Mitsui O.S.K. Lines (MOL) on June 30 announced that MOL and Ocean Network Express (Japan) (ONE Japan) have cooperated with Sogo & Seibu and the Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP) in a project to distribute shoes to needy children in Zambia. MOL and ONE Japan have provided ocean transport service for the shoes.
The project started in 2009. Sogo & Seibu, a major Japanese retailer, donates used shoes exchanged by customers to JOICFP, which in turn distributes them to children in Zambia. To date, it has provided more than 1 million shoes. Wearing shoes helps address local medical problems by preventing tetanus and parasitic infections and helps motivate children to keep attending school.
MOL has provided ocean transport service for JOICFP’s project every year since 2010, but this is the first time it will work with ONE Japan, transporting the donated shoes to Durban in the Republic of South Africa, which is the gateway port to Zambia.
JOICFP is an international NGO established in Japan in 1968 to support women’s self-determination in health and other aspects of their lives anywhere in the world. It supports human resources development in the healthcare field, provides relief supplies, and contributes to higher living standards through projects in Asia and Africa.
All photos credit: MOL
