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.

Debasso is a small, rural village in the western region of Ethiopia. Home to 2,000 people, Debasso is situated in Ethiopia’s highlands where conditions are well-suited to farming and raising herd animals such as cattle, horses, and sheep. Growing coffee is an especially critical task for Debasso’s farmers as it is Ethiopia’s chief export and most lucrative cash crop.

Debasso’s rural setting exposes its residents to many challenges. Poor road conditions leave Debasso and its surrounding areas isolated. As a result, Debasso’s families struggle with limited access to water, electricity, schools, and health services. To cope with this lack of basic infrastructure, the village’s children begin to work at an early age to assist their parents in the fields. Families must also cope with the many hours that are required to travel to to sell their goods.

These conditions and especially the limited health care available leave Debasso’s residents vulnerable to preventable diseases such as malaria, tuberculosis, and respiratory tract infections. Among these illnesses, podoconiosis remains an especially concerning and widely neglected disease that continues to disable and devastate Debasso’s population.

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Direct Impact of Your Project

• Ensures 114 people diagnosed with podoconiosis receive the treatment and support they need to significantly improve their health, both physically and mentally
• Allows the treated podo patients to return to work so they can support themselves and their families
• Enables 114 people to rejoin their community and rediscover a sense of self-worth
• Employs patients in a shoe-making workshop, increasing their income

Extended Impact on Your Partner Community

• Improves the income earning potential of families coping with podoconiosis
• Allows families with a podo patient to reconnect and reenter their society
• Increases awareness among the Debasso community of the causes and treatment of podo, easing the stigma that sufferers face
• Serves as a model for other health organizations and communities by demonstrating podo is treatable
• Provides the Debasso community with an alternative to farming by working in the clinic's shoe workshop