by Zane Wilemon
As we boarded an early morning plan that would take us from Nairobi to Ethiopia, an illusion pervaded my spirit that we could never make a shoe. I was handicapped by the fear that it was nothing more than a big idea. And yet here we were: Jeremiah Kuria, Ubuntu Life co-founder, and five very adventurous executives from Zazzle, a Silicon Valley-based company, and me, flying to Addis Ababa on the hunt to learn what it takes to make shoes.
The goal: to learn how to make shoes, bring that idea back to our Ubuntu Life Maker Mums, and empower them to make shoes. But they weren’t making just any shoe: they’d be making Africa’s first fully customizable show.
As much as I believed in our Ubuntu Life Maker Mums, the reality was that not a single one of us had ever made shoes, had ever worked for a company that made shoes, or had any affinity for a career in cobbling. Regardless, we were boarding a plane for Ethiopia to learn about the shoe-making process, and I was carrying a heavy burden of doubt, wondering if we could truly pull this off.
As we touched down in Addis, we hit the ground running. The days that followed were filled with meeting at local leather tanneries and shoe factories, as well as a few peculiar meetings, such as one with a German ex-pat who was eager to partner with us by using banana leaf to substitute the traditional jute sole of an espadrille.
As we closed out our Ethiopia journey, we quickly realized that it was just too much of a feat to pull off making shoes in Kenya. The expertise requires, the vulcanization process of making soles alone, and all the extra equipment we would need to purchase made this once-exciting endeavor a roaring and humbling defeat within just a few days. Had the illusion actually been no illusion at all, but a reality I should have known from the start was true? We packed our bags and headed back to Nairobi, our Zazzle crew leaving for the US just days later.
Months passed, and the feelings of embarrassment that I would even consider such a crazy idea lingered. Then I received a brief email from the Zazzle team: “Hey Zane, check out this YouTube clip of a woman homemaking an espadrille shoe. Looks simple, like she took two of our canvas coffee sleeves, sewed them together and attached a jute sole. Think the Maker Mums could pull this off if we’re able to locate a sole manufacturer?”
And then just like that, everything changed! A year later, after many months of blood, sweat, love, and tears, we pulled off making Kenya’s first espadrille shoe and Africa’s first fully customizable shoe…the African espadrille which we affectionately branded ‘The Afridrille’
‘Ubuntu’ is an African philosophy that means “I am, because we are.” It describes the interconnectedness among all things. We are all dependent on every other being on this planet in ways large and small, and we feel those connections now more strongly than ever. To reach our full potential, both individually and as a society, we must help others reach theirs: I am because we are.
-Jerimia Curia, co-founder Ubuntu Life
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