Students help make shoes for Uganda

Students at St. Paul’s School have been busy cutting denim which will eventually become shoes in Uganda, Africa.

Kimberly Poncelet, a teacher at the school helping oversee the project involving some 40-students, explained the effort is part of a worldwide effort through the Sole Hope initiative.

“They’re cutting patterns for shoes for children in Uganda,” she said, noting the project works into Lent for the Catholic school.

The patterns are being cut from recycled denim.

“We have a bizarre amount of denim that has come in,” said Poncelet, adding most has come through students donating material.

The goal for the students is to have patterns cut for 50 sets of shoes.

The reason for the shoes is to help deal with a particular problem in the African nation – jiggers.

Actually, the pest “tunga penetrans (chigoe flea or jigger) is a parasitic insect found in most tropical and sub-tropical climates. It is native to Central and South America, and has been inadvertently introduced by humans to sub-Saharan Africa,” details Wikipedia.

It “is the smallest known flea, at only 1 mm. It is most recognizable in its parasite phase. While embedded under the stratum corneum layer of the skin, it may reach up to 1 cm across. During the first day or two of infestation, the host may feel an itching or irritation which then passes as the area around the flea calluses and becomes insensitive. As the flea’s abdomen swells with eggs later in the cycle, the pressure from the swelling may press neighbouring nerves or blood vessels. Depending on the exact site, this can cause sensations ranging from mild irritation to serious discomfort.”

Poncelet said children without shoes in Uganda are often infected by the tiny insect, and when complications arise, they can miss school, and face other issues related to bad feet.

Once the denim has been cut, it will be packaged and sent to Uganda where it will be turned into actual shoes. The cost of shipping is being covered by donations from a trio of Yorkton businesses; Uptown Casuals, Step By Step Shoes, and LoSa Chic Boutique.

In addition, teachers at the school were allowed to pay $20 to the project and were then allowed to wear denim at school Fridays in December.