Chimwemwe Footprints Project
Virginia Kachigunda (MPH) & Suzanne Davis (MPH candidate)
A number of years ago, Malawi's former president Bakili Muluzi, guaranteed free shoes to the people of Malawi as a pre-election promise. He came to power in 1994 and served the two term limit intil 2004, the shoes never eventuating. Apparently when callenged regarding his failure to deliver on the promise of shoes, Muluzi himself acknowledged how impossible the task would be. The outrageous promise of shoes was shrugged off as a joke and the Malawi people should have recognised and yet many believe it was the platform which carried him to a victorious election.
The Chimwemwe Footprints Project was born when two Public Health students, Virginia Kachigunda and Suzanne Davis met during post graduate studies at Flinders University, formed a friendship and then a partnership to put into practice the theory and lessons being learned as part of their studies. In April 2010, 2,000 pairs of shoes arrived in the little Malawi village of Makuluni, the culmination of a venture which began at the end of 2008 and finally compelted almost 18 months later. The blog site created to document the journey can be accessed via:
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