“Individually we are one drop, together we are an ocean. ” ~Ryunosuke Satoro
I love this quote and for one woman named Melissa, the ocean is a well. Melissa is working hard on a project she started called The 400 Dresses Project. Melissa’s goal is to raise enough money to drill a water well in Africa. She was assigned a village in Bugari, Uganda which consists of 5,000 adults and 10,300 children. The money raised by sewing and selling 400 dresses, will fund drilling for a water well to provide safe water for the people in this village. A well will mean saving a village of more than 15,000 from common preventable and treatable diseases, like Dysentery, the #3 killer in East Africa. Currently the village obtains their water from a river 6 kilometers (3.6 miles) away. The river is a source shared with animals and also is used as a swimming pool. The animals contaminate the water, posing serious health hazards.
Many times, the children of the home are responsible for collecting the water, mostly the girls. This forces them to stay home and not attend school. The river is also a place for fishing. Tragically, many of the fishermen corrupt under-aged children as they come to collect water. Not only is this something no child should face, they are often exposed to HIV as well.
A well in Bugiri means disease will go down, the children will be able to attend school and the girls will be safe from the fishermen. Below are photos from Melissa’s village.
Melissa is selling the dresses on Etsy for $50 and her goal is to raise $10,150 by December 15th. For each dress purchased, a matching dress will be sent to the village. So by purchasing a dress you are not only helping to provide clean, safe water, you are providing a fashionable dress to one little girl in the village!
I heard about Melissa from Julie, one of my recent clients. Julie’s daughter was wearing the cutest little dress and when she told me the story behind it, I just had to share. Are you that little drop that will help create a well?
Visit Melissa’s blog for more information and you can purchase the dresses through her Etsy store.
Here is Claire (with Penny) in one of the dresses that Melissa created.
Melissa is truly an inspiration!
