Many elementary students in Uganda don’t attend school in the rainy season because they don’t have shoes. Without shoes, they are easily infected by “jiggers”.

A group in North Carolina, Arts To End Genocide, through its Heeling Our World project, provides training in simple shoe-making. Cultivating Community has purchased sewing machines, tools, and materials, and paid other training costs to create a local industry to make shoes locally. The new shoemakers will pay it forward by providing free shoes to students unable to pay for their own shoes, and build their own business selling inexpensive, locally-made and locally-repairable shoes to those who can afford them. Initial training was completed on the first set of sewing machines in early November 2016.

First class, first shoes

Treadle-powered sewing machines (which work even when electrical power is not reliable) cost about $150.

Help us send more sewing machines and buy additional material supplies to protect soles and educate souls!