{"id":23226,"date":"2023-02-17T16:33:26","date_gmt":"2023-02-17T21:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/?p=23226"},"modified":"2024-07-29T13:51:42","modified_gmt":"2024-07-29T17:51:42","slug":"alumna-works-to-leave-lasting-legacy-in-africa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/alumna-works-to-leave-lasting-legacy-in-africa\/","title":{"rendered":"Alumna works to leave lasting legacy in Africa"},"content":{"rendered":"

Furman celebrates Black History Month<\/a><\/strong>
\nRead more stories >><\/a><\/em><\/h4>\n

 <\/p>\n

When her youngest child graduated college, Tammy Darmel Moore \u201916 decided to travel, eventually crossing four continents and more than 36 countries off her list. Her first time in Africa was in the fall of 2019 when she visited Ethiopia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat was the first place I\u2019d gone to where I took off my shoes when I stepped off the plane, because I wanted the soles of my feet to touch the ground,\u201d she said. \u201cI fell in love with the people, fell in love with the continent as a whole. This is the only place where I felt like I knew these people and they knew me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"

Tammy Darmel Moore ’16, founder and president of Footprints in Africa<\/p><\/div>\n

Despite language barriers, she also saw how many went without the things Americans take for granted. One day, a teenager pointed at the black Nike Air Max sneakers Moore was wearing.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe asked me for the shoes on my feet,\u201d she said. \u201cI couldn\u2019t go barefoot out there in the bush, because I wasn\u2019t as used to it as they were. But when I got back to the States, I said, \u2018You know what? I\u2019m going to go back to Ethiopia, and I\u2019m going to take these shoes back to that girl.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The pandemic thwarted Moore\u2019s plans for a return trip the following year. \u201cWe couldn\u2019t do anything but stay at home, and like everyone else I was cleaning out closets,\u201d she said. It occurred to her that many of her friends and family were doing the same, so she started asking them for their gently used shoes.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin two weeks, just by talking to friends and family, I had over 100 pairs of shoes,\u201d she said. \u201cThat\u2019s how we started Footprints in Africa<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

The nonprofit Moore founded still collects shoes through its annual Soles for Africa<\/a> campaigns in April through June, but Footprints in Africa has several other core initiatives, programs and projects to aid people in all of the continent\u2019s 54 countries.<\/p>\n

One priority is the well-being of children in some villages in southern Ethiopia who have been labeled \u201cMingi,\u201d or cursed. Certain tribes can label a child Mingi for being born out of wedlock, or being twins, or even if their top teeth come in before their bottom teeth, Moore said. To ward off evil spirits, the tribe may sacrifice a Mingi child.<\/p>\n

Through social media, Moore tracked down activist Lale Labuko, founder of the Omo Child Shelter, and offered to help. Footprints in Africa now facilitates sponsorships for more than 50 children<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Through its Life Gardens program, Footprints in Africa is also collaborating with an organization in Kenya to bring seeds, equipment and bio-agricultural training into several of the country\u2019s schools.<\/p>\n

Preserving the skilled craftsmanship of Africa is the main goal of Alkebulan<\/a>, an online marketplace that Moore describes as \u201cFootprints in Africa\u2019s cultural emporium.\u201d Offerings include clothing, jewelry, herbal teas, household items, beauty aids and other products made in countries throughout the continent. Supporting the local businesses helps traditional artisans provide food, housing, education and other essentials for their families, said Moore.<\/p>\n

\u201cI decided to actually buy from the locals,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s skilled craftsmanship that has been passed down for countless generations. I know the people on a personal level, so I\u2019m also investing in them as people.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moore, who earned a Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree in Business Administration from Furman through the Undergraduate Evening Studies program as a working single parent, has a background in business development which has boosted her nonprofit work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know how to take a little bit of nothing and make something happen,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Footprints in Africa prioritizes projects that are \u201creal and sustainable \u2013 otherwise, we don\u2019t do it,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI named the organization Footprints in Africa because I saw more footprints than shoe prints while I was in the bush,\u201d Moore said. \u201cBut my desire is to leave a legacy \u2013 my footprints \u2013 in Africa long after I\u2019m gone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Similarly, her alma mater\u2019s annual celebration of Black History Month<\/a> and its tributes to Black alumni such as Joseph Vaughn \u201968<\/a>, Sarah Reese \u201971 H\u201914 and Lillian Brock Flemming\u00a0\u201971 M\u201975 H\u201914<\/a> show the profound contributions made by African Americans, Moore said.<\/p>\n

\u201cLong after we\u2019re gone,\u201d she said, \u201cthe story will still be there.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tammy Darmel Moore \u201916 founded a nonprofit dedicated to impacting lives in all of the continent\u2019s 54 countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":265,"featured_media":23227,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,60,70],"tags":[2079],"class_list":["post-23226","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-alumni-profiles","category-diversity-equity-and-inclusion","tag-black-history-month-2023"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23226","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/265"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23226"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23226\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":33438,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23226\/revisions\/33438"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23227"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23226"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23226"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.furman.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23226"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}