I am so very pleased to be entering Chictopia’s first ever Week of Giving. This is such an amazing contest and I am proud to enter my photo in it!
I have chosen to create my outfit in support of the Because I Am a Girl project by Plan International. I first heard of this campaign last year. I remember sitting in a bus shelter in the dead of winter and seeing this bright pink poster. I was completely inspired by the message scrawled across the board calling women to action. When I got home I immediately looked it up. The Because I Am a Girl initiative is a social movement to unleash the power of girls and women to claim a brighter future for girls in the developing world. When a girl is educated, nourished and protected, she shares her knowledge and skills with her family and community, and can forever change the future of a nation. It’s that powerful. Because I Am a Girl is Plan’s campaign to fight gender inequality, promote girls’ rights and lift millions of girls out of poverty.
The basic manifesto of the Because I Am a Girl campaign is this:
1. Girls have the right to be educated.
2. Girls have the right to eat.
3. Girls have the right to healthcare.
4. Girls have the right to be safe.
5. Girls’ rights are human rights.
Because I Am a Girl raises money for projects that create a better life for girls, women and their communities in the developing world. These projects help provide clean water, food security, health care and education and access to microfinance training and assistance. Plan International, the charity behind the campaign has programs in more than 50 developing countries to give children, families and communities the tools they need to break the cycle of poverty. Plan works with all members of a community to create and implement a long-term plan for improving living conditions. Because I Am a Girl is dedicated to the betterment of women by doing this same thing- investing in girls to empower them and eliminate poverty.
I chose the Because I Am a Girl project to donate to because women’s rights are so close to my heart. As a teenager I was enraged by the injustices against us, in our own society and in other countries. Subtle and severe. The massive inequality that pervades our world after all this time. I think of the beautiful, strong women out there who are raped, denied access to education, food and clean water, who are trafficked and taken for granted every single day. They hold up a community but nothing is done to help them, and I think of how lucky we are here. We have the option and means to look at our neighbours and lady-pals suffering and we can reach out to them. Girls rights are human rights.
So guys, if you are as passionate about this as I am, add my photo to your favourites! Or not, what I really want to do here is encourage and inspire you to get involved! Find a charity you love and see what you can do to help. Look on the Week of Giving contest page and find a Chictopian who is supporting your favourite charity and favourite, favourite, favourite! Or create your own entry to donate and inspire other girls to do the same. Do whatever you can to help! We have the power to change the world.
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