Sole Hope

Sole Hope Day 1

I’ve made a commitment to myself that I would expand and volunteer at as many places as possible during the remainder of my time in Uganda. Today was a day that I didn’t spend with the AFTC kids, so I took advantage of an opportunity to work with Sole Hope. You may have heard of them at home. Anyone can have a “Sole Hope Shoe Cutting Party” and using old jeans cut out a simple pattern that will then be shipped to Uganda and turned into cute, practical shoes. The shoes are made here in Uganda using the patterns and recycled rubber tires for the bottoms. Sole Hope goes into the villages once a week and holds clinics. They wash and carefully inspect the children’s feet for jiggers, an extremely harmful and disgusting parasite, removing them carefully from the tender little feet. A child with a bad case of jiggers will then receive a pair of Sole Hope shoes so that jiggers can now be prevented from entering their feet.... 

Today I took part in one of those clinics. 

We traveled about 20 minutes out of town through little narrow dirt roads. Children saw our van and ran after us. Some even jumping on the back and riding the rest of the way. We kept driving until the road ended. There was a large mud structure where we set up shop. I volunteered as a foot washer since I had no idea how to remove jiggers from little feet. We filled up water basins, set up benches and stools, and got prepared. The kids quickly lined up at the opening where I door would most likely go. The first child was placed in front of me. He was a tiny little thing, maybe two years old, and was filthy. He wore no clothes except for a little vest that was way too small for him. Sometimes it’s confusing to tell if a child is a boy or a girl since girls also have their head shaved, but this baby was definitely a boy, for obvious reason. After I washed his little feet he went to inspections. For about 2 hours I scrubbed child after child’s dirty little toes. I’d ask for a change of water frequently but by two kids later, it was as dark as coffee again. I wore gloves but could still feel the deep wounds, the past jigger scars, and the ones that were going to need to be removed. Some giggled as I cleaned in between their toes while other grimaced with pain as I used a brush to scrub away the thick dirt, jiggers buried deep in their skin underneath. 

Over time the line disappeared but the removers were still busy expecting little feet. I went and sat by one of the girls working very attentively on a young boy. His teeth were clenched and he squeezed his eyes tight but not tight enough for the tears to sneak out and run down his cheeks. The tracks of his tears were easily seen on his dirty little face. I held his hands as she removed over 10 jiggers from his feet. 4 of them in his heel alone. As he held my hands, I looked at his fingers. They didn’t look good. I could immediately tell that they were also going to need looked at. I showed the girl removing and she sighed. “Hands are the most painful.” When she finished with his feet, she wiped off her safety pin and razor blade and took his small hand. She started to operate and the little boy flipped out. Finally I picked him up and sat him in my lap and just wrapped my arms around him. This way he could sit more comfortably and I could hold him down a bit better. There were two in his thumb and after getting the first one out he was hysterical. I held him a little tighter, rubbed his back, and then sang softly to him. Immediately, he stopped screaming and I could feel his entire body relax. Even hours later, I could smell that kid on me. A combination of sweat, urine, and dirt stuck to me like the bright Micky Mouse sticker stuck on his cheek and even after I left the village I was thinking of that boy and all the others like him. 

 

What a blessing Sole Hope is and what a powerful thing they are doing for these children. I have gone back every Thursday now to help with their clinic. I plan on doing this every Thursday until I go home.

As you put your shoes on today, please remember the little feet in Africa that have no protection. Please pray for Sole Hope as they work to “offer hope, healthier lives, and freedom from foot-related diseases through education, jobs, and medical relief.” 

If you would like to host a Shoe Cutting Party, buy infant shoes for your little one, donate towards the purchase of shoes or just learn more about Sole Hope, please visit their website at www.SoleHope.com.