Shoe4Africa Shoe4Africa is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization.
January 06th '06- S4A 10k race in Iten, Kenya.
Francis Robert Naali (left) receives shoe assistance in Arusha 2-yrs before winning the Commonwealth Marathon Gold medal in the 2002 Games, Manchester England.
The Shoe4Africa Story Founded in 1995
I was living in Kenya for a few months and soon realized that the quality of running shoe that was generally deemed 'to be replaced' where I lived could actually have an after-life in Africa. I had taken surplus running shoes/clothes to give to the runners forseeing this issue but at once saw how I could help in a much broader spectrum by continuing shipping supplies over once I returned to the West.
I saw runners training in shoes that I would not even use for gardening. Shoes that had not been seen the 1980's in the West! I wrote to a friend, asked them to bundle up all my running shoes, clothes, and gear and sent them asap to Kenya. I then wrote to a local running club and asked them for a collection of their shoes. Soon (incidentally the first time I met Moses Tanui whom I would stay with as he trained for Boston '96) I was walking round the streets of Eldoret with a huge carton of running shoes (some new, some used) on my shoulder looking for athletes in training who needed footwear.
The project immediately took off! Literally thousands of running shoes in the last decade have been sent to various camps/runners in the countries - Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzanian.
The concept is simple, don't throw away your running shoes, or if you buy a new pair and don't like them -- think of us! After seven years I have now tried to encourage people to box up a couple of pairs and send them surface mail to Africa. It will cost you less than two drinks in a mid town bar!
However I still continue to collect your shoes and send them myself if you can not afford the expense.
One of the great things about this project is that it is simple, and it does work.
The photo at the top left is of Francis Robert Naali receiving training shoes from the Shoe4africa project 2000 - in 2002 he won the Gold Medal at the Commonwealth Games in the marathon. Shoes have gone to the LA Marathon winner, A commonwealth Games 800m winner, a Falmouth Road race winner -- typically when the runner is on the way up the ladder to success, and most needs the support. We have assited two national record holders in the marathon distance in east Africa before they received sponsorship of their own.
The Shoes sent in the summer/fall are going to be used for some upcoming races in Tanzania - each finisher will receive a pair. What a great way to promote running in Africa we think.
It is really nice when new ideas spring up - Keith Dowling started a drive in Reston and sent 200 pairs. Then, for example, I received this email from Diane Kenna of the New York Harriers,
"An excellent suggestion from Mark Paulonis (aka Mr. Manhattan).
What if we put in the update re: the next First Thursday dinner a
suggestion,
that everyone bring an old pair of running shoes to donate to Toby's
Shoes 4 Africa program. (I'll even volunteer to box and ship them).
Since the next dinner outing is post marathon, I suppose we should have
some worn out sneakers by then."
Samson Ramadhani, pictured at a shoe pickup, 2001. In 2002 Samson (beating en route World Medalist John Yuda & commonwealth champion Naali) won the AF 1/2 Marathon in Dar Es Salaam, 61:05, the 10,000, and was second in the 5000m! A breakthrough! Soon after he equaled the National Record in the Marathon running 2:08:01 in London!
*Another Angle*
"I am happy to inform you that our program has another positive step
in
the development of the Tanzania poor athletes. After showing some
excellent
results in most of the local races here in Tanzania, finally my runners
could now get the secondary education at 50% less cost compare to the
other
students. I had been fighting this for many years, but finally my
prayers
has been heard. Thanks to the Shoe 4 Africa which I donate to that
school
earlier.
The semester which is already started yesterday will take four
athletes
from my group." M. Iranqhe.
The Talent of the Moving Feet 10k - First prize $500, second to twentieth places $100 each, merchandise spot prizes, Free T Shirts to participants, Post race Banquet to follow the race. *Free Entry to all.* Places 21-35 merchandise prizes.
**The races sponsored by Shoe4Africa in Tanzania are held in conjunction with an AIDS Awareness clinic to help fight the disease spreading**
Not only in Africa; Kefah Keraro of Kenya, now running in the USA sponsored by Shoe4africa.
2006--As founder of the Shoe4Africa program I have decided to take the mission to a higher level recently, and am asking you to become involved with the goal of AIDS awareness through the reward of running shoes and races.
The Shoe4Africa program really struck home one day whilst I was in Kenya. I had given a scruffy pair of used sneakers to a promising athlete. Following his morning’s run he sat on the porch for over an hour cleaning the shoes with a toothbrush, meticulously removing all the dirt, this became a daily ritual as he told me, "As these are my first ever gift from anyone I want them to last forever."
Imagine reaching the age of twenty and never have being given a single gift, and not owning anything more than the clothes worn each day. This athlete today makes his living as a professional runner. Giving a person a gift in East Africa is a vessel to improving their life in a country of scant opportunity.
