The Shoe That Grows: The clever shoes that grow five sizes and last five years to help children in poverty

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Most parents will be familiar with the rate of growth of children’s feet and the constant need for new shoes, but a clever new shoe invention is hoping to solve this for the billions of children living in extreme poverty around the world, who go to school barefoot and are infected with soil-transmitted diseases.

The Shoe That Grows can grow up to five sizes and promises to last five years or more as they’re made with simple, quality materials of leather, compressed rubber and snaps. As described on the website, the shoe has “no mechanical parts of gears to break”, it’s easy to clean and easy to use.

The clever and patented design come in size Small (to be worn from Kindergarten to 4th Grade) and Large (to be worn from 5th Grade to 9th Grade) with the idea that the whole time kids are in school, they will have a pair of shoes that fit their fast-growing feet.

Its founder Kenton Lee, who came up with the idea while he was living and working in Nairobi, says: “We believe in creating innovative products that can help people living in extreme poverty around the world, helping them in really simple, practical ways.”

But more than its practicality, these shoes are helping protect the feet of children in poverty, “keeping them healthy and happy”, helping to tackle the over two billion people in the world suffering from soil-transmitted parasites and diseases.

By donating $10 (approx. £6.50), a new pair of these innovative shoes will be given to a kid in need. They’re currently being distributed in the most needed towns of Ecuador, Haiti, Ghana and Kenya.