Citizen Bytes

I went barefoot for a month in the south Pacific (warm climate) after I forgot my shoes on a beach. I also enjoyed going barefoot in the summer when I lived in Victoria, BC (warmer there than in Port McNeill). Going barefoot is economical, convenient and gives me a sense of freedom. While in New Zealand and other south Pacific islands, I could go anywhere barefoot and nobody cared. It was only when I had to stopover in Los Angeles on the way home that I ran into problems trying to get into restaurants and on planes. Of course Bilaal'
s heart is in the right place, but there are far better causes than shoes!

Hats off, or should I say shoes off to you Bilaal!! It is important for us all to reflect and remember what an incredibly privleged life we lead here in Canada. I think that you have shown other young people that action to raise awareness can come in any form. Our single voices may not be that loud, but in many ways can be heard for miles.
Thank you

Aloha,

I just wanted to say that you are a very bright,& intelligent youngster. I'm sure you have many friends who would agree.

Keep up your great works, you are an inspiration for the youth and adults of this great planet earth.

Good Luck In Your Future!....(i follow you on Twitter, @DearDeb)

I can't go without shoes I always have a different pair and they are all designer for example my lime jimmy choo sandals or my puma sneakers or my ugg boots. Plus 12 year old UNICEF ambassador wow I am impressed.

Thank you all for great comments, people like you inspire me to keep going and make a difference.
Deb, Hawaii- exciting!

Bilaal
"Together We Can Make A Difference"

I went barefoot in Mexico for about a month one time, when I lost my flip-flops in the surf... until I was bitten by a scorpion while walking on a forest path. Not an experience I would wish to repeat.

When I was 12, lo these many years agone, I - like most of my peers - took off my shoes at the end of June and except for very rare occasions didn't put them on again until September. By the end of summer, our feet had soles like leather. Ah, those were the days. It wasn't about poverty, it was just more cool to be barefoot.

Hi Bilaal
Your example of walking a mile in someone else's shoes, or lack thereof, is an excellent way to understand poverty a little better and show solidarity with kids your age who don't go barefoot to be cool, or because they lost their shoes, or because sand feels nice between their toes. Your symbolic act to raise awareness and make the disparities in our world more real for those of us who have so much and think so little is admirable. I wish you continued success and all the best.

I do applaud your dedication, desire to help others and your selfless efforts Bilaal. You have much to be proud of and I'm certain your parents are beaming with pride!

It might surprise you to learn that bare feet are Healthier! Shoes put added stress on knees, ankles and arches. There is a huge number of clubs and groups devoted to going barefoot every moment possible; just google 'barefoot walking' and 'barefoot walking groups' who promote stronger, healthier feet through barefoot walking.
I too went barefoot from June to Sept as a child and even now I go barefoot as much as possible. The feet toughen up to the task :-)

blessings upon you Bilaal

Wow Bilaal!!

This is such a creative and eye-opening initiative! I'm really proud of all your achievements. For what its worth, your actions really inspire me!

Mr. Goodman, I think you missed Bilaal's point; the cause is not so much shoes (or lack thereof) but understanding the adversity and struggles that children in developing nations face every day.
Going barefoot in warmer climes as a tourist for a sense of "freedom" is quite different than what Bilaal is doing. There is a large difference between the choice of going without shoes because you want to be a hippy-dippy, and just not having any choice in the matter, and having to experience pain and suffering because of it. Indeed, I am guessing you would hardly volunteer to go out in one of our Canadian snowstorms without shoes.
Way to go Bilaal; I wish your school had been more supportive of you. As a teacher, I would have supported you 100%. I bow humbly before your heightened sense of social justice; the rest of us can only hope to learn from your fine example.

Check out the recording artist Michael Franti....he's been going without shoes everyday for years and years for the same cause of awareness.

I have read of this young man before and listened to him on the radio, and cannot begin to describe how impressed I am with his work. He brings a delightful energy and contagious sense of hopefulness in bringing awareness to child poverty. Undaunted (like people like me) by the scope of the work he has tackled, Bilaal Rajan’s fund-raising talents can only be described as phenomenal.

Thanks for this, Bilaal, and good luck in the future. Despite being old enough to be your grandmother I look up to you with respect and admiration.

This is a wonderful initiative. I won't look at my shoes the same way again!

Because of you, Bilaal, my shoes will serve as a daily reminder about the privilege I have, and act as incentive for me to participate more in making the world a more just and equitable place. Thank you.

Thanks for what you are doing for the needy. Can we people collect unwanted shoes and send to you or your organization for shipment?

Way to raise awareness of the conditions of poverty! Feet do get tough after a few weeks of being barefoot, but shoes are still a major health concern in warm climes. Many parasites can be picked up by bare feet, leading to all kinds of problems, from intestinal to ocular, and everything in between and beyond.

Keep up the good work!

