Say What? Sseko!

It's been a while since I posted about human trafficking and modern-day slavery.  I promise I haven't forgotten!  Far from it, really.  I've since read two more books that have really challenged my thinking, and I'll be posting some more on that soon.

And you know, I don't want to always be talking about everything we shouldn't be doing and making everyone feel awful.  That's not my goal.  So today I thought I would do something a little different.  I'm going to talk about one amazing company that you can feel good about supporting.

I'm talking about Sseko Designs (pronounced \ say-ko \).  It all started when a young woman named Liz decided she was going to make a difference.  From the Sseko website:

"The Ugandan school system is designed with a nine month gap between secondary school and university. These nine months are intended to allow time for students to earn money for tuition before continuing on to university. However, in an impoverished and male dominated society, many of these young women struggle to find fair work during this time.

Sseko Designs hires recent secondary school graduates for this nine month period to live and work together, while earning money that will go directly towards their university education. These women will not make sandals forever. They will go on to be doctors, lawyers, politicians, writers and teachers that will bring change and unification to a country divided and ravished by a 22 year-long war.

 Sseko Designs is a not-just-for-profit enterprise that recognizes the power of business and responsible consumerism to support sustainable economic development, which in turn affects a country's educational, justice, and health care systems. The goal of Sseko Designs is two-fold: provide university tuition for these promising young women through a sustainable monthly income, while also contributing to the overall economic development of Uganda."

You see what I mean?  You can feel good about buying shoes from here.  Because you don't have to wonder if the women making the shoes are treated well.  Or if they get paid fairly.  You can feel confident that by purchasing these shoes, you, too are making a difference in the lives of these women!

And let's be honest - these are some super cute shoes!  I have a pair of these shoes - I got them 2 Christmases ago, and I love them.  I even wore them in my own wedding!

See? Here's me with my Sseko shoes on my wedding day.

I had my bridesmaids wear them, too!  It was actually their gift for being in the wedding - shoes, the straps for the wedding, and then special individual straps for each lovely lady.

One really neat thing about these shoes is that it's like buying several different pairs of shoes in one.  They're super versatile.  There are tons of different strap designs and colors to choose from, and they are all really fun.  But probably the neatest thing about these shoes is not the variety of straps; it's the many different ways you can tie them!  Just go here and you can choose a style and watch the easy-to-follow video.

Here's what my sandals look like right now:

I had to search hard to find grass that was still alive and green for this photo.

Pay no mind to my short little fat feet or my badly painted toenails.  Instead, ooh and ahh at my classy shoes!

See what I mean?  And once you have the leather soles, you can keep buying more straps!  You know, if you want to.  (Which you probably will because they're CUTE!)

The only issue I have with these shoes is actually probably a user-related issue (aka: my fault).  I still haven't quite figured out how to tie them so they don't feel like they are slipping off.  Well, I take that back.  I did a really good job 2 weekends ago.  So if you tie them right, they feel great and secure!  Be more awesome than me and tie them right all the time when you get them, okay?

I was not paid or endorsed for this post in any way.  In fact, they have no clue I wrote it.  I wrote it because I wanted to.  Fancy that!