florrie balder: Gigante gets some ?Sole?

Monday, May 21, 2012

Gigante gets some ?Sole?

Locals look through the shoes for their size and style

Sometimes in this fast paced world, when you are trying to motivate a village and struggle through small time fundraisers, and you think you might be the only one left to contribute in a destination full of ?just passing through? backpackers, you find someone who wants to help, and they come out of the blue.? Amanda Rubano, a high school student in Connecticut, was just that person.?? After visiting Nicaragua with her family a year earlier, Amanda knew that she had to do something to help the people in the village of Gigante, near where she stayed.?? She went on a mission, in her hometown of Madison, to collect as many pairs of shoes that she could bring down here, for the people of Gigante.? They had a great outpouring from generous neighbors, collected upwards of 500 pairs of shoes, chose the best of the bunch, packed them in duffle bags and came down with her family and two friends.

Amanda Rubano and her friends who brought the shoes from Connecticut

After coming in contact with Sweet Water, we deliberated on how to use the shoes.?? We knew we?couldn?t just give them away, as it teaches no lesson, and always ends up in chaos.? I mean, literal chaos?pushing, fighting, and screaming until the last item is gone.?? So in contrast of the chaos, we decided that we would sell the shoes for very affordable amounts and fundraise for the women?s softball team of Gigante.? This is a new year for the softball team, and each year, their expenses are upward of $500, including transport to the games (no one has a car here, and games can be 45 minutes away), umpire and scorekeeper fees.?? Last year, our first fundraiser for the team, made a meager $200 and thankfully we had some very generous donors who helped us reach the rest of our goal.

Sweet Water encourages all the women and girls of the community to be active, and team sports is a great way to build comradery, learn goal-setting skills, get fit, build self confidence and improve performance in other areas of life, like school or work.? Sweet Water thrives to motivate the women to be a part of the softball team, and improve the conditions of the field to create not only a group of motivated, fit women, but also to create a tourist attraction at a place which already brings the community together, in order to build community moral, and to make more jobs for the local women (i.e. a concession stand with refreshments and food at the games).

The girls did a beautiful job painting kid's faces at the Shoe Fair

The day was a Saturday, and we set up shop outside the Sweet Water Store.? We had 300 pairs of good quality American shoes marked at less than Nica prices, a little bbq grill heating up homemade El Salvadorian pupusa?s and Nicaraguan enchiladas, and a tropical cocktail for the tourists stopping by.?? We had good, energetic music pumping and a mass collection of locals scouring the shoes for their size and style.?? These shoes were nice too, there was something for everyone: classy nude strappy heels, Saucony running shoes, Addidas street kicks, barely worn leather boats shoes? these were class act quality.

Amanda and her friends took to face painting for the children of the shopping mothers, and the volunteers from the Softball team took to controlling the crowd and becoming stern, yet charming saleswomen.?? We introduced new bags of shoes incrementally, and the fun went on for about three hours until every single last pair of shoes were sold.

The next day we saw little girls in birthday dresses with brand new Wizard of Oz ruby slippers, women from our exercise group in shiny white runners, and the teens rocking colored high tops.? We made an astounding $564 after expenses toward the softball team, and we celebrated in the smiles of the girls, knowing that we wouldn?t have to beg for rides, walk to the games, or beg for money to pay the scorekeepers.? This was a great effort by all volunteers, a great party for all involved, and a great day for the shoppers of Gigante who got good shoes at a good price for a good cause.?? Special thanks to Amanda Rubano and crew, who created the ?Soles of Nicaragua? project to collect the shoes, and came all this way to help our little village.