Thank you, Bilaal, for reminding us of the poverty of many of the world's people. This may be the most important issue facing the human race in our time since it is often the underlying factor in the spread of disease, civil unrest and other factors that affect peoples' quality of life.

Thank you for your response. Glad to hear you went barefoot. Did you get a chance to reflect about it and find a cause to start volunteering? what causes are you passionate about? This is what the whole barefoot challenge is about. Making Change, one small step at a time.

Bilaal
"Together We Can Make A Difference"

I make a difference by not wearing shoes too! I've hardly every worn shoes for the last 6 years. But my reasons are a lot different. I don't want to wear shoes most of the time, and my feet are a lot stronger and my body is more fit because of it. I just ran 10 miles barefoot this morning! Most people who wear shoes all the time would end up in the hospital if they tried that. Bilaal went barefoot for a week and got a blister, and it "hurt pretty bad". Those people who go grow up barefoot have stronger and healthier feet than us. Maybe we can learn something from them. There are a lot of things wrong in poor third world countries, but people going barefoot is not one of them.

Doug Goodman, you're seriously missing the point, talking about all your high-end vacations and concluding with a dismissal of this young man's crusade. He is trying to raise funds for poverty, not compare luxury destinations. Same for Asyah - how extremely self-centred to proudly list all your designer footwear in an article about child poverty. I for one salute his impressive efforts and his humble manner of raising awareness - well, amongst some of us, anyway. Excellent job, Bilaal!

there is something about going barefoot out and about that puts us insulated 1st worlders a little more back in touch with nature. You have to be a little more aware of where each and every contact with the earth is taking place. Also, as young Mr. Bilaal reminds us, it gives us pause to consider others not as lucky or economically advanced as ourselves.

its a fun novelty for us, a sad everyday reality for much of the world.

good idea. the only reason i wear shoes is because i am short. and in the winter...

I lived my first 12 years in a very tropical climate.

We considered shoes as an inconvenience, but were forced to wear them to school, church, etc. Shoes were considered to be part of the dress code - i.e. no utiltarian function.

Being barefooted did not impair us from visiting friends, exploring the neighbourhood, playing soccer, running over stones, sunbaked sand, etc.

In terms of priorities, shoes did not even show up on my wishlist when living as a child in a warm tropical climate. The same was true for the other children who went to school with me.

Children in the Global South likely have difficulties seeing the issue related to this campaign.

Bare feet have keep me grounded to real life when the insanity of the modern world tries to sweep me off my feet. Bilaal, thank you for your leadership. When you are old enough, I hope you run for public office in bare feet. You have my vote

Growing up in near-tropical North America (Charleston, South Carolina) I was a shoe-resistant child from the age of 1 through my mid-teens. I just love the freedom of being barefoot in my house and my immediate yard.

I'd wear sandals or flip-flops over shoes any day of the week if the weather permits, and go barefoot wherever my feet aren't at risk.

What a great kid you are! Thinking of the sufferings of others is a sure way for you to be a future leader in this country. With leaders like you, our country will surely survive. Thank you for the great story and keep up the good work -- you are a treasure and great role model.

Really, where can we go but up when we have youthful ambassadors like Bilaal! Its true with adversity comes change! One voice at a time we can make a better world. Well done, Bilaal for all of your great works! Keep it up! We'll join you in making a difference!

Dear Bilaal, I'm a 61 years old medical doctor, during my childhood in these southern islands all children went barefoot, not out of poverty, but for practical and cultural reasons; now I still live and work barefoot out of choice.
I ask you to understand that the human body develops along a stimuli-answer process, you cannot judge how your non trained feet would perform living barefoot after just one week; it's like evaluating your muscle-building after a week of weight lifting.
Dear Bilaal, living barefoot is in fact healthier than using shoes, please read about the subject, I suggest you to give a look to www.barefooters.org.
I equally suggest you, in the most respectful way, to aim towards health and nutritional needs, these are really life-threatening disgraces in the third world.
From the southern tip of South America, un abrazo

Yeah, once you go for a while with no shoes, your feet get tougher & it's actually quite nice...I remember when I was little, my siblings & I would always go bare-foot in the summer, so every spring, as soon as the snow melted (so March) we'd have our ceremonious "spring toughen-up"

What this article fails to mention is that the people in these 3rd world countries for the most part can walk fine barefoot. By walking barefoot for a long period of time the skin n on the bottom of the foot thickens providing natural protection. How do you think we ran barefoot in the bush for much of our history? New research is also finding that it is actually harmful to not walk barefoot. By walking barefoot it is being shown that we actually cause less stress on our knees. By basically strapping flat boards to the bottom of our feet, which we do when wearing shoes, we are preventing the full use of an appendage that has undergone hundreds of thousands of years of evolution. Now I am not advocation that we all start walking barefoot in our modern urban jungles full of broken glass and sharp pieces of metal but I am just trying to point out that there is another side to this story. Walking barefoot is not necessarily a bad thing and I think there are much more important issues to be thinking about such as access to clean water and proper sanitation.

