How Sneakers for Sweepers Changed One Sweeper’s Morning

Every morning at 5am, Musa Adamu picks up his broom and heads out to sweep the streets of Wuse 2, Abuja. He has done this for eleven years.

For most of those years, he did it in worn-out sandals — the kind that offer no protection against broken glass, nails, or the rough tarmac that lines the streets he cleans before most people are awake.

When AEKE Foundation’s Sneakers for Sweepers team arrived at his depot one Tuesday morning with a box of quality work shoes, Musa didn’t immediately believe they were for him.

“I thought it was for the supervisors,” he said, laughing. “When they called my name I was surprised.”

He received a pair of sturdy work shoes in his size, a pair of gloves, and a water bottle — items that most office workers would consider ordinary. For Musa, they were anything but.

“My feet used to hurt by midday,” he told our field team. “Now I finish my route and I still feel okay.”

Musa is one of 847 individuals reached by Sneakers for Sweepers in its first year of operation. Each delivery is documented, photographed, and reported back to the donors who made it possible.

Behind every pair of shoes is a person who wakes before dawn to serve a city that rarely stops to
notice them. AEKE Foundation is here to notice — and to act.feugiat. Elit at imperdiet dui accumsan sit amet. Turpis egestas maecenas pharetra convallis. Enim praesent elementum facilisis leo vel fringilla. Amet cursus sit amet dictum sit amet justo donec enim.