The girls need your support! Literally.
Kristy Lakin has been working in Uganda, and according to her "highly scientific guess-timation, 99.82% of women in rural Uganda do not own a bra. Women want bras, but just can't afford them."
Kristy wants your bras. Do you have some lying around that don't fit quite right? Whether they are used or new, gather up your undergarments and send them my way, and I'll forward to them to Laura in Uganda, her friend and partner in project "Uplift Africa/Bras without Borders" (the name has not yet been decided). Laura founded Hands to Hearts International, a nonprofit dedicated to improving the health and well-being of orphaned and vulnerable children and economically disadvantaged women around the globe. Hands to Hearts will distribute this first donation at one of their mother trainings in Kampala. (And, because many of HHI's mommies are breast-feeding, nursing bras are especially welcome!)
As Kristy notes, the "desperate" need for bras sounds odd.
"It didn't exactly top the U.N.'s list of problems plaguing the developing world," she writes. "But, imagine spending every day without a bra. Ouch. Now, image that your day involves walking miles to the water pump, walking even more miles to the market, and your free time is spent working in the fields...without a bra. Ouch. Now image that you've had four or five children, one of which you're probably currently breastfeeding, and you don't own a bra. Ouch."
Nicholas Kristof writes in Sunday's Celebrate: Save a Mother in The New York Times:
Happy Mother's Day! And let me be clear: I'm in favor of flowers, lavish brunches, and every other token of gratitude for mothers and other goddesses.
And because so many people feel that way, some $14 billion will be spent in the United States for Mother's Day this year, according to the National Retail Federation. That includes $2.9 billion in meals, $2.5 billion in jewelry and $1.9 billion in flowers.
To put that sum in context, it's enough to pay for a primary school education for all 60 million girls around the world who aren't attending school. That would pretty much end female illiteracy.
We take for granted so much, even the ability to buy a simple bra. So if you can, send us your older bras. It's great way to honor mothers worldwide and particularly in Uganda.
Email me at rebecca.snavely@gmail.com for an address to send your bras by Saturday, May 15.
Thank you for your comment on the blog. I responded by email, since my response is very simple. I am aware of the issues raised about investing in long-term change vs. hand outs, and always eager to learn more. However, this “bra drive” was a specific response to a specific request from women. Women who requested bras. I’d also like to note that I do indeed wear used clothing; I see no difference between a used bra and a used dress or shirt that I buy at a resale shop, wash, and wear with joy and pride. The bras I packed to travel to the women are unworn, as I bought a few that never fit correctly, but will fit someone well, for this specific response.
Again, I’m sorry to see such hostility in the response to a specific response to specific requests for bras in a specific area, where the women who will be receiving the bras are personally known, and have asked for such assistance. It was not intended to generalize about the entire population. And I do appreciate the discussion about the issues surrounding our giving and awareness of the poverty that infests every corner of our world.
Thank you so much for your professionalism in this matter, where there is obviously so much passion involved, that people are not attacked personally but the issues are discussed rationally.
Best,
Rebecca
http://ugandansabroad.org/2010/05/12/dear-huffington-post-readers-no-one-wants-your-old-bra/
Also, there's the issue of exoticizing African women and dumping our unwanted stuff into their laps. Would you honestly wear a used bra? Why would a woman in Uganda or anywhere else want to do so?
It's great to want to help women in need, but with such a misguided idea, the good intentions behind this project will almost certainly do more harm than good. Please, PLEASE rethink this idea before you start shipping used undergarments.