Last year a group of LSMM photographers decided to unite for a shared passion – educating girls. And in the funnest way…wearing a school dress whilst photographing our weddings! It was part of the “Do It In A Dress” challenge by One Girl, who specialise in helping girls reach equality in Uganda and Sierra Leone.
Thank-you so much Something Blue Photography for bringing us together! Alongside Nina Hamilton and Fox & Kin, we raised $2500.
Why is educating girls something close to our hearts?
- “When a girl is educated, her health, status, income, and entire future changes for the better, and she’ll go on to educate her (smaller, healthier) family and community. The ripple effects are incredible – and best of all, everyone in her community will benefit.” Via One Girl.
- “It’s hard to imagine, but a girl in Sierra Leone is more likely to be married before the age of 18 than she is to finish high school – and only 16% of girls ever complete high school. But when you educate a girl, her income will increase by 10–25% for every year she stays in school. She’ll get married when she chooses to, be able to think for herself, have control over her own income and break the cycle of poverty. The power of education creates immediate and long-lasting change.” Via One Girl.
- “Probably our biggest surprise was educating girls and family planning. You combine these together, the number one solution to reversing global warming is the empowerment of women and girls.” Paul Hawken via Drawdown.
“I want to do well in school and become somebody. I see how so many people in my community struggle and I think if I can manage to have a good job and make money, I’ll use it to help them.” Mariatu.
So what motivated Katherine from Something Blue to participate in Do It In A Dress?
“I’m passionate and interested in quite a number of social causes and issues such as equality and climate change. The best way to fight these issues is through education. For example, educated women will probably have fewer children and that is the most effective way to fight climate change. Educated girls are also far less likely to be forced into child marriage which makes One Girl the perfect charity for a bunch of female wedding photographers to support. Also, it’s kinda fun to wear a school uniform as an adult!”
And how did people react?
“To be honest, not many people reacted at all to Bec and I wearing the dress. Some people seemed to actively try not to look at the labels on the dresses about why we’re doing it. It was strange. When Ben (my partner) wore it to Uni, the reactions were more obvious. The dress DID fit him perfectly so he looked pretty good in it!” Katherine.
Go Girls! If you’d like to join us for another round of fun this year, let us know, so we can form another LSMM team!
Thanks Something Blue Photography for sharing these images of your Do It In A Dress challenge.
