One of the refugee children we helped today was a boy, about 11 years old. He had blisters and red sores all over his feet. This is very likely from having walked up to 20 kilometers in Greece, in shoes that were too small. He had to be carried in by one of our volunteers as he was unable to walk.

William cleaned his feet with antiseptic wipes, got him new socks, and applied a high quality foot cream to his feet. We then proceeded to find the right shoe size. But William wanted to find the softest shoes for this boy because his skin was quite chafed and was broken in places. William dug through boxes and boxes of shoes until he found the perfect boots, with soft lining like lambswool. When the boy saw these shoes and tried them on, his face lit up for the first time. He actually had not smiled up until that point. I could see that his mother was also hugely happy and relieved, as we had managed not only to find new socks and shoes for the boy, but to find the most comfortable boots possible. We gave them a tub of foot cream to bring with them for the remainder of their journey.

Fortunately, Ziko London had just gone off in the middle of the night to buy more shoes. He was worried we might run out because so many refugees needed shoes that night. And we were very glad he did.

We are not there to randomly distribute. We are there to do whatever we can for each refugee we see, and to give as much personalized attention as possible. Details matter to us.

– Megan Tucker

To learn more, or to help, visit https://www.facebook.com/winterclothessyrianrefugies/ and https://charityunited.us/donate/