Congratulations! Your project has been completed!

Menlo Park, CA

About Me: I became involved with Citizen Effect this summer after moving back home to San Francisco after 6 years in the Los Angeles Fashion Industry. I had just sold my handbag design company, CUFFZ by Linz, and found myself with an unexpected “summer vacation from life” as I finish my business school applications and wait for grad school to start this coming fall. I had the good fortune of meeting Kate Mulder, CE’s Citizen Philanthropist Manager, through a mutual friend. I was blown away by this fantastic organization and the great work they do through such a creative model. Kate gave me the opportunity to get involved with CE by applying my experience in Marketing, PR, and Event Production, which I’ve acquired from my years in fashion, to supporting Citizen Effect as they grow their brand and spread the word about the organization, starting with the San Francisco Launch Event. In putting together the SF Launch, I learned more about the podoconiosis outreach programs and was inspired to take one on as my own CP Project. I was shocked to learn how easy and inexpensive this disease is to treat, cure, and prevent! Podo is more common in Ethiopia than HIV, yet so there is so little awareness of this debilitating disease that could be totally eradicated in our lifetime. As I approach my 27th birthday in January, I have decided I would like to use the occasion as a means of raising funds and awareness for my podo project. Traditionally, my birthdays include temper tantrums about aging and lamentation over the personal goals I have set for myself and failed to meet year after year (e.g. learning to drive stick-shift, speaking French fluently, graduating from the bunny slopes on my snowboard, etc.) This year, which has been a wonderful turning point in my professional life, has also marked a positive shift in my personal life and my relationship with the world around me. This year there will be no tantrums, only celebration of the impact we can all make by coming together for a night of fun festivities and fundraising that can change the lives of 140 people across the globe for the better.

The village of Debasso is currently threatened by one of the world’s most neglected diseases, podoconiosis (podo). Podo is a debilitating foot disease that is caused by living barefoot in volcanic soil. It results in massive swelling and disfiguring of the feet and legs, and sufferers have difficulty working or even walking. In Debasso, poor residents who cannot afford shoes are consistently exposed to the region’s irritating soil while working as subsistence farmers. As a result, as much as 5% of the village’s population suffer from the disease. Sadly, the stigma associated with podo is so severe that many who have it remain hidden in their homes for years, allowing the disease to progress and become more disabling. This project will allow a rural health clinic that is working to treat podo to more than double the number of podo patients it can treat in Debasso and its surrounding areas. The clinic is supported by the local Mekane Yesus Church, but it reaches out to all podo sufferers, regardless of their religion. It currently is the only facility in the area that is working to treat and combat the spread of podo. The project will fund the training and equipping of eight Podo Agents, former patients who have been selected to work to locate and assist isolated podo sufferers. These Podo Agents will be based from the health clinic and will work to identify and teach 114 people the basic methods for treating podo. They will also provide new patients with the materials and custom shoes that are necessary to improving their health. Large-fitting shoes for the patients will be made in the clinic's workshop that will also be funded by the project. With proper treatment, these 114 patients will be able to return to their work and rejoin their community within several months. The project will finally also fund the establishment of network groups of podo patients to provide patients undergoing treatment with a source of peer support.

go to project page