The Affero Blog

Shoes and Worms?

By Lucas Parry in News

25May, 2010

Early last year I was in Kenya visiting schools in remote regions of the countryside, its one of my favorite things to do when Im in Africa. I love the sound of kids laughing and watching kids point at the “muzungu with the guitar on his back”, as I visit and teach the kids songs from my land ‘downunder’. Great times! But, as I was singing in this little village school, with no windows or chalkboard, dancing with these happy kids, the reality sunk in that these school kids had no shoes! None of them.

I later learned that because these kids had no shoes, the CDC and other Non-Government Organizations had to come through every 6 months with worm medicine to de-worm the kids (if the family had money), did you know?

  • 400 million children are infected or at risk of being infected with “soil-transmitted helminths” – worms in the soil that can enter the body through the soles of bare feet.
  • An additional 200 million people worldwide (adults and children) are infected with schistosomiasis, which comes from another type of worm – shoes can play a big prevention role with “schisto”, too.
  • If a child has enough worms in her body, they will stunt her physical growth, make her more susceptible to other infections, and even cause permanent cognitive damage – that’s a lower IQ, just because of worms!
  • Children with worms also suffer from lower school attendance.

So today’s challenge is to do something about this. I have listed 3 things you can do to help combat this epic problem. Lets commit to doing one of these this week and you just might save the life of a child.

1) Visit www.soles4souls.org and donate a pair of your shoes – easy!

2) Go buy a pair of shoes from Toms Shoes. For every pair bought, Toms gives a pair away to children in need around the world.

3) Visit www.donateyouroldshoes.org – these guys will take your old shoes and make great use of them.

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