Nyiramfubuhinge Colette is a 55-year-old woman living in the Cyuve Sector of the Musanze district. Colette is a widow who has given birth to three children. She was born in the small village of Gasiza to a not very well-off family of five children, three brothers and two sisters. Her mother and grandmother had had podoconiosis. When she was a child, Colette dreamt of becoming a primary teacher one day. Unfortunately, her family was unable to send Colette to school, rather she was pressed to tend to cattle. When she turned fifteen years old, Colette’s foot started to itch and sometimes swell. Her peers, even her friends, began to fear her, and she came to not only be stigmatized by others but also to stigmatize her own self. When Colette was twenty-one years old, she got married and was full of joy on her marriage day. She and her husband had three children. However, her husband later died, and all of her children died soon afterwards as well. And as the swelling in her foot and leg progressed and walking became difficult, she realized that she has IMIDIDO (the Kinyarwanda term for Podoconiosis). At this miserable point in her life, she attended many hospitals, but none were able to help her. In 2014, she made a friend who also had podoconiosis and was being treated at Heart and Sole Africa. Her friend invited Colette to come attend the clinic with her. Since then, Colette has been attending Heart and Sole Africa’s clinic and has so far seen improvement in her foot and leg. Today, Colette cultivates for others as a living. She does not have a house as her own house had fallen down due to being too old. Instead she currently lives with her stepson. Continue reading →

Hello everyone! Just to let you know that Heart and Sole Africa Rwanda team will be helping Rwanda Ministry of health ( MoH) to map Rwanda for podoconiosis starting from 19^th November, 2017. Our role will to educate wider community patients and health professionals at the selected health facilities and identify podoconiosis cases. We will be able to distribute podoconiosis education posters created by GlobeMed interns to 35 Health Centers. The posters educate on podoconiosis treatment and prevention. We are happy to come to this end as local organization and also to involve in this special project of MoH. 

Derrick, age 18, is a young boy from the Gisoro district region of Uganda. He lives with both of his parents and siblings and is the second born child among seven children. Derrick had dreams of becoming a university professor, but his dreams became unrealistic when Derrick turned 12 years old and started noticing and experiencing unusual signs. In the beginning,Derrick only experienced a desire to scratch his left leg. However, soon his feet were burning and swollen to the point where his legs became too heavy. He was not able to walk to school anymore. He was in the fourth grade of primary education in Uganda, but Derrick stopped walking to school to avoid both the pain in his legs and the laughter of his classmates.

Derrick has attended many hospitals in Uganda but has found no help. This past summer, Derrick was admitted to the Heart and Sole Africa clinic located in Kinoni in the Burera district of Rwanda, where he was clinically diagnosed as a podoconiosis patient. Podoconiosis, also known as endemic non-filarial elephantiasis, is a non-communicable disease that is acquired through prolonged exposure to volcanic red clay soils. This condition is commonly seen among subsistence farmer who walk and work in field while barefoot.

Derrick was also determined to be a good candidate for bandaging. His parents were unfortunately unable to afford the costs of transporting him to the Heart and Sole Africa clinic in the Musanze district for daily bandaging. However, Cindy Robinett, an American certified lymphedema therapist and friend of Tonya Huston, Heart and Sole Africa’s founder and Executive Director, kindly donated the money needed for the treatment period. Derrick has now begun treatment and is responding well, already showing decreases in swelling. He reports that his leg has become easier to lift while walking than before. There is hope that his legs will be saved.

Hi everyone,

We are excited to announce that we have changed our organization’s name from the Imidido Project to Heart and Sole Africa! In Kinyarwanda, the word “imidido” means swelling. Although the word imidido may describe their physical condition, patients have expressed a certain stigma associated with the name. One of the goals of Heart and Sole Africa is to destigmatize podoconiosis in the community. This name change is an important step in this process. The Heart and Sole Africa community is about far more than just a disease and we hope our new name reflects that. As you can see, our website has moved! Please bear with us in coming weeks as we continue to build our new website.

Also, the sewing center underwent exciting renovations this week! A new room extension has doubled the size of the sewing center. The interior and exterior have been re-painted and a banner sports our new name. Stay tuned for more updates from Musanze!