Ð԰ɵç̨

A once-in-a-lifetime trip to Tanzania has kick-started one Ð԰ɵç̨ (Ð԰ɵç̨) Leicester student’s ambition to teach African women how to make shoes.

Originally from Enfield, North London, Damari Kota Diur-Kota, 25, travelled to Arusha, Tanzania’s third largest city, for four weeks to teach disadvantaged communities practical business skills as part of a volunteering trip run by Ð԰ɵç̨ Global.

Damari (crouched) demonstrates to her class in Tanzania

“I wrote a shoemaking proposal and submitted it as soon as I heard about the opportunity,” Damari said. “When I got the email saying I’d been selected, I screamed in my room and called my mum. It felt like a huge step forward.”

Armed with ten tool kits containing essential shoemaking equipment, Damari arrived in Arusha and worked with Perfect Vision Women Tanzania, a not-for-profit non-government organisation aimed at tackling poverty through education, to set up her shoe-making workshop.

Here, she would teach 15 women, aged 15 to 37, about the anatomy of the foot, how to design a shoe on a shoe last, which is what the shoe is modelled on. , how to sketch shoes, cut and pattern materials, and basic shoemaking techniques such as closing (stitching) and attaching a sole.

The group were able to keep the tool kits, complete with tutorials and equipment, including the last last so they could continue to develop their techniques.

Damari's class in Tanzania

Damari also introduced the group to the idea of embellishing shoes with beads, a reflection of Arusha’s local heritage and style in a bid to make their shoes more profitable and “culturally-aligned”.

Damari said: “Most women I taught lived right on the poverty line, and some hadn’t received a formal education. However, these women and girls had hopes, dreams and ideas of their careers.

“For example, one of the ladies, Georgina, wanted to be a fashion designer, and I told her that footwear could be her starting point to enter the fashion space she wanted.

“I wanted to bring technical skills and something that I know these women could use to start selling their products in the future.

“There’s not a lot of imported shoes in the same way there is in the UK. A lot of it is craft-based and many things are handmade. It’s very craft based over there, so it’s important for these women to learn shoemaking skills to lift them out of poverty.

“The materials, like leather, are there in Tanzania, so there will be opportunities for these women.

“When they told me how much it meant to them, I felt emotional in the best way. Sharing knowledge really is the best way to share in this world.”

By the end of her four weeks, Damari’s group had made their first shoes.

But Damari recognises that there is more work that can be done and, emboldened by her experience in Africa, she wants to return to Tanzania next year to continue her project and teach more advanced techniques.

She said: “I’d like to teach them how to add accessories. The first time around, we just did sliders and strap sandals, but I’d like them to add trims because it will make the shoes more profitable.

“I hope to go back around July to give them a pair of lasts so that they can actually make shoes to sell them and gain a profit for them, which is what this whole project is about. Unfortunately, the first time I went around there just wasn’t enough time or funding to get lasts because they’re quite expensive.”

Damari (second from left) at Perfect Vision Women Tanzania

In January, Ð԰ɵç̨ was selected as chair for the global Academic Impact hub for Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 11 – sustainable cities and communities.

It was the only UK university chosen for the honour and means it will lead a team of other co-chair universities across the globe in helping to address issues like affordable housing, air pollution, clean water and sanitation, and renewable energy in cities worldwide.

Associate Professor of Sustainable Development and UNAI SDG 11 Chair Hub lead, Dr Mark Charlton, said: “Damari is an outstanding example of someone who had a good idea to improve the lives of a small group of women and seized the opportunity of Ð԰ɵç̨ Global and the support of the SDG Hub to make it happen.

“Not only did Damari leave Tanzania having provided footwear for the women she helped, she also left them with the skills to make their own. It is a brilliant piece of sustainable development work in one of the poorest countries in the world.

“I hope Damari’s story inspires others to think about what they can do for others and do it. Damari’s case shows the support is there.”

Damari’s journey into footwear design started when she couldn’t find feminine, delicate-looking shoes for women with wider or larger feet.

Inspired by Honorary Ð԰ɵç̨ graduate Sophia Webster’s extended sizing and intricate designs, Damari decided to focus on her dream of using footwear as a catalyst to share her world and develop her charity, Luminary Footwear.

The charity aims to upskill people across Africa in the craft of shoemaking, helping them find formal employment or start their own businesses.