Project Happy Feet

WHERE IT STARTED

​

In September 2020 I came to the Bay of Plenty for my final year clinical placement, and got a glimpse of what living in a small rural community is like. What particularly caught my eye was that I saw many kids come into the dental clinic without shoes on, even on a wet winter’s day. They often talked about how 2 or 3 siblings in the same family would share one pair of shoes.

While working with these children during my placement, I realised how sheltered and privileged my upbringing in Auckland has been. I have been working as an oral health therapist in this region of New Zealand for just over 2 years now and although we all do our best as clinicians, I feel that there is still so much that can be done for these young Kiwi kids, especially outside of work.

My project, Project Happy Feet, is to create and sell my artwork in order to raise funds to provide brand new shoes to all the children in the 0-1 decile schools in the Bay Of Plenty region. This includes a total of 29 schools and just over 3000 children.

This project started in February 2022 while I was on maternity leave, and as I have a large number of students to reach, this project will be slow and ongoing. Your contribution will be greatly appreciated as I will be taking orders based around my work schedule and life as a new mum. Big or small, every painting sold will make a difference, so contact me to place your order! If you don’t want any artworks, but would like to make a contribution towards the project, we would greatly appreciate your donation.