Most of us do not think about underwear as a particular luxury. It is something that we take for granted. However, this is sadly not the case for many children in Africa.
Uganda is one of the poorer countries in the world with people living on around $1.90 per day. Families have to choose carefully what to spend their small amount of money on, and the need for essentials like food and drinkable water means things like underwear are not prioritised and most children do not wear any pants or bras.
This sadly makes the children much more vulnerable, not just to getting infections, but also to being victims of abuse. If a child is wearing pants, not only does it make it harder for the abuser, but it is also a sign of wealth and this can deter a potential abuser for fear of consequences.
Here at Oliver and Co, one of our staff member’s parents was arranging for 100 pairs of underwear for children aged between 0 and 16 to be sent out to Gulu in North Uganda where she had been working. She asked if anyone could donate towards this and the response from our staff was overwhelming.
They generously donated over 200 pairs of pants, as well as crop tops and bras for the older girls with one person donating 66 pairs of brand new pants! One of the staff members shared “it’s great to know we are giving something physical that will go directly to the children”.
Not only did the staff rally together to donate the clothes, but the company agreed to contribute £160.00 to the cost of posting out the eight boxes of pants.
Val, who is in Uganda and responsible for distributing the pants to the children, commented that she was left speechless by the donations. This simple thing will be a great blessing to the lives of these children and their families.
