Written by Michelle Cascio
If the beggars inLivingston, Zambia, had mistaken the Harding University student as Santa Claus for handing out free shoes, it would have only been the children.
All the parents were blind.
“My favorite memory is putting shoes on a blind lady that had probably never owned a pair of shoes in her life and watching her face light up and hear her laugh,” says Harding University junior Molly McCoy.
McCoy had come to realize through her five trips to Livingston that the blind beggars were in need of shoes. With over 50 pairs in her own closet, McCoy wanted to share the simple luxury of owning a pair of flip-flops. She decided to fundraise and distribute flip-flops to the beggars in Livingston.
“Shoes are something that everyone there needs, even if they already have a pair. They walk everywhere and shoes are vital,” she said.
About 10 years ago, the Zambian government had taken blind beggars from the city and left them in a desolate area— to die. It was there that McCoy’s family friends, the Bmwayes, found the beggars and started a village that now hosts over eight families.
Though these beggars now have a safe place to stay, they still lack certain necessities. The fix McCoy found were flip-flops for only a dollar per pair.
McCoy bought the shoes at a Dollar Tree in the United States and brought them overseas. She hopes to be sponsored one day and send tennis shoes. Until then, McCoy has been raising money locally to support the funding.
Last year McCoy raised enough money to bring over a hundred pairs of flip-flops. She attempts to do the same this year. To raise the money, she turned to her sisters in Delta Gamma Rho, her social club, for support.
Senior Kaitlin Coss donated without thinking twice. “It’s really easy to think of ourselves as poor college students. We don’t think that we’re rich to the rest of the world. But donating even a little helps us remember that we still have a lot more than other people do,” she said.
Junior Steph Carr agreed. She said that there was no reason why she shouldn’t give if it was only a dollar.
However, besides the lack of shoes, McCoy sees a greater need in the community.
“What I think is needed is people to be over there to simply love them and show them love. […] The thing that always sticks out the most is simply the smiles on the Africans faces and hearing them sing songs long into the night. They have nothing but yet live a happier life.”
McCoy is making her sixth trip to Livingston next July. She hopes to move there one day to spread the joy she has found in Christ. McCoy says we should all reach out of our comfort zone and help those less fortunate, which is something she certainly is putting into action.
