1,500 Pairs of Sandals & Hundreds of Books from Havaianas

Do you remember the “Happy Mind, Happy Feet” campaign by Havaianas?

The “Happy Mind, Happy Feet“campaign was a success! From the campaign, Havaianas donated 1,500 pairs of kids sandals and hundreds of children story books for Taman Bacaan Pelangi [Rainbow Reading Gardens]! Yipppeeee!!!

As the handover ceremony, we held it in Melo Village and invited kids from Melo and Roe villages to attend the event. Miss Jana Rogers Perazzo, the Brand Manager of Havaianas and Miss Widhiari Murti (Wiwid), the Marketing Coordinator of Havaianas joined the fun together with Miss Oriana Titisari from Travel Work, the public relations agency of Havaianas plus Mr Zack Petersen from the Jakarta Globe and Ms Vanezza from More Magazine. As a representative from Taman Bacaan Pelangi, our founder herself attended and thanked Havaianas for all the great support together with Kak Bosco, Bp. Avent, Bp. Yoseph and Bp. Baco, our volunteers from different spots of Taman Bacaan Pelangi in Flores.

300 kids showed up that morning. They were all excited especially when they saw so many colorful sandals that we brought! The team had to work hard in categorizing the sandals based on the sizes and thinking of the most efficient mechanism in distributing those sandals on the spot to the kids.

After the whole morning rituals based on West Manggarai’s culture, the time has come to give away those sandals! Yayyyy!!! Kids were divided into three groups, based on their age. It was pretty chaotic as the kids were curious and couldn’t wait to receive their sandals! So cute.

taman bacaan pelangi & havaianas — measuring the feet

We measured each kid’s feet, so everyone got the right size. And to mark those who have received the sandals, we used “ink”, just like what we used for during the voting day in the general election. Kids who have received sandals had to dip their pinkie into the ink bowl.

What surprised us was… the fact that these kids apparently have big feet!!! Seriously. They looked so small, but when you looked at their feet, you’d be surprised! Their feet were much bigger than kids’ feet in their age group. Probably because they’re used to go everywhere barefoot!

As a result, we ran out of the big size sandals so quickly. Some of the kids in the 6th grade couldn’t get the size that they wanted. So we asked them, “Do you have a younger brother or sister? If yes, how old are he/she?”. Luckily, all of them have little brother/sister, so we gave them a pair of small sandals each.

What a fun day! Not only each kid got a pair of new colorful Havaianas sandals, but also we had lunch together and watched traditional dance performances, too! Kids from Roe Village also delivered a beautiful poem titled “Taman Bacaan Pelangi”. Oh, so cute!

Time flew so fast when we’re having so much fun. We had to say goodbye to the kids and the volunteers. Everyone left the location with a smile on their face.

On the way back to Labuan Bajo, Jana from Havaianas expressed her feelings by saying that it was such a great experience. Being able to meet with the kids personally and handed over the donation herself made a huge difference. “It makes me want to do more!!!”.

Wiwid from Havaianas also said that the team had been working hard for this campaign. It was a great satisfaction to see the smiles and expression of those kids. Truly an amazing experience. “I can’t wait for our next project with Taman Bacaan Pelangi”, she added.

On behalf of all the kids at Taman Bacaan Pelangi, we’d like to thank Havaianas team (plus Travel Work – their agency) for the great team work, awesome support and great “Happy Mind, Happy Feet” campaign!