mmarincic posted on January 23, 2011 16:06
Junior Statesmen of America (JSA) will collect brown or black leather shoes for children ages 5 to 15 to send to Kampala, Uganda through February 7.
Students in Kampala need the shoes because they must walk to their rural school, often through mud during the rainy season, but usually only have enough money for flip flops after buying school uniforms.
“They have to wear a school uniform because of British influence,” JSA director Judy Withrow said. “Sometimes their parents are only able to scrape together enough money for the uniform and don’t have any for shoes.”
The shoe drive stems from 2010 alumnus Nathan Thomas’s original project to donate refurbished computers to Kampala. After sending the technology, he learned from the school’s headmaster that students also needed durable footwear.
“I got in contact with the headmaster and the founding sponsor, and they were really enthusiastic about my project,” Thomas said. “They were able to provide me with a lot of information as to how to get my project up and running.”