We are over 50% of the way to completing this initiative which rebuilds the small library and laboratory at the all-girls school in Purchuru, India. This rural school provides education to girls in the region who otherwise would not be able to go to school. Many graduates end up being the first in their family to go to university and/or get jobs in the city.

We are so close to funding this initiative via the sale of the Common Soles Natya and Aiman flip-flops. Help us hit that goal by picking up a pair for yourself or as a gift today! Think Mothers Day, Fathers Day, Graduation present, Wedding party gifts, whatever!

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Today we posted our new flops for men and women – hooray! The Natya (womens) and Aiman (mens). Check them out!  Along with the new flops comes a new initiative. This time it’s fixing up the library and laboratory at the all girls school Rao and I visited in Purchuru. We are able to give 5% or $1.25 from every pair sold of these new styles to help fund this initiative.  Common Soles also covers the administration of this initiative which includes managing the repairs and purchasing the new lab equipment and books.

On August 25th I wrote about the 4% we allocate per pair of Saahi flip-flops sold. So here’s the continuation of the dialogue on the % per pair allocated. What it all boils down to: as we grow as a business we get better at making footwear. This means we have a little bit more margin so we can now offer another percentage point to help fund the cause. This is good!

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Dave and I went to visit the all girls school in Purchuru, to learn first hand how the school operates and what initiatives will make the most sense for the school.  It was quite an amazing experience. All the children seem so bright and happy to receive an education, and the teachers are so very proud of the school and their students.  The girls come from poor families who normally cannot afford to pay for their children education.

The school has been running  on donations and noble intentions for the last 24 years. The school is is practically free for the students, they only collect a paltry 25 cents for the whole year from each student.  Few donors over the years have been sponsoring teachers fees, children's uniforms, children's books and other necessities for the school. One such distinguished gentleman is Mr.Venkateswarlu (Lu) in this photo with Dave and I.

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Dave is on his way back to US. No one would believe that it was his first time to India. He braved the heat, spices, and all the complexities of travel in India with great ease and as any local would do.  Kids just loved him where ever we went and some even thought he was Ricky Ponting the pro cricketer from Australia (although Dave isn't so sure about that after looking him up...). Here is a picture of Dave with the kids from Takkar baba colony in Kurla Mumbai. 

We took autos and rickshaws where ever we could as that is the best mode of transport to the places that we wanted to go. Here are other pictures of him (and I) during his trip from checking out materials in the streets of Delhi to visiting the all girls school at Purchuru to understand the needs of the children there.  We did lots of work while he was here and in the process had tons of fun too. If you talk to him you should definitely ask him about the spice challenge he volunteered for.

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As stated all over our website we are selling the Saahi Flip-Flop to generate funding for school books.  Books that will go to the children of the factory workers who made the flip-flops.  In order to convey our progress in generating funds we've posted a meter on our Initiatives page which we will update periodically for our fund generating progress.

Once we hit our goal of collecting 100% of the funds to purchase the books, we will have our field staff in Vijayawada purchase the books and deliver them to the children.  We'll get photos of that when it happens to share online!

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Over the past few days Rao and I have had several conversations with folks on the $1 we give per pair sold.  Some think it's great, others wonder why it's only $1.  Here's the detail on the $1 we give and why it's actually more than just $1.

The $1 (or 4% of retail price, not profit) we give is fully allocated to the initiative being funded by the Saahi flip-flop, which in this case is purchasing school books for children in India.  Common Soles covers all the additional costs in administering this support.  Those costs consist of paying for the people in India to actually administer the initiative.  Administering it means:

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We did it!

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The photo we currently have posted on our home page was taken at one of the schools we are helping to fund via the sale of our flip flops.  The school is The Amanchi Narasimham & Venkata Subbamma Girls High School, located in Paruchuru, Prakasam District in Andhra Pradesh, India (see map below).   

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