Help Build a Future for IDP Women & Children

Return to Africa

As the summer draws to a close, the Heeling Our World team leaders are heading back to Africa with a renewed commitment to improve the health outcomes of the barefoot children. We are all very excited about the prospect of opening a walk-in clinic for street children in Bamako, Mali. This will allow us to treat children who have developed medical issues by going barefoot and then protect them in the future through proper hygiene and shoes. This clinic was made possible through a very generous grant from Rotary International. We hope it will become a model for what we can do in other cities with the help of our caring friends and supporters on GlobalGiving.

Uganda-                                                                                                                                                                               Kampala- Betsy Miller returned and presented shoes made at U.S. workshops to children in the HORD Orphanage.

Mbale– Rev. Kathleen Masuba brought back shoes lovingly made by churches and students to orphans at the House of Grace Children’s Home. She will begin training mothers and caregivers in surrounding villages.

Jinja– Rock Rwakishaya returned with beautiful Sunbrella fabric donated by a caring upholstery shop in N.C. Outdoor fabric is difficult to find in Uganda so this was most appreciated. Rock will be resuming his training program to communities in the Jinja area.

                                                                                                                                                                                              Sierra Leone-                                                                                                                                                                   Freetown– Stephan Fomba returned with shoes for orphans in Freetown. He also advised us of an orphanage which is home to children that are amputees. Among our inventory we had many unmatched shoes, either rights or lefts only. We gave this inventory to Stephen for him to bring back for these children.

Mali-                                                                                                                                                                                    Bamako-  Simbo Kieta is in the planning stages for the clinic. We expect it will take a few months for all the paperwork and permits to be completed. We are all most anxious to launch this project and start treating the street children of Bamako.

Congo-                                                                                                                                                                                 Kinshasa-  Rev. Stephen Kolonji spent July on a mission trip to Congo and identified a gentleman who will become our team leader in Kinshasa. In the near future we will be training and supplying him to bring our project to the Democratic Republic of Congo. Many shoes made in the U.S. will be heading to their IDP camps.

Kenya– We have received a request to bring our project to Kenya.

U.S.                                                                                                                                                                                        Lots of workshops… lots of shoes being made and sent to help the children in Africa.  Lots of people joining our cause and finding unique ways to help. A beautiful lady named Karen Wahab (left) walked El Camino de Santiago in Spain to raise donations for our project. Way To Go Karen!

As word of our project spreads, and the requests for our services are rapidly increasing, we need your help in meeting the demand. Expanding our project to reach more of these vulnerable children is only possible through the generosity of our donors. Thanks for caring.