When Healing the Feet Is Not Enough
A child sits quietly as jiggers are removed from their feet.
The pain is real.
But what lingers longer is shame.
For more than fifteen years, Sole Hope has restored dignity through physical healing in Eastern Uganda. We have treated children who could not walk. Parents who could not work. Families who felt forgotten. More than 250,000 people have received care, and hundreds of thousands of protective shoes have helped prevent reinfestation.
Lives have been transformed.
And still, our teams began to notice something we could not ignore.
Healing the feet was not always enough.
The Hidden Link Between Jiggers and Mental Health
In the communities we serve, jiggers are rarely just a medical issue. They are tied to poverty, stigma, trauma, and isolation.
Children with jiggers are often mocked or sent home from school. Adults are labeled lazy or cursed. Families withdraw. Over time, that isolation turns into hopelessness.
We see it every week.
Many patients who come to Sole Hope for jigger treatment are also battling depression, anxiety, or addiction. Alcoholism, in particular, both contributes to and results from jigger infestation. When hope fades, self care collapses. When self care collapses, reinfestation follows.
The cycle repeats.
Nearly half of the patients we treat for jiggers present with serious mental health challenges. Without support, physical healing does not always last.
A Severe Shortage of Mental Health Care in Uganda
The need is not abstract. It is structural.
Uganda has fewer than 80 practicing psychiatrists for a population of nearly 50 million people. Most are concentrated in major cities. In Eastern Uganda, access is even more limited.
For many families, mental health care is not delayed. It is nonexistent.
When trauma, addiction, or depression surface, there is often nowhere to turn. No diagnosis. No follow up. No recovery plan. This gap leaves children, parents, and entire communities vulnerable to cycles of illness, stigma, and relapse.
Sole Hope could not look away.
Introducing the Brighter Days Mental Health and Recovery Clinic
At the Sole Hope Hope Center in Jinja, a new chapter is taking shape.
The Brighter Days Mental Health and Recovery Clinic is being established to provide compassionate, accessible care for children and adults facing trauma, depression, and addiction. This is not a new mission. It is a deeper expression of the same one.
The clinic will serve:
• Children recovering from jiggers and severe neglect
• Adults struggling with alcoholism and substance use
• Survivors of trafficking and abuse
• Families navigating grief, trauma, and chronic stress
Thanks to a generous partner, the clinic building itself is fully funded. Construction is underway. The next phase focuses on equipping the space and staffing it so doors can open to patients in early 2026.
This clinic exists because the need is urgent. And because hope deserves a place to grow.
What Whole-Person Healing Looks Like
The Brighter Days clinic is designed to work alongside Sole Hope’s medical programs, not separate from them. Patients are not passed off. They are walked through recovery.
Services will include:
• Trauma-informed counseling for children and caregivers
• Addiction recovery and relapse prevention programs
• Group therapy and peer support rooted in dignity
• Community education that reduces stigma around mental health
• Training for local health workers so care reaches beyond the clinic
By integrating mental health care into existing treatment programs, Sole Hope can improve long-term outcomes and reduce reinfestation. Healing becomes more durable. Families stay well.
Over time, the clinic will serve both Sole Hope patients and the wider Jinja community through affordable, accessible care. This model helps ensure sustainability while expanding access in a region with very few mental health resources.
Why This Matters for the Future of Sole Hope
For years, Sole Hope has been known for restoring mobility and dignity through jigger treatment. That work continues. Clinics are still running. Shoes are still being made. Children are still being treated.
What is growing is depth.
By addressing mental health alongside physical disease, Sole Hope is overcoming one of the biggest drivers of relapse and reinfestation. This approach does not replace the mission. It strengthens it.
This is how cycles break.
This is how families stay healed.
This is how hope lasts.
A Step Toward Brighter Days
The Brighter Days Mental Health and Recovery Clinic represents one of the most important steps in Sole Hope’s journey.
When people have health, they have hope.
When hope grows, families rebuild.
When families heal, communities change.
If this story speaks to you, we invite you into the conversation. Whether through prayer, partnership, or sharing this vision with others, your support helps create brighter days for children and families in Uganda.
Because treating the whole person does not change our mission.
It completes it.
