P.O. Box 5222, Jinja
Plot 105, Budongo Rd, Buwenda.
Tel: +256 772575424
Email: info@solehope.org
Website: www.solehope.org
We are excited to formally introduce you to Sole Hope and be potentially funded for our life-changing, international public health, social enterprise, and community development programming in Uganda.
Sole Hope is the only organization in the world that addresses the life-treating, neglected tropical disease called Jiggers that affects millions of people world wide. This life changing work is at risk of becoming extinct. Sole Hope is the only organization serving some of the world’s poorest and the most vulnerable, and due to a decrease in global charitable funding, it could have to close its doors.
In this proposal, we will highlight our work in combating the life threatening disease, Tungiasis (jiggers), and its parasitic root cause. We have had a sustained presence in Uganda, the United States, and the UK for over 13 years. In Uganda, we currently serve the Jinja, Mayuge, Kamuli, Luuka, Bududa, Namisindwa, Manafwa, Buikwe, and Sironko regions. All of our programming is delivered within a Christian-faith based model that promotes and embodies the teachings of Jesus. Your support will allow us to continue our life-changing public health, community education, and social enterprise programming for vulnerable residents, mainly children and families, in the communities we serve in Africa.
Project Description
This project aims to fight against and stop the spread of Tungiasis, a nefarious neglected tropical disease (NTD), also commonly known as “jiggers”. Tungiasis is a cutaneous parasitosis that inflicts misery and even death upon tens of millions of people, mostly children, in the poorest regions across Central and South America and sub-Saharan Africa, and yet there is no globally accepted roadmap for its control. This NTD is caused by the gravid female sand flea (Tunga penetrans), commonly known in Uganda as a “jigger”, laying her eggs after dermal penetration. Considerable itching and pain occur during this process, with 99% of all lesions occurring on the feet. Once the female lays her eggs in a person’s body, it will spread rapidly. Tungiasis knows no bounds and can lead to paralysis, secondary infections, and loss of life. This disease, despite being recognized by the World Health Organization, has generally been ignored by governments and health care workers alike and does not receive the scientific interest and funding it merits.
Sole Hope is the only organization in the world solely focused on fighting this disease and it has had an incredible impact. Since its inception in 2010, Sole Hope has served more than 88,000 people, removed more than 1.2 million jiggers and distributed more than 360,000 pairs of Sole Hope shoes.
We currently serve communities mostly within Eastern Uganda, but also within the Northeast and Western regions of the country based on need and invitation by the respective district officials. We have also expanded operations to the most affected areas in Kenya. Our expertise and a strategic vision has demonstrated success combating this disease in Uganda and neighboring regions.
In over a decade of operations, we have learned that the best way to attack this problem is through four pillars of action: support, treat, educate, and prevent (STEP). These pillars are accomplished through our programs, including conducting Community Outreach Mobile Clinics in public spaces; Partner Clinics in government health centers; the Hope Centre, a specialized residential health facility; self-help group (SHG) economic empowerment program, and a shoe workshop to provide shoes and employment opportunities to the population.
In Community Outreach Mobile Clinics, Tungiasis hotspot communities are identified and mobilized through local leaders and Sole Hope Community Extension workers. Mobile clinics are temporarily established in public places, such as schools, to conduct treatment and health education sessions on jigger prevention and management. To ensure that patients remain jigger free, the Sole Hope social work team follows up with previous patients for a period of 12 months. In 2021, 25 clinics were organized in 11 districts, and 2000 patients were treated. 97% of our patients remain jigger free and empowered to create change in their own community.
Partner Clinics are Sole Hope’s newest initiative aiming to treat, rehabilitate and reintegrate individuals into their communities after recovering. It consists of creating satellite clinics, through training and equipping a ward in government health centers in communities with a high jigger burden. In 2021, four were created in 3 districts and we aim to continue to spread out to jigger hotspot districts. Besides improving access to treatment and care, we advocate for government stakeholders to consider addressing the problem through the national health systems, and model community-minded solutions.
The Hope Centre is Sole Hope’s specialized residential health facility where cases of severe jigger infestation are managed by a dedicated team of medical personnel and social workers. While at the center, patients are trained in education on hygiene, mental health, sexual health, and human rights practices as a prevention measure for vulnerability and re-infestation. In 2021, we admitted, treated and rehabilitated 445 individuals, with 55% of them being children.
Our Self-Help group model organizes a small group of 15-20 members to use savings, credit and social involvement as instruments of empowerment. Vulnerable people are often voiceless, powerless, and economically disadvantaged. By bringing them together as a group, they gain collective strength to enrich themselves with the knowledge to handle social challenges affecting them, and have an opportunity to share experiences about their treatment and how to maintain jigger-free lives. Rotational leadership revolves around all group members in turns, to ensure that every group member takes a leadership role, where everybody in the group takes responsibility. Sole Hope adopted this approach recently, as opposed to giving out physical items or seed capital because these deprive beneficiaries of the benefits of social belonging. Seed capital is also not sustainable since members can’t easily access loans from groups they do not belong to. Jigger prevention and control requires a collective concerted effort arising out social support rather than just an individual basis. Sole Hope has so far formed and is piloting this approach in our service areas, and will expand it further in 2023.
In addition to the programs listed above, Sole Hope also engages in Shoe Production and Distribution.
