Mile in My Shoes keyring
A Desperate Journeys exclusive
These gifts were made originally by a Syrian Turkman friend and a master shoemaker back in his homeland of Syria.
They were commissioned in 2018 for the launch of Desperate Journeys.
It was a small batch initially. Working in close collaboration with Sevenoaks Welcomes Refugees, our Innovations Manager was able to work alongside our friend to bring these for each of the participants of the recently launched immersive workshop.
The hope was, that following their experience, the participants would receive a small token of empathy and solidarity from sharing in the story. A tangible reminder that exercising their empathy is important for the global crisis.
We were reminded that so much of settling here in the UK, we were reminded, is wrought with complexity, trauma and sadness and survivor’s gratitude & guilt.
Recently Recommissioned
These small items have been recently recommissioned working with new makers from Syria and Afghanistan to help others to empathise.
One of our makers, joined with us in a school, and shared with the students how he was on the last plane out of Afghanistan in 2021 and narrowly missed a bomb that killed 170 people by a mere 2 minutes.
More than just a keyring
These gifts are more than key rings, they are tokens of empathy from the producer, the holder and also the giver.
A reminder that we can all do at least one thing with regards to that ancient proverb,
to understand another you must first walk a mile in another’s shoes
… that is to ‘take off’ our own shoes and practice our ‘sitting down’ with others, ‘listening’ and ‘feeling with’ them.
These gifts are not available in the Empathy Store, but if you are interested in a bespoke batch please get in touch.