It’s often said that children are the hope for the future, their future begins with what we can do for them now. As soon as I had my first baby, seeing any child going through hardship put a lump in my throat and tugged at my heart.
Now as a new mother of two that feeling has multiplied and continues to do so each time I see a child in need. With the widespread corruption even on the streets, I pray that every sampaguita I buy actually goes to the child selling it and not to a syndicate.
It’s important that private groups take matters into their own hands to help impoverished settlers, especially the children as the government is overrun with their own problems and understaffed to manage it all. Recently I learned that Sueño de Espadrilles, the company that catapaulted Manila into an espadrille craze launched the Soles of Hope advocacy in partnership with YesPinoy Foundation with the support of Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Rhian Ramos, Sueño de Espadrilles’ endorser says of the project, “I am so happy and excited to be part of this wonderful partnership between Sueño de Espadrilles and YesPinoy Foundation. The Soles of Hope advocacy offers children the opportunity to achieve their dreams one step at a time. And I look forward to walking beside them every step of the way.”
The Soles of Hope Program will raise funds to help impoverished children in areas such as Manila, Rizal, Cebu and Davao by honing their talents and skills so that they in turn can have hope for a future.
In our family, each child was required to play an instrument. I remember our father playing classical music every Saturday morning as the family spent time together, naming each of the instruments in different concertos. As soon as we were old enough to choose an instrument, my sister and I were taken to a music store to pick an instrument we wanted to play. I chose to play the flute and continued to do so until I was 18.
“Playing an instrument was a way for me to escape reality and to create something beautiful. Similarly, one of the projects under the Soles of Hope advocacy of Sueno de Espadrilles aims to help the musically included Sama Dilaut children who have traveled all the way from Mindanao in the hopes of finding better lives in Manila.
“These children who reside around the Manila Bay area create and play musical instruments made from trash. Through Soles of Hope and YesPinoy, these children can escape as I did into the beautiful world of music and upgrade their milk-can drums possibly to a set of Pearl or Yamaha drums, their makeshift guitars out of cartons into Fenders and Gibsons.
While the summer months fade into rainy days, our tropical climate ensures that espadrilles can be worn year round. Choose from a variety of styles and from all colors of the rainbow. Make your pair count, for every pair of Sueño de Espadrilles, P100 will go toward the Soles of Hope program.