Hello you lovely, lovely people! So the topic for today is shoes. I like shoes, and I feel like everyone else does too. Even boys, because they need their feet protected too. Shocking, right?

So! Who HASN'T heard of Toms?

Exactly. Anyone heard of their strange Sketchers version, called Bobs?

I know, they look almost identical. Also, if you just type 'bobs' into google, you get hair, so be forewarned, use 'Sketchers Bobs' or something of the sort.

Thus far we've established: Everyone likes shoes, Toms and Bobs BOTH give a pair of shoes to someone who needs shoes when you buy a pair of shoes. And everyone needs shoes.

But what about a college education? Would you buy a pair of shoes for that?

Have you ever heard of them? I'm not surprised if you said 'no,' and if you said 'yes,' then I hope you own a pair. Being a broke college student, the next time I have actual money I can actually spend, I plan on buying a pair. As it is, I just stare at them longingly all day, with romantic music and birds tweeting in the background.

So here's the gist of it: Women in Uganda usually can't afford college, and there's a nine month gap in their school system between schools. What Sseko does is it employs these women. For nine months these Ugandan women make these beautiful leather sandals and the interchangeable, multi-way straps. All the income gets put in a special account for their college, so after nine months, they've earned enough to get a college degree.

Why a separate account? More often than not, these women come from impoverished families who would take everything the women earned and put it towards something else. As it is, Sseko makes sure the women take home enough to live off of, and the rest if put in savings so it can't be spent on a whim, and that savings money can only go towards college.

So instead of giving a kid another pair of shoes, why not give a Ugandan woman a college education?

You can tie these sandals in a multitude of ways, and not only that, but you can buy different straps for it. Solids, prints, a whole pack of these ribbons, and apparently they're really sturdy. Like I said, broke college student, no monies, so I'll get there. But every review I've read speaks highly of them. They might be kind of like Rainbows, the flip-flop brand, in that you kind of need to break them in. But other than that, what's not to love?

Cute sandals with interchangeable, multi-way straps that help give Ugandan women a good college education? Count me in!

But trust me, I'll still buy Toms too. :D



Until next time!
-MG