put your foot down: AFRICA

Put your foot down - and send the Duchess a virtual shoeMarch 6th, 2009


This post is by The Duchess Omnium and we thank her for allowing us to give such a worthy cause space on our site.The Elder Daughter is now the digital media intern for a major British charity, Action Aid. She spent 15 months in Uganda working with some of the most vulnerable children on the continent: deaf and blind children and HIV/Aids orphans. Now she is back in England trying to make a difference in another way.


She asked me to help gather support on my blog for a campaign that only has a few days to run. She isn’t asking for money. She’s asking you to put your foot down.

Around the world, 2876 women contract HIV every day. A girl born in South Africa has a higher chance of being raped than of learning to read. Widespread violence against girls and women increases the chances that they will join the 15 million women around the world already infected with the virus.

Action Aid wants 2876 people, one for every woman and girl who will contract HIV tomorrow, and the next day, and the day after that, and every day until we put our foot down to stop it, to sign a petition in support of the campaign. The campaign ends on International Women’s Day on March 8.

The petition asks the UK government to take 10 steps to help prevent violence against women and to help control HIV/Aids. These are simple, achievable steps. One of these 10 steps is to persuade other countries and international agencies to take action. You don’t have to be British to sign the petition and put your foot down.

When you have signed the petition, please forward it to 5 friends. 2876 people to put their foot down is a modest goal. Let’s help them achieve it.

Over the last few weeks, hundreds of people, besides signing the petition, have sent Action Aid a real shoe. The charity has commissioned artist Riitta Ikonen to turn these shoes into art. You can watch her progress on her blog. I especially like the puzzled shoe, though I don’t think I would like to take a hike in it.

It’s too late to send Riitta a shoe, but you can still email the Duchess a photo of the shoe you are wearing (or imagine you might wear) when you put your foot down. Send your photo to duchess@duchessomnium.com. I’ll publish all the photos… And then maybe we can have a vote for the best (if I can work it out) or something… and it can be the Duchess’s first contest! Okay, I accept you may not be quite as excited about this concept as I am. Especially as, so far, there’s no prize.

Never mind. Sign the petition. Send it to your friends. Send me your virtual shoes.

Put your foot down.

i beg each and every one of you to sign this petition. it's FREE!!!! and in case you missed that one sentence.... girls born in africa have a greater chance of being raped than learning to read.

if that doesn't chill you to the bone, i don't know what would. it scared me, humbled me... astounded me. i wish it were unbelievable, but unfortunately, it's not.

please help. put your foot down. i did.