A remarkable little girl has made it her mission to help others after seeing footage of poverty-stricken people in Africa on the news.
Miyla Avery-Hawkins, who is visually impaired and has learning difficulties, was horrified to see people in Zimbabwe and Ghana walking about with bare feet.
Amazing little Miyla with her collection ready to donate
“She asked me why they didn’t have shoes and I told her it was because they didn’t have money to buy them,” said her nan Avonne.
“Miyla immediately said: ‘Well, I want to give them some shoes’. I knew then there was no stopping her !”
Avonne and Miyla first put out an appeal for people to donate unwanted shoes.
They then found a local contact called Simba to transport the shoes during his regular visits to Africa.
Amazing little Miyla with her collection ready to donate
Today, just a few weeks on Miyla has collected more than 800 pairs of shoes at her Beanhill home.
Those not suitable for Africa have been sold at car boot sales, with determined Miyla getting up at 5am to run the stall.
Already she has raised £400, most of which will be donated to the MK hospital neonatal unit that helped with her problems when she was born.
Miyla, who has just joined the Brownies, also wants to donate some to the annual Scout and Guide Gang Show.
Amazing little Miyla with her collection ready to donate
“She delights is being kind to other people and helping them” We are so proud of her,” said Avonne.
“She has some quite serious disabilities to contend with. She has scoliosis, low muscle tone, is visually impaired, and has global development delay. But she refuses to use the word disabled – she says she has ‘additional needs’. She’s just amazing.”
Barleyhurst pupil Miyla has been nominated for a 2018 MK Inspiration award. See www.mkinspirationawards.co.uk for details on how to vote for her.
