Bondies wear school dresses for girls in Sierra Leone

From 7th to 11th October, a group of Bond University students will don school uniforms and participate in the One Girl ‘Do It In A Dress’ campaign to raise awareness and much needed funds to provide education and support to girls in Sierra Leone, West Africa.

Bond University United Nations Student Association (BUUNSA) President Alice McDonald said the goal for this year was to get more students involved, host more events and send even more girls to school.

“As university students, we understand and appreciate how important education is,” Alice said. “With education come great opportunities for growth, empowerment and development.”

Last year’s participating Bond students raised over $4,300 through the ‘Do It In A Dress’ campaign. This year, BUUNSA students are planning a ‘Back to School’ party at Don’s with the University Freshman Council, a raffle, and a BBQ. 

2013 marks the third annual ‘Do It In A Dress’ campaign, which is organized by the start-up Australian charity One Girl and runs throughout October.

Chantelle Baxter, co-founder of One Girl, said their national goal was to raise $500,000 this year.

“It only costs $300 to send a girl in Sierra Leone to school for a whole year. With the support of passionate people like Bond’s students across Australia, we hope to empower more than 5,000 girls to become educated girls, women and mothers,” Chantelle said.

“There are 60 million young girls around the world not in school, and in Sierra Leone, only one in six girls get the opportunity to go to school. Since 2009, One Girl has funded scholarship for 150 girls, building new classrooms, and business training.

“The impact of sending just one girl to school is undeniable: she will marry later, have a smaller and healthier family, and for every year a girl stays in school she’ll increase her income by at least 10%, investing 90% of it back into her family.”

To become involved in Bond’s ‘Do It In a Dress’ campaign or find out more about this year’s activities, contact  Alice McDonald ([email protected]) or go to www.doitinadress.com/

For more information about One Girl and the invaluable work that it does, go to www.onegirl.org.au