I got an email today about TOMS One Day Without Shoes. According to http://www.onedaywithoutshoes.com, today is "the day we spread awareness of the impact a pair of shoes can have on a child’s life by taking off our own. Why? Millions of children live without proper footwear, exposing them to injury and disease every day." I think this is a reasonable thing for our community to discuss, so I've put my response to that email below. Any thoughts on One Day Without Shoes or the TOMS model? I'd love some pushback... ---------------------------------------- As your friendly neighborhood global development cynic, I should point out that in places I've worked (mostly East Africa), shoes are widely available and very affordable. Even if shoes were not readily available, going barefoot is the least of the concerns of folks who live in these communities where health and employment are the biggest problems. And so what makes this TOMS advertising campaign frustrating to me is that it's been shown that donations of clothing and shoes destroy economies in these very communities. This year there was a campaign called "A Day Without Dignity" that touched on some of these issues. "Why has it become so easy for people to start feel-good campaigns that no one asked for? There are a thousand things this village needs and nowhere on the list are t-shirts and shoes..." -- TMS Ruge from Uganda at http://projectdiaspora.org/wp-content/2011/04/05/shoes-the-least-of-our-prob... "TOMS, there are many ways for you to really make a difference. Invest in and share your expertise with local shoe businesses, leading to sustainable jobs. Donate some of your profits to support educational institutions, leading to more opportunities. These are things that people want, and promote their dignity. If you're not willing to do that, please drop your current marketing approach which oversells your impact, encourages self-absorbed charity, and is an affront to the dignity of the materially poor." -- Marshall Birkey at http://marshallbirkey.com/economic-development/aidwars-toms-shoes-vs-dignity... If you are interested, you can find out more at http://goodintents.org/in-kind-donations/a-day-without-dignity and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EaSlKqs6Fo I do think it's important to raise awareness, but it's also important to be cautious when it comes to issues of global development. It's almost always more complicated than it seems.