A NEW PAIR OF SHOES FOR ALEJANDRA

For Nicaraguan girl, stranger's gift makes a world of difference

Published: Tuesday, February 15, 2005
By Nathan Welton
The Tribune

A pair of $10.49 sneakers from Target, taupe with pink stripes, now links two young girls worlds apart.

Seven-year-old Tesla Burnett of Paso Robles gave away almost every shoe in her closet to needy Nicaraguan children when Craig Cowan and his son, Cole, organized a drive last fall. When she ran out, the girl bought a new pair to donate.

Alejandra Mendoza, who lives in the impoverished village of Tepeyac, Nicaragua, now owns these pink-striped shoes -- her first new pair ever.

At age 9, Alejandra started school only this year, but whether she will continue is uncertain. She comes from a family so poor that sometimes she doesn't eat. Her family recently pulled a cousin out of school because educating him -- shoes, uniform, books -- had become too costly.

Tesla's caring

On a chilly Sunday in December at the Target store in Paso Robles, Tesla and her mother, Tara Burnett, picked out shoes to send to Nicaragua.

Tesla hoped whoever received her shoes would become a pen pal in Nicaragua. She aimed for someone about her age, so she was looking for a pair her size.

Cheery and excited, Tesla wandered a few aisles before she spied the sneakers.

She tried them on to see how they felt and settled on a size too big, so the recipient would have room to grow.

Already, Tesla had collected 15 pairs of shoes for Nicaraguan orphans, half from her closet and half from her grandparents.

She also gave a speech about the shoe drive to her class at Monterey Road School in Atascadero before 470 children gathered 526 pairs in just three days.

Alejandra's delight

A month later, on a crisp January afternoon in Tepeyac, Alejandra tried on the sneakers sent by Tesla.

Perched on one foot, she slipped her other into one of the sneakers. She wiggled her toes, then tightened the laces and wiggled again.

She smiled.

"I want to thank the girl for the shoes," she said in Spanish. "I need the shoes to go to school."

Alejandra started this year, and she's learning to read and write. She likes school, she said, and hopes to become a policewoman.

With her three brothers and sisters, Alejandra lives in a dusty shack with a dirt floor, rotting timber walls and tin roof. On days when she's not in school, she earns money for the family selling tortillas by the side of the road.

Her grandmother, Susana, 76, cares for the children while Alejandra's mother works in another town, returning home every two weeks with money. Alejandra rarely sees her mother, and she's never known her father.

The grandmother does her best to keep the family together, but their poverty makes it difficult. The family ran out of food the night before. Unless the neighbors help, they'll have nothing until Alejandra's mother returns with her pay the next day.

Susana said she tries to put on a happy face for the children, but it's difficult. When she can't keep up the smile, the children get upset.

"But today," she said, "this was a special day. They were so happy with the shoes."