TOMS Project Holiday: Outfitting Africa

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Ethiopia…land of the original coffee bean, breathtaking waterfalls, and the history-making, inspired leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopian people are some of the most beautiful in the world, as well as some of the poorest. Too many people in this country suffer and die from diseases that are completely preventable, like podoconiosis. Podoconiosis, or "podo," is a form of elephantiasis caused by walking barefoot on soil with high concentrations of irritants like sodium, potassium, and silica. Podo victims become outcasts of society and are often incapable of performing most types of work. This incurable condition is gruesome, debalitating, and 100% preventable. The grand solution to podo involves providing people with one basic possession: shoes.

Ethiopia…land of the original coffee bean, breathtaking waterfalls, and the history-making, inspired leadership of Emperor Haile Selassie I. Ethiopian people are some of the most beautiful in the world, as well as some of the poorest. Too many people in this country suffer and die from diseases that are completely preventable, like podoconiosis.

Podoconiosis, or “podo,” is a form of elephantiasis caused by walking barefoot on soil with high concentrations of irritants like sodium, potassium, and silica. Podo victims become outcasts of society and are often incapable of performing most types of work. This incurable condition is gruesome, debalitating, and 100% preventable.  The grand solution to podo involves providing people with one basic possession: shoes.

Blake Mycoskie of TOMS Shoes is the perfect man for this job. From its inception, Blake’s “for benefit” company has donated a pair of TOMS to a child in need for every pair the company sells. TOMS has distributed shoes to tens of thousands of cutie pies in Argentina and South Africa, as well as hosting DIY shoe decorating partiesin the US for children affected by Hurricane Katrina. Blake is now applying his exceptional business model to help prevent podoconiosis in Ethiopia. 

For the month leading up to Christmas 2008, TOMS promoted their Project Holiday campaign to sell 30,000 pairs of shoes, so they could give 30,000 pairs of protective rubber shoes to kids in Ethiopia. When all the holiday dust had settled, TOMS and all the customers who participated in Project Holiday had made it possible for 37,000 Ethiopian children to receive shoes and slow the spread of this heartbreaking disease.

If you’d like to help TOMS with their mission in Ethiopia, there’s several exciting ways you can do that:

  • Buy a pair of TOMS Wrap Boots, which will result in a donation of shoes to Ethiopia
  • Sign up for a shoe drop. Immediate openings are in Argentina, though Ethiopia trips should be popping up on the Friends of TOMS website soon.
  • Intern with TOMS. Contribute to the overall mission of TOMS and learn about how a successful For Benefit company works.
  • Donate to TOMS. If you have all the shoes you need and don’t have extra time for traveling or working with TOMS, they’ll be happy to take cold, hard cash…actually, it’s more like warm, fuzzy cash.