The end of the road wasn’t coming and I was getting irritated with the rotten surroundings around me. He said that we were going to interview Judith Heard surely she could never put up in such slums? Where would she park her Bentley on top of one of the shacks that pass off as a home?
But Willy Tamale wasn’t relenting he said we were to first stop at some house in the dingiest slums of Makindye to see some boys who make shoes. But we were just continuing deep into the slum jumping over sewerage, women staring, drainage flowing into drinking joint. I was irritated and acting a diva as if…..
Then we finally got there deep in the slum in Nkere Zone. Four Boys, as they like to call themselves were busy cutting shoe shapes out of rubber.
One sat at the sewing machine putting what looked like a piece of cloth on rubber.
Another spread glue on the finished shoe soles while another was making handles out of old belts. When Tamale said we were to visit some boys who make shoes I thought he meant boys who work for a company that make shoes not boys who churn out leaving buy being creative. Judith Heard surely wouldn’t mind waiting a while. I had found a much better interviewee
Here in this slum sat four boys turning rubber, old jackets and bets into wearable open shoes. My excitement genes kicked into full gear and I started asking all sorts of questions I was eager to know how they do it with such meager resources.
If you own a pair of African crafts sandals with the word Uganda on them, Four Boys made those shoes for you.
See it all started in 2006 when the shy Billy Kiyingi quit his job in Nairobi as a shoe craftsman, parked his bags jumped on a bus and came back to Uganda armed with the knowledge and skills of making African sandals.
He was tired of promoted Kenya and wanted to promote his own country hence the word Uganda on every pair of shoes they make.
He says I used to see many Ugandans coming to Kenya to buy those shoes which were sold here expensively. I knew that if I started that business here in Uganda it would make money and reduce on the price of the sandals in Uganda.
When he landed in Uganda Kiyingi got together with Hakim Semperezi, Ddamulira Kawenja and Richard kato and taught them the tricks of the trade. They were school dropouts like him.
They put money together went to Nakasero Market and bought a sewing machine for Shs 400.000 and then rented a small house in Makindye were the rent was affordable.
Everyone was assigned a role in the process of making shoes but they were also required to learn the whole process in case one of them was not around or ill.
They buy most of their material from Nairobi like the hides and skins which they buy for Shs. 2500 per metre. They also get the tough bond glue from Nairobi. Today they make over 20 pair of open shoes in a day.
The boys have also become innovative and craft shoes from old belts and jackets that are a good weekend wear for men. If one didn’t pay much attention one would mistake these shoes as imported from USA, UK or China.
Each pair is different from the next and if someone wanted artistic shoes the boys would gladly get down to crafting a pair.
Semperezi says that they sale their shoes at whole sale price for Shs. 15.000 on market day every Friday at 7th street industrial area.
We would be making a lot of money but Ugandans fear buying Ugandan made products even when they are good. So we make just enough to keep us in business
He says if they got a machine for fine finishing they would make finer looking shoes. For today all the shoes that have the label Uganda on them are made by these boys.
I know you have always been looking for weekend sandals, office sandals for the ladies in high heels, good quality open shoes for your children and simple long lasting shoes to get you around. Why not give four boys a call on 0774308349.
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