For the last ten years I have been boxing up used sporting equipment and shipping the contents over to East Africa, to be used by inopportuned athletes.
After successes with providing athletes with equipment (please see the pictures on the website - Francis Robert Naali receiving shoes two years before he won the Commonwealth Games Gold Marathon Medal ‘02, and Samson Ramah a year before he equaled the national marathon record of Tanzania), we branched out to try assistance with an air ticket to bring one runner from Zambia to the United States for a school scholarship - he rewarded us with being named an All American and winning collegiate titles.
The first ever athlete supported has won the Los Angeles marathon - the success stories are numerous!
Of course we continue with the running shoes/attire - this past Summer a ‘direct product’ of Shoe4Africa, Chris Isegwe, won Tanzania’s first ever medal at the outdoor World Track and Field Championships claiming a Silver at the marathon, maybe if it had not been that gift of a pair of shoes he would have never have started running -- think how his life is now changed. This past October another of our developed runners, Fabian Joseph, outright won the World Half Marathon Championships aged only nineteen! His first running shoes he used to practice as an unknown runner came from some New York generous soul who recycled his worn out sneakers to our program!
How can you assist? As you may see we have many developments -- collecting shoes is now well taken care of but one of the major issues we deal with is to sponsor races where an AIDS clinic is held in conjunction with the race to educate the athletes on the necessary precautions of this killer disease that is estimated to have infected a staggering one in four East Africans.
Over the past decade literally thousands of used running shoes have been sent over to Ethiopia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya. On a personal note I nearly lost my life and had to have brain surgery and reconstructive work on my skull in the year 2000 after being attacked for a running shoe in Zanzibar - this is an incident that highlights the far desperation, yet awakens me to the needs we can do with this program.
Alan Ruben, Gordon Bakoulis, Mike Guastella, Stuart Calderwood, Stacy Creamer, Wensley Carroll, Kristina Schwarz, Ramon Bermo, John Kenney, Devon Sargent, Jason Block, Rie Yahata, Beth Shields, Trace Salzano, Amy Mochel.
Roland Soong, Michelle Rossettie, Lieng-Seng Wee, Irene W, Ben Kessler, Russ Charlton, Martin Muoto, Rachel Eve Meyer, Roger Liberman, Diane Kenna, Rick Pascarella, Audrey Kingsley, Stephen Conroy, Lawrence J. Thraen, Michele Tagliati, Andrey Baranov, Kim Griffin, Robin Roberts, Alayne Adams, Dan Cappiano, Stephane Bois, Eve Kaplan & her wonderful Mum Sue, Phil Passen, Olivier Baillet, Noel Berkeley, Stephen Marselese, Rebecca Baldwin, Carol Tyler, Ellen Ravens-Seger, Jesse Huot, Richard Block, Jason Block, Margaret Schotte.
Kiernan Stack, Michael Anderson, Tom Cheslik, Christine Summerson, Sean Fortune, Michael Maloney, Michael Crehore, Jerry Macari, Marla Runyan, Shai Waisman, Yves-Marc Courtines, John Prather, Jonathan Cane, Stuart Alexander, Amy Sheeran, Somers High School Westchester, Keith Dowling, Reston Runners, Mike Hart, Rose Bundy, Sarah Bernier, Paul Racine, Jerome O'Shaunessy, Chris & Mark Bilsky, Steven Paddock, Sally Carpenter, Diane Kenna, Mark 'manhattan' Pauloulis, Stuart Alexander, Mary Armstrong, Beth Lambert, Hannah Borgeson, Kevin Colangelo, Shawn Young, Michelle Hutchins, Virginia Deroy, Esther Blum, Simon Barker, Anthony Munk, Daisy Maxey, Roslyn Schloss, Cara Macari, Noel Comess, Westchester Road Runners In White Plains, Urban Athletics, New York Harriers, Amber Karol, Ezron Burrell, Vram Malek, Stephanie Bibb, Jenn Latham, New York Flyers - thanks to Sara Heard for the shoe drive there.
Amanda Winchester, Nina Stachenfeld, Scott S. Johnson, Russ Evans of Delaware, Haidee Isip, Susan M. Leto, Juan Sadurni, Sofia Sequenzia, John Shostrom, Michael Brennan, richard piccirillo, Cynthia Kuni,
Pioneer Valley Women's Running Club, Mike Hudzik, Alma Ramos & the Staten Island Athletic Club, Nathan Riedel, Colin Cigarran, Brent Peterson, Amy May, Nicole Morrish, Sharon Kay, Frank Schneiger, Sean Corrigan, Jo Ann Mannino, Jennifer Gotlieb, Randall White, Erica Agran, Todd Weisse, Frank Tantillo, Shelley Farmer, Brian McIntyre, Maria Dunn, Nic Jesdanun, Paulo Flor, Eric Vermilya, Kurt Steege, Elyse Burden.
