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Camille Talks About Shoes For Africa

To support the enterprise, an educational campaign will inform families on the benefits of the shoes, and on the need to wear them every day.

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Shoes for Africa Summer Update
August 2019

This update comes from the team responsible for our Shoes For Africa Appeal – click here to find out more.

Tuesday 30th 2019 Two weeks since Camille (Project Manager) and I arrived in Musanda. We have now gotten stuck into the busy Nasio Trust community and are enjoying every minute of it.

This Summer we are completing the research and development for the Nasio Trust’s Shoes for Africa project

This Summer we are completing the research and development for the Nasio Trust’s Shoes for Africa project, a new sustainable social shoe manufacturing enterprise targeted at reducing the incidence of Jiggers foot infestations (google if not squeamish) in the local community (particularly schoolchildren) with the additional benefits of local employment and skills development.

With this in mind we started our project by reaching out to cobblers and akala (Kenyan tyre sandal) makers in Musanda and Mumias, creating valuable contacts that we hope to learn from and potentially incorporate into our project. Community engagement is key to the success of our project due to differing views in the community of the social, economic and environmental factors influencing the severity of a jiggers foot infestation as well as our limited understanding of the community needs from our UK perspective. For this reason, we interviewed many head-teachers from local schools as well as conducted two focus groups with parents, gaining a greater insight into community shoe wearing and purchasing practices as well as attitudes towards jiggers prevention. Additionally, we have attended a jiggers removal clinic that has deepened our understanding of the pain of those suffering from the condition as well as strengthened our determination to provide a long term sustainable solution to the issue that may be replicable in other communities.

From our initial research, we are considering ways to revise the initial business model of the social enterprise to be more efficient and effective in jiggers prevention for vulnerable kids. This has included consideration of a more holistic approach to reducing jiggers through an educational campaign and proposed projects that will seal floors and maintain clean home environments. In the following weeks we will continue conducting research including market surveys and contacting government officials to build upon our model.

As a last thought, we are looking to our third team member, Sarina, who is arriving today! As always please don’t hesitate to contact us if you would like more information.

Michael (Marketing and Product Development Director)

 

This story is listed in: Projects

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"I’m really grateful to the Nasio Trust programme because it is really changing lives for good. The Nasio Trust has really changed this community and really changed my life..."
Eunice (supported for 6 years – now volunteering for Nasio)

From the blog...

Kennington and Musanda: A Unique Twinning to Build Bridges Across Continents

The Nasio Trust, in collaboration with the Kennington community, is embarking on an exciting and meaningful journey to twin two vibrant communities: Musanda in Western Kenya and Kennington in the UK.

This historic partnership will foster cultural exchange, strengthen global connections, and create invaluable learning opportunities for both communities.

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The Nasio Trust Annual Report 2023

We’re pleased to present our annual report for 2023. Find out what Nasio achieved and celebrate with us. Download your online version by clicking here now.

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Publishing in Africa at the London Book Fair By Katie Isbester

In further support of the Nasio Trust’s Library appeal, Katie Isbester talks about her recent trip to the London Book Fair and a fortuitous discovery!

I didn’t mean to go to the talk. There were some 30,000 people at the London Book Fair and I was supposed to meet at least a few of them. Instead I found myself going to a talk on publishing in Africa because of Nasio Trust. I knew it was trying to build a library, the first of its kind in Western Kenya, and I was rather curious.

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