Party with a purpose

A few months ago we set up a party with a purpose!  

It was a whole new concept in partnership with Sole Hope.  Sole Hope are a charity working on the ground in Uganda.  They help fight the problem of jiggers by giving children closed toe shoes. 

 

Jiggers are nasty little creatures, a bit like a sand flea, that burrow into the skin on children’s feet and sometimes hands.  

They use the skin as a place to lay their eggs and the effects can be debilitating.  Often children with jigger infections can be seen as being cursed and are often ostracised from society.  Many fail to attend school due to the impact it has on their mobility. 

 

Many children in Uganda don’t own a pair of closed toe shoes and that is all they need to prevent jiggers from entering their skin.  It’s a simple solution to a horrible problem.

 

In July 2010 I had my own experience of jiggers.  Myself and my friend stayed at a guest house in the outskirts of Kampala.  It had gone a little downhill from the last time we stayed there.  We knew nothing of jiggers at the time.  Then my friend spotted something on her big toe.  She thought it was a verucca. The next day, the verucca had multiplied.  We spent our final day at the guest house before moving on to the nice hotel at our next stop.  Unbelievably, when we arrived, I had an itch in my toe and was astounded to find that I had now caught a ‘verucca’. Little did we know! 

 

When we got home, with these verucca like things on our toes, my friend booked a GP appointment and was sent straight to the hospital.  She rang me to say her GP thought it was jiggers.  I immediately rang my GP and booked an appointment.  I had two in my one toe.  My GP said he had heard about jiggers but never seen them before.  I was intrigued as he pulled them out of my toe and told me to use a disinfectant wash every day for the next week to make sure all the eggs were killed. 

 

Our experience wasn’t anything too horrific other than a sore toe for a few days but for many children, jiggers can be life changing!

 

Sole Hope encourage people to hold shoe cutting parties.  This was our party with a purpose.  We invited all our friends, family and community members along for a night of shoe cutting.  Each person had to being along any old denim they had and a scissors.  Young and old were able to take part.  Over the evening we cut 55 pairs of shoes and one lady took the pattern away and continued to cut out our pattern so many more shoes can be made. 

 

Everyone enjoyed the evening and it was lovely to do something different that also is a huge practical help to children in Uganda.  Sole Hope employ shoe makers in Uganda who sew together all the patterns we cut and add a sole made of recycled tyres.  It really is a wonderful project.  For more information visit their website at www.solehope.org