See Beautiful Grant Applicant: Sole Hope

The feature below is brought to you by Sole Hope, an organization that is in the running to receive a See Beautiful Grant. For more information about all of our giving initiatives, please click here. 

To learn more about Sole Hope, please visit their website page: here.

A good day for Harriet

A slim girl in a simple blue dress steps into the center of the circle and her friends cheer. She stomps the red dirt with her new Sole Hope shoes, a giddy grin on her face–grooving until she runs out of moves. Seeming both sheepish and satisfied, she joins her friends at the edge of the circle to high fives and nodding grins.

Harriet Is one of one hundred and fifty students treated by Sole Hope workers today. She watched as workers set up washing stations and white shades, then waited patiently for her jiggers to be removed.

This school is in an area known to have a problem with jiggers. “I had them in my hands and feet,” says Harriet. “The jiggers eat.” When she walked, she had to contort her ankle to keep pressure off the painfully swollen parts of her feet.

When Sole Hope’s team arrived Harriet gathered with other students to have her feet washed and her jiggers removed. She learned how to care for her feet and keep them clean, preventing jiggers from attacking her again.

“Now I am feeling okay because the jiggers have been removed,” she says, “and I have shoes!” She casually taps her foot on the ground as she speaks as if the foot feels free for the first time in a long time.

With a grin she makes her way under the mango tree to dance, receiving a high-five from a Sole Hope educator.

“I feel free,” she says, clasping her hands together. “It has been a good day. I feel I will not be getting the jiggers again.”

Stay funky, Harriet, and stay jigger-free!

Sole Hope’s mission is to offer hope, healthier lives, and freedom from foot related diseases, through education, jobs, and medical relief. Our core values are to effectively put in place preventive methods to combat diseases that enter through the feet and to create a positive physical and psychological difference in the lives of individuals in impoverished communities. 

Not only do we love to serve young girls like Harriet, we also are excited to announce our newest addition to the Sole Hope staff, Josephine Karumira!  Josephine joined us this summer as the Ugandan In-Country Director, the most senior staff position in Uganda! 

Josephine Karumira is a Ugandan professional. She holds a Masters Degree in Counseling Psychology and has eighteen years’ experience in program management and development practice. She has previously managed a number of USAID and Comic Relief funded projects among others, in Uganda and Malawi. Her primary interests are social challenges affecting young people and marginalized groups in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Josephine is a member of the National Alternative Care Taskforce and Coalition Against Trafficking in Persons in Uganda and participated in a number of national forums to influence OVC policies. She has contributed to building capacity for local government and civil society organizations to respond to the needs of vulnerable groups in the country.

Josephine is determined to lead Sole Hope in helping more vulnerable people like Harriet.  Her goal is to double the number of shoes that we produce as well as the number of patients that we serve.  We are excited to see what happens in Uganda under a strong, female, Ugandan leader like Josephine!

Submitted by: ​Ashley Redburn