UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM
WHY SHOES?
Not every child in Congo can afford a pair of shoes. I got my first one when I was ten years old. I have been infected a couple of times and experienced the life of having to walk miles without shoes. The soil is contaminated and people get easily infected due to lack of proper footwear. Having shoes is a big deal. - EMMANUEL NTIBONERA
We believe changing someone’s
life starts with something as
simple as a pair of shoes.
Our foundation has a lot of experience in responding to crises in the eastern part of Congo. In 2015 we learned that children were dying in these villages because of a lack of proper footwear. Out of our passion for these kids to have a better way of living, we launched a campaign in 2017 here in America and collected more than 20,000 pairs of shoes as well as clothing for people hurting in these villages. In 2019, with the help of Samaritan’s Purse, we were able to deliver again more than 50,000 pairs of shoes as well as clothing and medical supplies. So far, we have delivered more than 70,000 pairs of shoes to people of DR Congo.
THE PROBLEMS PEOPLE ARE FACING
Most people in the villages cannot afford a pair of shoes.
This results in children and adults becoming infected with jiggers.
What is Jiggers?
Jiggers is a small pin-head-sized flea found in sandy terrain of warm, dry climates. It prefers deserts, beaches, stables, stack farms, and the soils and dusts in and around farms.
What do they do?
It hides in the crevices and cracks found on the floors, walls of dwellings and items like furniture, it feeds on their warm-blooded hosts including man, cats, dogs, rats, pigs, cattle, and sheep. The impregnated female feeds by burrowing into the skin of the host’s skin under the toe or fingernail.
How does it cause diseases?
As the flea continues to feed on the host’s blood, it enlarges and forms a round sack full of eggs with the shape and size of a pea. Within days the jigger swells to over 1,000 times the size it was while continuously laying eggs.
What Can Jiggers lead to?
The results of jigger infestation are pain, itching, and infection. Children stop walking to school. Adults can’t care for their families. The elderly become captive in their homes. Heavy infestation results in toes filled with pus, which may lead to infection, inflammation, ulceration, fibrosis, lymphangitis, gangrene, loss of toenail, amputation of digits, and death.
“I GOT MY FIRST PAIR OF SHOES when I was 10 YEARS OLD.
Having a PAIR OF SHOES is a BIG DEAL.”
EMMANUEL NTIBONERA, FOUNDER OF NTIBONERA FOUNDATION
