More Photos!

These are some great photos taken when the first shipment of Crocs arrives at the orphanage. The excitement is visible on each and every child face. The orphans range in age from infants to teenagers as you can see in the pictures. I can't wait to send the next shipment over to these children. My father is working on a container to ship over int he next year and I would love to have a bunch of Crocs to send at that time so keep them coming. The containers cost thousands to ship so they don't send them often but man would I love to get 50-100 pairs of Crocs to send at that time. There are 180 orphans to clothe at the orphan village so when your children grow out of their Crocs please think of sending them to the adresses in the first posting on this site. If you would like a tax deductible receipt just ask for one when you send the Crocs and one can be provided for your donation.

Unrest in the Congo.

My Dad was planning to head back over to the Congo in late January or early February but unrest has become too severe. The orphan village is safe thus far as it is located on an island far enough away from Goma. The main problem is that my Father would have to travel through Goma to get there, and that is not safe. According to the Director of the program (Desire Murhima) who lives in Goma, all businesses and schools have shut down in Goma. He has said that his wife and children are out on the island for safety reasons and that he is only in Goma to wrap up loose ends. He has been in contact with my Dad and has said the fighting is heavy and that there is no more vehicle traffic in the city due to the unrest. I found a news article about the issues facing Goma. My father is planning to go back over as soon as some stability has been regained over there. In the meantime Crocs collection continues. It is only a matter of time before my Dad can make it back over there. These kids need all the Crocs we can collect. They have nothing and are so excited for anything that they receive.

The Many Uses of Crocs.

The first sets of crocs arrived at the orphanage. The kids loved them. This pair was donated by someone in Vancouver, WA at the School for the Blind. They saw my post on Craigs List and emailed me and I picked them up from the school. They were a great used pair of red Crocs.

A very special orphan on the Island of Idjwi now has a pair of shoes that they shared with their stuffed animal. These children have nothing and value everything that comes their way.

PLEASE KEEP THE CROCS COMING.

UPDATE: "Crocs for Oprphan Tots"

My father has been on a trip to the Congo. He took over 12 pairs of the Crocs that I had collected. He was supposed to go over with a group of 12 individuals including my Mom. They were going to be working on a project together but unrest has erupted 30km away and so the group was scaled down to a group of 3 (2 doctors and a nurse).

I received an email from Dad that said everything went well and the crocs were a great success. He said he will email me pictured when he gets back. So I will post pictures and give a more detailed update sometime soon.

Russell and Me off to school!

One of my favorite pictures from my childhood is this one of Russell and I headed to school in Mugonero. We were the only foreign children to have ever enrolled in the Local village of Mugonero school. I was in first grade.

The only school supplies we had were slates and a slate stone to write with and we were lucky as most of the local kids couldn't even afford that.

In order to go to school all children had to have uniforms. This was too much expense for many and for others they were the only pair of clothes they owned. All children, boys and girls, had to keep their heads shaved to. I started school there with long hair and a few weeks into the school year I begged my Mom to shave my head. I was tired of the kids touching my hair all the time as they had never seen a white kid before and they had never touched hair like that. I also wanted to fit in ... so my Mom cried as she shaved off all my hair. I loved it and I still think it looked better like that than when my Mom gave me poodle perms a few years latter.

If you could look through the trees behind Russell and me, you would look across lake Kivu and see the island of Idjwi where the orphans live.

Where are the Orphans?

The orphans and orphanage are located in Goma and on the Island of Idjwi. The island is located in the middle of lake Kivu between the Democratic Union of Congo and Rwanda. You can see the island on this map.

Crocs for Orphan Tots

I am looking for people who have used (still wearable) or new children’s “Crocs” (or similar croc like shoe) that they are willing to donate for a children’s orphanage in Africa. If you would be willing donate and send me any Crocs you or your children may not need or use anymore I will get them directly to the Orphans that are in need of them. Please leave a comment if you have any questions for me. All sizes needed!!! Some of the children are young and some are teens/young adults. prolasa.org is the website where you can see the orphans and read about the program. ************************************************************************ My connections to this cause:

1. I have a shoe obsession so why not.
2. I grew up in this same very poor area of Africa and I have such a fondness for the people of this region.
3. My father is a family practice physician who raised our family in the African country of Rwanda. He now volunteers his time for the non-profit organization (PROLASA) in the Congo near where I grew up. PROLASA runs an orphanage that he helps support and it has 180 children in its care. I just received the newsletter from my Dad requesting help getting shoes for the kids. Included in the letter was a picture in it of three of the orphan’s feet, one without shoes, one with sandals falling apart and the last one with flip flops that aren’t holding up. Looking at that picture I had a “light bulb moment” and realized the perfect shoes for that region are Crocs. They can handle water and mud in the rainy season and they are durable and cleanable. I know these would be great for these kids because I grew up playing in the same location as these children.
   

Please help me with this cause.

Please mail any Crocs you would like to donate to:

In the USA:
"Crocs for Orphan Tots"
C/O: R. Wecker
376 Green St,
Clinton, MA 01510

In Canada:
"Crocs for Orphan Tots"
C/O: B. Wecker
2137 Route 109
Arthurette, NB E7H 4B6