The following words you are about to read give you an update that I am elated to have our International Coordinator, Lis, tell you about. When I was asked last year about my dreams for the future of Sole Hope, I said I wanted to open a clinic to better assist those who are struggling with sever jiggers – needing more than one clinic and shoes, they need a life change and time to create new habits. In the mean time, we ran a small Sole Hope Outreach House in the Sole Hope compound that could accommodate up to 10 kids. We were always over capacity and would hear of bad cases in the village that needed immediate help, but they had to wait because we had no room. Then this happened…its been our behind the sciences project that we have been working very hard on. -Asher Collie, Founder of Sole Hope
Well ladies and gentleman, the time has come for us to let you in on our new secret project. For the last several weeks, the Sole Hope Uganda team has been working hard to open our NEW OUTREACH HOUSE – the Sole Hope Outreach Clinic! That’s right, we have a whole new compound where we can treat up to 30 children & caregivers at a time! We are so excited about all the new opportunities that this space provides. There is plenty of room for children to run and play and a garden for the caretakers to learn to garden in using a method called, Farming God’s Way. As more locals have become aware of what Sole Hope is doing in and around Jinja, we have been receiving more and more referrals from other organizations, as well as village leaders and parol officers – many times it left us with an outreach house running over capacity.
Last week, we had a Grand Opening party with all of our outreach families, staff members and village leaders. We were able to share our vision of moving towards #ZEROjiggers, two feet and one family at a time. With our increased space and larger capacity for family units, we hope that these local leaders/officials will seek out families who believe there is no HOPE in the realm of jiggers and refer them to Sole Hope Outreach Clinic. There we will offer them support and education, love and care, and allow them to see the HOPE in the situation – that they too can achieve #ZEROjiggers!
With the opening of the Sole Hope Outreach Clinic, we were also to hire on more staff! We now have 2 Social Workers, 2 Nurses, Day/Night Guards, and caregivers to provide the best care, 24 hours a day. Not only are we able to serve people with severe cases of jiggers, but we are able to provide reliable/consistent jobs to members of our local community. These individuals love and care for these families in such a tangible way and play such an important role in the recovery process.
This week, we received our first group of children & caregivers at the new Sole Hope Outreach Clinic. It was such a joy to see them spread out in the big front yard, ready to be welcomed to the brand new clinic. Within no time at all, they were running and playing, swinging in the trees, and playing tag around the compound. These sweet kiddos had their jiggers removed, shoes placed on their feet, and were taught the importance of hygiene and wearing their shoes (among other things). Seeing their smiling faces and happy feet completely confirmed everything that went into this new Sole Hope Outreach Clinic. They gave us HOPE – hope for a jigger free life for all those who walk through that front gate. For now, we start with the Next Two Feet.