Chaco Employee Walks 100 Miles in Kenya to End Illiteracy

This January, Chaco employee Lisa Kondrat will travel to Insinya National Park, Kenya to take part in the second annual 100-mile Break the Chains of Illiteracy Walkathon. The seven day, 100-mile walk was established by BEADS for Education, a non-profit foundation dedicated to drawing world attention to the issues of illiteracy and AIDS education in Kenya. Kondrat will be joining over 300 tribal women and men from the Insinya and Amboeseli regions for the length of the journey.
Since 1999, BEADS has enlisted the help of sponsors such as Ms. Kondrat and Chaco to provide 100% of the yearly tuition for tribal girls to attend school in Kenya. Additionally, BEADS sponsored girls attend a yearly workshop to promote community service, environmental education, and AIDS/HIV training.
Kondrat will use $775 from her Chaco education benefit, plus 3 days of paid volunteer time. She is in the process of raising funds for BEADS—her goal is to raise $5000 by December 31st. Chaco is matching up to $1500 in donations to help Kondrat reach her goal. Her interest in the BEADS program was sparked by the documentary Born into Brothels. She explains, “I felt the need to take action—to help provide the happiness and security that my children had.”
Mark Paigen, founder of Chaco, offered this perspective, “We encourage our employees to act on their passions. Lisa found inspiration in BEADS—she didn’t just want to help, she needed to help.”
BEADS was founded on supporting women’s groups efforts to produce high quality products and to modify their traditional bead craft for the overseas markets. Products are marketed in the United States and Europe through volunteers and the BEADS website. All profits from their products finance their community service projects and workshops. For more information on the BEADS foundation, visit www.beadsforeducation.org.
Since 1989, Chaco footwear has approached its business with a triple bottom line of people, planet and profit. For more information on the Chaco product or humanitarian initiatives, contact Alli Noland, Stanwood & Partners PR, 307-733-1514, or anoland@wyoming.com.