Daniel Marks, Sothi Anandamohan, Ray Webb, Frank McCarthy,
Michael Reiss, Amit Agarwal, Ronald Hing, Jesse Chan, Sharon Dredger,
Joann Panzera,
Bill Cockayne,
Rich Fintz,
Mo Awwal,
Steven Younger,
Neal Finkelstein,
Janet Dowd,
Tim Miller,
Annabelle Chen,
Aamer Iqbal,
Tom Tam,
Eric Post,
Lauren Cutting, Greg Van Hest, Bernie Cooper,
Matt Costello,
Antonio De Vido, Samantha Timmons, Cecile Daurat, Felice Kelly, Emily Kindlon, Michael Rooney. Anne Kugler, John McCarroll, Lisa Bergtraum, Marguerite Del Valle, David Edwards, Ben Lloyd, Lowell Keith, Paul Weiss, Anthony Carillo, Tara Rasch, Lawrence McGivney, Anthony Labozetta, Riyad Maznavi, Jason Rita, Jessica Wittebort, Nathaniel Kourpas, Tom Carlin, Marguerite Del Valle, Robert Gillespie, Tunie Sophia Dushey, Joy Dushey, Rich and Sheri Kenah, Michael Rooney, Sean Lawrence, Terry Baker, James McQuade, Jim McGrath, Jordan Thaler, Brooke Ansnes. Leslie Ballantyne, Robert M. Trachtenberg, Charles Heapley, Michelle Inere, George Hirsch, Mike Frankfurt, Nina Kucscik, Sherry McMurtrey, Narcisco Rodriguez, Kerri Holick,
Tom Carlin, Zika Palmer, Toby Langhoff, James M. Brown, Ria Van Ryn,
Tonya Christianson, Mira Edmonds, Kim Alexis, Dan Lam, doug esposito, Rick Presutti, The Shore Runner, Bernie Cooper, Sara Roades, Bryan G. Ewing, Russell S. Pfeffer, Saul Narro, Students and adults of IOLANI SCHOOL and members of FAERBER FLYERS (women's running club) in Honolulu, HI, Mara Yamauchi, Malachi Bayansi, U.K., David Coblentz, Lops Alamos, NM, Bob Kovell, Daisy.Maxey, Samantha Tannehill, Glenda McGuire, Bart Rigg, Dale R. Evans, DVM
Kelly Clancy-Garvey, CA, Diana Harlin, Riyad from 85th ST, and Thanks to TriDivas.com and Kelly out in CA for doing a Shoedrive! Tim Buzby, Jonathan Wilson, Cheryl Wadhwa, Kermit Schlicht, Josh Kigel of Dwight and the Basketball team, Emily Lagiglia and the Dowling School, Tara Ballesteros
Washington, DC, Rebekah Burke of Virginia Beach, Tracey Lion-Cachet,Kelly Perella in Denver, Colorado, and Abby Brown, who are both planning shoe drives, Abby is going for 500 shoes-- that is a lot for an 11-year old! Kim Harris and the Hill Runners of Hunterdon running club, Thom Little, Lara Heinz of Ohio and Kelly Churchill from Vancouver, Firdaus of VCTC, Debra Fields, Patrick Duffy, Steve Halsey MN, Leigh Nelson, Tom Barron, Danielle Nesci, Josh Kigel of Dwight School, the girls basketball team, Angela Lannin and the Community Running, in Cambridge, MA, Brett Hoover. Kelly Perella in Denver, Colorado, and Abby Brown, Kim Harris--77 pairs of running shoes from the Hill Runners of Hunterdon, Shelly Cole, Tara Zimnick-Calico Jeremy Mosher, MaryEllen Mc Gill,
Annemarie Petroff, Wilmington YMCA Triathlon Club, Elizabeth Chabner Thompson,
Sara Wray, Reese Kimberly Scripture, Anna Saez, Silvia C. Carrillo, SrA, USAF, Michelle Lynchard, Amber Wilson, Cindy Richardson, Vickie Krivacs, Michelle Inere, Rebecca McMinn, Nancy Dubin, Carrie Thompson, Karen Pawson of the dalton school, Christian Perry and the NYC Rudolf Steiner School, Haley Fleming,Suzanne ramsey, Jayna Hensstorf, Lauri Klugh, Debra Denke, Anthony Edwards, Renee Stephen, Zerline de Boer, Gail Kirkman, Lisa Colon, Amir Alikhani
(Please let me know if you have donated and are not listed, thanks!)
Samson Ramadhani, pictured at a shoe pickup, 2001. In 2002 Samson (beating en route World Medalist John Yuda & commonwealth champion Naali) won the AF 1/2 Marathon in Dar Es Salaam, 61:05, the 10,000, and was second in the 5000m! A breakthrough! Soon after he equaled the National Record in the Marathon running 2:08:01 in London!