Closed-toe shoes are a vital piece in jigger prevention. They protect feet in harsh conditions and are a source of pride for people that own them. Sole Hope employs an average of 15 full-time Ugandan men and women at any given time to handcraft our one of a kind Sole Hope shoes. In 2021, approximately 16,000 shoes were produced, with 15,000 distributed.
While fighting against jiggers, Sole Hope has the indirect positive impact of promoting a healthy local community spirit by providing dignified job opportunities to local populations through their shoe workshop. We promote community spirit and upcycling practices all over the world to bring new life to vulnerable people in Uganda. Recently we have expanded our operations to Kenya, and are launching a Partner Clinic in Busia County, one of the poorest and most affected regions in Kenya. We estimate that this initiative will allow us to serve more than 720 Kenyans within the first year.
Projected Impact if urgent appeal is met:
With this urgent gap in our funding met, in 2023 we can provide treatment to 4,000 people, mainly young children. Since children are almost always accompanied by their caretakers, we estimate that we can serve at least 1,800 additional indirect beneficiaries, by attending our education sessions and being trained on how to prevent and manage jiggers. In total, with major support from you, Sole Hope could serve more than 5,800 vulnerable people in one year.
To track the success of this project, we will analyze both qualitative and quantitative data. Quantitative metrics will include tracking the number of people served in each initiative per month. Using this data, we will continually track if outputs are being met. Additionally, we will undertake the following to ensure our program’s continues to make a positive impact to the folks we serve:
Routine monitoring/spot check visits to ensure corrective actions of project activities
Data capture using an activity registration form/tool (to capture activities and immediate outputs)
Data quality audits to ensure loose ends are tied for accuracy, consistency, and completeness
Establishing a Client Response mechanism to support and capture feedback for project improvements
Conducting follow-up visits to ensure that re-infestation rates are captured timely, and track progress on project activities
Sarah’s Story
Sarah is the last born out of five children. She is a resident of Sironko district in Uganda, and lives with her parents in a semi-permanent structure. After conceiving at the age of 13, she was forced to drop out of school. She is now a (child) mother of a six (6) month old baby and they both sleep on a mat laid on a dusty floor. Sarah and her child contracted jiggers and were told they would be forced to live with them and from then on the jiggers meant their lives were cursed.
Sole Hope’s social workers were made aware of Sarah and her baby’s condition and they drove to her village to meet with her. It was determined that her social, economic, and future state would become more dire without the intervention of Sole Hope’s medical care and rehabilitation. Sarah and her baby were brought to the Sole Hope Hope Center where they were treated, educated, cared for, and given hope for a new future. During psychosocial sessions at the Hope Center, Sarah attributed the jigger infestation to the dusty floor in their house and the curse believed to be on her. In planning for resettlement, Sarah told our social workers she has a passion for hairdressing and hopes to undergo vocational skills training and be able to meet their daily needs and necessities of life.
While at the Hope Center, 349 jiggers were removed from Sarah’s feet and hands. Her baby was also found to have jiggers in her feet and hands and the Sole Hope medical team treated the baby and educated Sarah about preventative measures in the future. While staying at the Hope Center she also received health education sessions to help her practice good hygiene and sanitation to avoid any re-infestation.
Sarah was discharged and resettled on 28th October 2022 strong, healthy, and happy with a resettlement package. Her parents and friends were overjoyed as they said they thought she was a lost cause. Sarah’s community took note, and word in her village began to spread about the reality of jiggers which combats social stigmas and harms children. Social workers will follow up to ensure the family adheres to the hygiene practices that they were taught, and to make sure this family stays jigger free. Sole Hope provides sustainable life saving support for vulnerable people.
Budget & Ask
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the jigger problem escalated due to population confinement and to travel and operational restrictions from humanitarian organizations such as Sole Hope. The closure of schools limited us from serving children that are affected and at risk of jigger infestation. Mental health problems were enormous by the time we resumed work. People who suffered physical effects like deformation of bodies and secondary infections up to now require a much higher level of psychosocial and medical support to deal with such effects. Moreover, the re-infestation rate in the people we served increased. The effects of the pandemic greatly affected our operations in 2021, and our cash flows from our donors were severely affected during the year as well.
Through this proposal, we request you to support our current mission of stopping the spread of jiggers, creating opportunities that would not otherwise be available, and, more important, the partner that we need to achieve our audacious and ambitious vision of eradicating this disease in Sub-Saharan Africa. This cutaneous infectious disease hasn’t been recognized and given the proper attention either by WHO or by our governments and capable authorities. We need a strong partner to support our operations and at the same time our daily struggle and advocacy efforts to draw attention to this serious, life threatening problem and implore local governments to start acting on it. You would be helping people from Uganda and Kenya recover so they can live healthier lives, be released from a stigma around jiggers that leads to many being locked up and starved to death, and realize more opportunity in the way of education and future opportunities.
With your help, in 2023 we can make a direct impact on more than 8,000 lives in Uganda and through expanded operations in Kenya. Thank you all for your time and consideration of this application. Should you need any additional information, please do not hesitate to contact us at info@solehope.org or at the information in our signature below.
Onward,
Ben Cooley
Executive Director
Sole Hope
Ben.Cooley@solehope.org