Home for Thanksgiving

Wow! I have so much to be thankful for! This is a picture of my cousin Mark's new car and me in my dress. He took me for a ride in the lovely Porsche when Andy and I went home to celebrate Thanksgiving with the family. In the background you can see the area that I grew up in and love. Praise God!

I can't believe the contrast of my life as compared to others who have no family, friends or even freedom. What can I do to spread the gifts and love of God that I have to others? A continual question that never stops being important...

The Word is Spreading!

For the month of October I had THREE friends participate in the one dress challenge with me! It was exciting to have other people interested in something that I am dedicated to...to share the word together is very encouraging. Two of my friends created blogs of their own.

Sarah's blog: http://dressforjustice.blogspot.com/

Alex's blog: http://with-both-feet-first.blogspot.com/

Check them out and see their spin on the one dress challenge! Another friend, Kelsey also did the challenge this month. We go to class together so that was quite a joy and encouragement to see her everyday in the same dress. If any of YOU would like to do the challenge that would be great! Just let me know and I will share with you what I've learned from my couple of months. I wear a button which helps people know what I'm doing (raising awareness for modern slavery by giving up a common freedom that we have). Others have just worn the same outfit for the month and observed what happens, who asks them about it, if they get treated differently, etc. So that would be completely up to you. And please don't think that to do the challenge you have to wear a dress. It could be the same pair of jeans, the same shirt...the options are only limited by your imagination!

Fair Apple

So with all the hustle and bustle about the new iPhone I thought this was an especially good read. It's an article about a study done on working conditions for people employed by Apple in China. The study was called "iSlave Behind the iPhone." It's a good reminder to investigate behind the scenes of what ends up on our retail shelves...even if it is our favorite brand.

http://goodelectronics.org/news-en/new-iphone-2013-old-problems/

HannahJoy

HannahJoy has been such a blessing to me during my time at Purdue. She is such a great friend! She is the one who passed on the One Dress idea to me. She committed to wear the same dress for one month (the month of September). Here is her outfit...one version of it anyway. She did a great job of changing the look of her dress. If you would like to commit to wearing the same dress/outfit for a period of time just let me know! It is a great way to start conversations about the slave labor used in every day products that we use, like clothing. It is just one way to help spread the word of modern slavery and help give people the tools to end this injustice.

The Dress

So here is the dress plain and simple. This is after I did the altering...but it wasn't much.

I made this pin/button from a little kit from the craft store. It was HJ's idea. The main reason being that since we are students at Purdue we see so many people each day that it might take weeks, months, or maybe never, for people to realize that we were actually wearing the same outfit. So we were hoping that the pins would be conversations starters, giving us an opportunity to share more.

An Idea is Born

In a nut shell, the purpose of this blog is to spread the word of Modern Slavery and then help provide tools for fighting this injustice. The issue of modern slavery has been heavy on my heart for about two years now, ever since I learned about how prominent an issue it was at an Intervarsity conference. I was really challenged to investigate where the things that I purchased came from and whether or not I was inadvertently supporting the slave trade. This website helped me a lot in that search: http://www.free2work.org/. Ever since the conference I've been really interested in spreading the word about this very real injustice. Then just a few months ago my dear friend, HJ, shared an idea she found about wearing the same dress for a year to raise awareness and support for a specific cause. We both thought that the modern slavery and human trafficking issue fit well in this "dress advocacy" so we started praying about whether it was a good idea and whether it would work into our college lives. After about a month I decided that I would do it. One dress for one year. I actually decided to wear the dress for one school year (so two semesters). After deciding "yes" I was then faced with another challenge...finding a dress that I could wear for six months. My challenge was increased by the fact that I have student teaching next semester and am required to look "professional". So I had to find a dress that was casual enough for every day wear but also able to dress up enough to do my student teaching. God provided! I found a dress at Goodwill that I thought would work. It was a size 18 (and I am about a 10) but I sew so I was hoping that it would end up being "the one." And it did! I cut out a few chunks of fabric on the sides of the bodice and had to adjust the waist band, but overall it was a pretty easy process. HJ decided to participate as well so we bought some buttons to wear that said "One dress, One year" or "One dress, One month" (because HJ decided to wear her dress for one month.) And we were off! Ready to share with people about the injustice of Modern Slavery and the many shapes and forms it can come in AND what we can do to help bring justice to an area of blatant injustice.