While sending clothing and other items to impoverished countries like Ethiopia can be difficult at times, it did not stop a group of US schoolchildren from raising the money needed to send over two-hundred T-Shirts to children without proper clothing. The shirts will be taken to Ethiopia by aid workers later this year in small quantities to ensure that the shirts reach the villages safely.This is not the first time that students from H. Clarke Powers Elementary School, located in Loomis, California, USA have helped those in need. Raising money for local charities has been a staple in the school system for many years. But helping children outside the US by sending T-Shirts is their first international charitable effort.
The idea to help a small village in Ethiopia was presented to the school by Jan Brown, a retired school teacher who now spends her time trying to help children in Ethiopia by sewing clothing, and trying to bring awareness to of their situation to others. She showed the children a video of what their living conditions were like and asked if they would like to help. The children agreed and began to raise money for the T-Shirts. While many of the shirts will be given to the boys of the village, some of the shirts will be turned into dresses for the girls. The shirts were collected on the last day of school and will be sent to Ethiopia this summer.
(c)Simon McConico, www.sxc.hu