Click here to listen: Marika’s Presentation to Briesemeister Middle School Students, Seguin, TX

Today, I would like to take you to another world and share the journey with some of the children of other cultures who like you, this day, are walking barefoot.  Unlike you, tomorrow, the day after tomorrow and the following one, they will still be walking barefoot to school, because of their poverty.

 In many countries the child’s first pair of shoes is a gift longtime remembered and cherished.  It is a rite of passage.  I see that the purpose of your actions is to understand others. By doing this you are learning to see the world in a different way.  So as you help others through this rite of passage, you, yourself are also maturing.