasses- free of charge. "One for one"
 Toms provide shoes in more than 60 countries and they provide eyesight in 13 countries.
Why are shoes so important?
If you don't wear shoes your feet can get cut and infected, this will make walking very painful but it also means that you are more open to getting infections and more prone to picking up diseases.
 In some countries shoes are required to be able to attend school. Some children are denied an education because they simply cannot afford a pair of shoes or a uniform,  so by providing them with shoes we can help to further their education. In cases such as these Toms also helps to provide children with school uniforms.

Welcome to my blog! Hello my name is Samara and this is my blog about Toms footwear.