I understand and applaud the intent of what you're doing, though you might also want to consider googling "barefoot walking" or "barefoot running". There's actually growing interest and evidence that shoes really aren't very good for us - even though we can't imagine our lives without them. It makes for some interesting reading.

Well first of all to raise awareness is a splendid idea ... however your timing was off for the rest of Canada to participate. Calgary, normally enough as spring weather can be quite unpredictable, received snow - so try going around barefoot in snow (if you did, even the Inuit people would call you crazy). Secondly the blisters that you received are not as problematic with the impoverished nations as that the skin of the feet (or any skin in that matter) will develop protective callouses, so what you experienced was resultant of your less protected and sensitive feet receiving more wear than what they were accustomed to.
I hope this does raise awareness, but be careful in the future with such initiatives as that with bare feet (and ones that have broken skin) can pick up diseases or receive significant wounds.

I also had feet like shoe leather by the end of the summer, but even then it is torture to walk on a driveway of crushed shells, and very possible still to cut your feet on such things as broken glass. As well, there is a big difference between the novelty of not wearing shoes and the absence of a choice. Just as it may have been cool to do a sleep-a-thon or 24-hour famine, it is NOT cool when you simply have to get up and work 16 hours as a day as a little child, or actually do not have enough to eat. The fact that in general we in the developed West have the CHOICE whether to wear shoes is much more important than whether we like it or not. Ever hear "no shirt, no shoes, no service"?

Being on holiday (if you can afford a foreign holiday, I'm sorry, but you ARE affluent and have many choices in life) is not the same as having to run around around city streets filled with dangers with no shoes, or having to climb around on piles of garbage picking for useful items with no shoes on.

I just want to say to all those who think that this 12 year old wasted his time because you like going barefoot. I think there is a very large difference between someone who can afford shoes choosing to not wear them and not having shoes because it is not an option.

To all those that think this wasn't the best way to raise money, you obviously have never been forced to do without.

I commend this 12 year old and the work he is doing we could all take an example him.

Yes, Bilaal,
I am very appreciative of all your dedication to bring attention to the many issues of the hardship of peoples', especially children's, lives in the developing world. When young people take up activism it helps to change the mindset of others, even those set in their ways! Good luck to you.

I think making people aware of the conditions that we could do something about, like child poverty are noteworthy. However, I think we also need to be discerning in our response to certain efforts. Rather than have people live without their shoes for a week to 'see what it is like' I would rather see everyone donate a pair of shoes to the people who really need them. Let's face it there are reasons that in certain circumstances shoes are necessary. What's that old saying - be part of the solution rather than part of the problem.

Please don't send your used shoes to us. Please don't project your needs on us. We understand that you may take many things for granted and you think that sneakers, MacDonalds and Walmarts are natural components of life, but please don't force them on us. Please consider for a single moment that it could be patronizing and offensive.We can survive shoeless as we have done for centuries, we don't need to look like you. Children in Africa die (this very moment)of starvation not of barefooting, sending shoes is a mockery of help. Please focus in food and clean water.
From the rainy shores of Patagonia.

Kudos to you young man for an awareness of poverty. However, I would like to inform you that barefoot is the most natural manner to live. I am a barefooter and the only time I am in shoes is when working. Being barefoot is healthy and natural. Our feet were not intended to be imprisoned in those coffins called shoes. Visit the Society for Barefoot Living or Barefoot Lifestyle websites for accurate and informative information regarding barefooting.

Dear All,
Thank you for your messages. I think some of you are missing the point of barefoot, I would like to clarify. I wanted to bring awareness to plight of children in developing world which is my passion and wanted people to find their passion and start volunteering for causes each one is passionate about. This is the reason it was tied to volunteer week.

Thank you all for your support and taking the time to write the responses.

excellent! how lucky parents are,I think you are the only one who pledge an preciou golden jubillee nazrana to mowlabapa,& opened everybody's eyes I WALK BARE FOOT. when we have walk.Bilal could you add me as your friend. thank you.

I believe it's a wonderful thing to see a 12 year old to be so commited to helping others. Just goes to show you can't under estimate someone because of their age.

It's not about shoes, it's about poverty. However, this may work to solve the mystery of the thousands of shoes deposited on a bridge in the US.

Maybe it is time for people to start walking toward a more inclusive society.

Great idea and follow-through Bilaal Rajan!
I am reminded of: One small step for man, one giant step for mankind.

Wow, I think that I may go barefoot for a day as soon as my ankle has healed. This is amazing.

I really like the idea of this. I find it must be difficult to do so with rocks and other things hitting you're feet. This however just means that you're feet got tougher I'm presuming. Anywhoo, this seems pretty interesting, and to know that somebody like you could do this, it makes me interested in the children who can't afford shoes. Ciao

This is very big money!! awesome!
before I didn't wear the shoes, It's very painful if you walking on the rocks or very hard road.
any way I amaizing about this news