ANKOLE DERBY SHOE OF HOPE

Category: Footwear

Having joined Uganda Prison service in 2016 as a cadet Principal Officer and so passionate about serving the less privileged I found I dint have anything material to offer to the inmates whom I found I was supposed to keep and ensure their humane custody the only help that could come from me was hope. Giving hope to someone sentenced to the rest of his life or sentenced to 30years in prison or at worst sentenced to death isn’t something simple. With my Natural passion to leather, I knew this was my time to contribute to mother Uganda. So I ventured into making leather products and training inmates in the same field as a rehabilitation programme to enable them reintegrate back to their communities once released. My inspiration is generated from my zeal to provide hope to the inmates and I find our Ankole long horned cows as a source for the hope. I understand the rough environment that most of us have grown in and the current generation looks for all possible ways to have financial breakthrough as soon as possible and this includes illegitimate methods that land them behind bars. However some are victims of circumstances and they find themselves convicted and sentenced to longer sentences and end up in a state of hopelessness. Ankole long horned cows admired by everyone in our society stands out in the whole world and a mere mention of it attracts attention of people in Uganda as some were even arrested trying to steal these cows so I knew that using them would give them a reason to live. So my Design that I calle the Ankole Derby shoe of hope has a story that starts from the rough environment with all good and bad things including the cows as shown in the rough texture of the quarters, how some try to navigate through it using unconventional means After imagining of getting rich faster and find themselves behind bars, and the other part of the shoe with a symbol of hope that keeps reminding them that not all is gone yet, there is a reason still for them to live and go back to the society and live a responsible life that impacts on the community .