Jiggers are a type of parasitic sand flea in Uganda. They burrow into feet and particularly affect children as they lay their eggs in sacs under the skin and multiply. This can lead to severe debilitation and pain and potentially death if left untreated. When the children have too many in their feet to walk, they begin to crawl, and the jiggers get into their knees and hands and worsen from there. These are preventable with a little education about foot hygiene and most importantly a pair of shoes that most children can’t afford.

While in Uganda we gave out over 1261 pairs of shoes to children with none. The majority of these we purchased with money from friends and family back in Canada and some were donated by Sole Hope. We purchased the shoes from the Sole Hope factory in Jinja to support their work in Uganda.

Sole Hope is a US-based charity which treats over 8000 people a year by surgically removing jiggers and dispensing shoes to prevent their recurrence. The shoes are made by hand from recycled car tires and fabric in the factory we visited.