Sh10m shoe project launched to fight Ndhiwa jigger menace

Education in Ndhiwa is expected to get a boost after two NGOs set aside more than Sh10 million to fight jiggers in the area.

Life For Children Welfare and US-based Tom's Shoes have launched a project aimed at buying shoes for pupils and cleaning the feet of those already infested with jiggers.

Life For Children Welfare CEO Michael Agwanda said the programme aimed at providing shoes for 15,000 pupils in 25 primary schools in the sub-county.

Speaking at Osodo Primary School when he launched the distribution of shoes, Mr Agwanda said each pupil would receive a pair that would be replaced every six months.

"We started this programme some time ago but now we have upgraded the scale of our operation because all pupils with jiggers will have their feet cleaned. We also expect to those already affected use about 6,000 pairs of slippers," Agwanda said.

POVERTY RATE

Agwanda expessed concern over the high rate of poverty, which had denied many children shoes and predisposed them to jiggers.

He said jiggers were an obstacle to academic performance among primary school pupils in the sub-county and called on the county government and development partners to join hands and help eradicate the parasites.

He said there was no way standards of education could be uplifted if jiggers were not checked.

"Jiggers cause a lot of embarrassment and discomfort for pupils to the point they are not able to comprehend what they are taught in class effectively," Agwanda said.

Osodo Primary's head teacher Joash Otieno said some pupils were forced to miss school due to the pain caused by jiggers.

Meanwhile, health workers under the Economic Stimulus Programme (ESP) in Migori County are on a go slow following a fruitless meeting with county Health executives to push for employment.

The ESP workers were demanding permanent and pensionable employment but the county government did not seem ready to offer it.

Speaking to The Standard, the workers said they were not ready to work on contract any longer.

"We cannot continue working on contract because our counterparts in other counties have been given permanent jobs. What makes Migori County different?" posed Evans Athiga, their chairman.

He said they had been treated like "small-scale labourers" and did not know how much they were entitled to because no payslips were given.

"This has limited us. We cannot access the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) because we have no payslips. We cannot get loans and we don't know what the National Social Security Fund is deducting every month," said Mr Athiga.

The workers' association's Secretary General Geoffrey Edionyi said they were tired of being taken round and round over what he termed their right.

"It is our right to be employed as permanent workers. The Cabinet Secretary for Health had instructed the county health docket to absorb us as permanent and pensionable employees. Why the cat and mouse games?" posed Mr Edionyi.

LOW PAY

He also complained of the low pay they have had to contend with since they were employed.

"We have been receiving peanuts. Our salaries are demeaning and killing our morale. The workload we all have to complete is huge compared to the pay that we get," he said.

Responding to the complaints, County Public Service Board chairman Peterlis Nyatuga said the board was in the process of absorbing the workers as permanent and pensionable