Celebrating Ten Years of Shoe Donations to Children in the DPRK!
In 2009, Ignis Community’s social enterprise in the northeast region of North Korea was in crisis.
Ignis Community introduced a social venture into Rason, DRPK with the help of a business expert. In 2008, Ignis first began a social entrepreneurship in the Rason Free Economic Zone thanks to investment from a humanitarian-focused group called Barnabas Capital. Through their investment, a shoe manufacturing company was developed that provided employment to close to one hundred local residents in the area, with the majority of them being women.
However, soon after the launch of this social entrepreneurship, sanctions against North Korea intensified. Ignis Community’s first export of shoes was in the middle of the ocean heading to the United States when former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton placed North Korea back on the terrorist list. As a result, once our shipment of shoes arrived in the United States, the shipment was refused entry, which eventually led to the shoes being shipped back to the DPRK.
Since all exports of goods from the DPRK were banned, it became almost impossible to pay our local employees. The humanitarian-motivated business that had birthed to provide women in the rural area of Rason with jobs was at risk of failing. Our team was between a rock and a hard place. The entire project was in crisis.
The Chinese character for the word “crisis” is composed of two smaller characters. The first character is the character for danger, but the second means opportunity. Thus, even though our entire social entrepreneurship was in danger of collapsing, we also found opportunity in the midst of this crisis.
Ignis Community began raising funds through supporters and partners overseas for the cost of each shoe manufactured in the DPRK. These funds were then used to donate the manufactured products to children and orphans throughout North Korea. Through these shoe donations, not only were children in rural areas throughout the DPRK blessed with warm, winter shoes in frigid winter months but also local North Korean women were able to keep their jobs to financially provide for their families. As a result, up to date annual shoe donations to orphanages and rural kindergartens has provided approximately 80,000 pairs of shoes to needy children throughout the DPRK.
Children in Gangwon Province of the DPRK sporting their new winter boots
On December 11-16, 2019, Ignis Community once again sent a team of humanitarian workers to the DPRK to verify the delivery of our shoe donations to children and orphans throughout the DPRK. Childcare facilities throughout various cities and provinces including regions surrounding Pyongyang, Pyeongsong, and Wonsan were visited, and the delivery of our shoe donations to children in the DPRK were verified. Our Ignis Community team was pleasantly surprised by the joyous laughter and gratitude of each of the children who received our warm, winter snow boots.
Ignis Community team member with DPRK children who have received our shoe donations
Although global sanctions against the DPRK have had significant negative impacts upon the North Korean economy, particularly in the area of jobs for women working in textile and shoe manufacturing industries, the crisis that our social enterprise faced ended up being a blessing for children throughout the entire nation of North Korea. Despite the many hardships and obstacles we have had to overcome as an organization to keep working in the DPRK, we are privileged to have been able to provide much-needed shoes and clothing for children in remote, rural areas of the country. And we are now celebrating ten years of providing shoe donations to children in the DPRK!
To participate in our tenth annual shoe donation project, visit:
https://igniscommunity.org/sharing-warmth