Mandy was in Grade 4 at Greenway Primary School in Durban. She was an excellent runner and she practice every day. The children used to tease her because she didn’t have running shoes. She wished she had running shoes because her feet hurt, especially when the ground was hot . She also hated it when the children laughed at her .

One Saturday, Mandy took the money she had saved and went to the sports shop in town . She looked at the running shoes but felt very sad , because she didn’t have enough money to buy them.

Mrs Smith, the owner of the shop, noticed the sadness in Mandy’s eyes

“If you win the race, I will let you have running shoes for free. “But if you don’t win , you will need to pay for them” , she added with a smile.

Oh ma ‘am , thank you very much! I will practice every day and make sure I win said Mandy gratefully.