We have worked with our Friendship Link Club SI Thames Valley on the Kori Project over recent years to provide goods that enable the elimination of violence, economic empowerment, and education. The Kori Project aims to educate the women and girls in Kori Chiefdom in Taiama, Sierra Leone.
Our Sewing Bee meets regularly to make dresses to empower the girls with confidence and enable them to have dignity and improve their self-esteem. The dresses also represent a gift which forms part of the process to replace the act of FGM (Female Genital Mutilation) in the region.
The photos show a selection of T shirt dresses that we have made and the Kori girls wearing them. We collect used T shirts in good condition from a variety of sources, in a wide range of designs and colours. Our largest donation of T shirts came from the school of the daughter of one of our members, and another local school. There one of the teaching assistants made three T shirt dresses and the children modelled them so they could see what they would look like – they were so pleased to be able to support us.
The fabric for the skirts is also donated, some are made up from shirts/blouses that are no longer serviceable, others from leftover material and some from a very generous donation which came from the purchase of cloth from India made by local businessman Keith Balmer.
We make dresses in all sizes to fit up to around 10 years of age and try to match the material to the top as much as possible – the pictures demonstrate the range of styles and sizes.
In addition to the dresses we have sent to Sierra Leone, we are also sending some to Manila in the Philippines where the charity Purple Community Fund works with families who eke out a meagre living on an enormous rubbish tip.
T Shirt dresses are just one of the items we make in our Sewing Bee which links strongly to the recycling and reuse work of our Planet sub group, so a double win for Soroptimist goals!
“ I know everyone in Taiama, Kori Chiefdom, will appreciate your enormous contribution to our Kori project. Please let all those involved know how grateful we are. They will be much appreciated at the other end.”