Capped/Sleeved Dresses needed by Sept 15

Barbara Dodson who is a campaigner of Dress A Girl (Around the World) Australia has managed to connect “Dress a girl around the world” with the Hope Project run by Croydon Hills Baptist Church who looks after Karen refugees locally which then led them to help  look after refugees on the Thai-Burma border and also Internally Displaced People in Burma. IDP's are groups of people isolated by military within their own country borders and miss out on most of the help offered to recognised refugee camps. 

Barbara has graciously volunteered to   co-ordinate the supplying of dresses for girls and shorts for boys within this area. At this time we are not sure how many but it could be in the hundreds. There will be someone going to Burma in early October who can take the first delivery, and then a group shall be going in December, to take the second and larger delivery. She is really quite excited about this project, and would love to share it with like minded friends. And this is where we all come in ladies especially to those who would like to sew dresses for this very worthy cause. We barely have about 8 weeks to go before the first delivery is due. The items need to be sent to Croydon by mid-September or at least before the end of September month.

I have committed to sending at least 100 capped dresses for the first delivery. This will be in addition to the dresses that will be made by Barbara and her group from sewing bees. Capped dresses because this is Burma where culture requires that shoulders should be covered and also dresses already with sleeves will eliminate the need to provide t-shirts to wear underneath. Since we do not know who the recipients will be the dresses should be in different sizes perhaps between 6 to 18.

If there is anyone out there who is willing to sew and donate, it will be very much appreciated. Please use cotton materials to make the dresses last longer. No flimsy or thin materials please. This dress could be the only decent dress some of them would get to wear. Anyone is also encouraged to donate pairs of shorts or t-shirts. Dress and shorts patterns for those who want to sew are readily available in pdf formats upon request. Fabric donations are also very much welcome as sewers have been organized to help in making this project a success.

At this time unless departure date will change, all dresses should be posted to Dress A Girl Australia postal address on or before Sep 15 so I will have more time to sort and packed. I have made this project an exception from my previous request that no parcels should be sent at this time. Priority will be given to these parcel donations.

Please indicate your willingness to make a difference to the lives of the Karen refugees by sending me a message or an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com letting me know what you are donating and quantity if possible so I will have an idea as to where we stand in my commitment. Rest be assured that I will not be just sitting down waiting for parcels to arrive. In fact, I have started gathering fabrics today and will start sewing when my market day is finished in less than 2 weeks. Thank you so much in advance for your support and help on this project. For any questions or more information, as usual please send a message or an email to dressagirlaustralia@gmail.com.

For more information on the Karen Support services, please click here. For more information on the Hope Project, please click here.