TOMS is legit. They recently collaborated with the Kenya Red Cross and sent 140,000 pairs of shoes to the BUNGOMA Red Cross. There are boxes upon boxes of shoes at the compound and they go directly to those who need them the most. For example, on Monday we did a jiggers campaign in Ndengelwa, a village about 15 minutes outside of town, where we treated 201 people for jiggers. As I mentioned in an earlier post, it is a parasite that lives in soil and sand and feeds on warm-blooded hosts. It works its way into the feet and hands of those who are exposed to these conditions. Many of the villagers live in houses with dirt floors and a majority do not wear shoes and unsanitary conditions can increase the liklihood of other medical complications. If not treated, it can cause major discomfort and pain and even loss of nails and foot deformation. There is no reason jiggers cannot be elimated from Bungoma County with a little public health action.
Therefore, 5 Red Cross volunteers, Alyssa and I went to treat the outbreak. This included scrubbing the feet with antiseptic wash, soaking them in water mixed with chemicals to kill the jiggers, clipping fingernails and toenails and putting "Jiggerex" on their feet and/or hands to completely remove them. It's like a medical pedicure. Finally, the patients were given 2 pairs of TOMS shoes to help prevent them from getting jiggers again. Unfortunately, the volunteers had not prepared to give a public health message about waiting to wear the shoes until the jiggers had been completely removed from the patient (~2-3 days after treatment). I asked if they could tell them this while they were waiting in line for shoes and one volunteer said,"No we don't have time and neither do they. They need to go home and sweep the floors or get back to school." I understood this but we were spending an average of 3-5 minutes with each patient so why hadn't we told them about basic hygiene and how to prevent them from recurring infection? I became irritated with myself for not knowing much Swahili (otherwise I would have given the speech) and also with the volunteers because no one seemed to be educating the patients on jiggers and prevention.
However, I was elated to see all the boxes of TOMS shoes handed out and knew that they were helping the people that needed it the most. We saw patients from 2-72 years old and they each got two pairs of shoes. Some of them, mostly children, cradled the newly minted gifts in their arms as if it were a newborn baby and kept smiling as they ran off to show their friends. Mothers rejoiced as they received 2 new pairs for their young child and older villagers were stunned at their new accessories. We were also able to give out about 50 pairs to children who did not have jiggers. It was a great site to see and made me that much more thankful for buying TOMS before I left. I knew I had bought a pair of shoes for someone in need, someone who can't afford even 1 pair, someone who did not realize shoes can save their life.
Check out the TOMS website for yourself. And if you've never heard of them, read about their mission. They have every design you could possibly want and you've heard it first hand, they are given to a dedicated, compassionate and selfless organization who distributes them to those in the most need.
Here are some pictures from the jigger removal.
Morina, Laureen and Mark setting up the scrub buckets
Elizabeth applying Jiggerex
Donated TOMS Shoes
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