And so it begins....

Today was a tough day. We had to admit that in a way we were beaten.

After 2 1/2 months of struggle, some hard work by some wonderful people trying to do a good thing, we had to face the fact that we are leaving for Peru in two days, and our shoes are not.

(anyone not familiar with our situation should see www.fuzethrushoes.com)

Local hero Kelvin Martyniuk had no idea what he was letting himself in for when he volunteered to help us with the logistics of getting the shoes into the country. Now Kelvin is still hoping for a miracle...but he might be the last believer left. I know it's hard for anyone not intimately involved - but we really have tried so hard to do everything right to get these shoes accepted into the country - and they will be - it's just that the paperwork and red tape is extensive and the speed that things can be done and the language barrier and the crazy back and forth has been exhausting and disheartening to say the least.

We've honestly jumped through hoops, done handstands, filled in forms, met the Winnipeg Peruvian Consul (a lovely lady by the way)...really done everything we could do.

I need to throw in a line here - the children of Peru really do need the shoes. And the charity and the government are all in favour and very appreciative - it's really a red tape problem.

A quick shout out to Pablo Szajt and Jorge Salazar who have continued to help with the translations and info. And Kelvin the Great from Pollard Banknote. Caring people who are giving their all.

Today we had to make some tough decisions.

1. Postpone? Our Miami to Lima leg could be postponed at a cost of $230 pp. Our Winnipeg to Fort Lauderdale leg would have cost about $300 pp to postpone. Everyone would have had a terrible time trying to find time off - the kids would have to miss school - pre-booked and paid hotels in Florida would be lost - $600 gone - not an easy decision right now.

2. Postpone but go on a holiday in Florida. This idea had some merit. We could go and have a nice holiday. Rebook the Lima part and still enjoy spring break without losing all the value of the Florida flights and hotels. But - again - the missing school/work etc and all the extra cost....is this the best choice? I found a very cheap cruise - hey - we could even take a few bags of shoes and distribute them to kids in need in Roatan Honduras - one of the stops on the cruise....hmmmm......maybe this is an answer. We seriously considered this.

3. Smuggle shoes - yes, you heard that correctly ladies and gentlemen. Us hardworking, honest citizens could make a choice to do our best to smuggle the most shoes we possibly can into the country. We've been told it's not that difficult - someone may get caught - and that wouldn't be fun - but most of the shoes will make it through. Then we will make arrangements for someone in Trujillo to distribute the other shoes when they finally make it there - and take pictures.

There are 8 of us going altogether. We will have to pay $30 per extra bag - that's on the Air Canada leg. But we figure we can get 100 pairs of shoes down there anyway.

So smuggling seems the best option...for those who are offended - please do not continue to monitor this blog....things could get worse!

Our Argentinian friend Ezi is going with us to help us with our language barrier. This is a big relief. But he is leaving tomorrow morning. He won't be taking any extra shoes.

We'll catch up with Ezi in Miami, enjoy a couple of days - actually I think we'll primarily be fretting....and then head to Lima altogether on Saturday night.

So - keep your fingers crossed that we will make it into the country with all our shoes.

Quite the adventure.

Logistics king Kelvin wants one more day to try to get permission to ship the shoes. So we'll make the final call in the morning. But at this point it looks like Fuze thru Shoes is making smugglers out of our team. Shhhh. Don't tell anybody.

Stay tuned.