Get Passionate

Shirt from Able | Jewelry from Gift of Hope Haiti

Get knowledgeable. Get passionate. Get shopping.

“God doesn’t call us to a convenient life - He calls us to an important life.” - Ann Voskamp

You are important. I hope you know that. I hope you are told that. And if you aren’t, I hope you heard me just now. You are important. You possess powers and talents the world needs. Your time, your resources, your gifts, your heart - everything about you matters. Everything about you has purpose. To love, to worship, to seek justice, to defend, to empower - you are capable of so many things. Every single day we hold all of the power to decide whether we acknowledge and live out these purposes. The choice is ours. And should you choose to live with purpose, you will begin to see just how important you really are.

I hope you had a moment to read my last blog post. I began to lay out the terms and definitions surrounding ethical and sustainable fashion. If you aren’t quite sure what these terms mean and why they are important, I encourage you to click back and read before moving forward. Now that we have gained knowledge about what ethical fashion is, it’s time to fuel that knowledge with passion.

April 24th will mark the 6th anniversary of the tragic garment factory collapse in Bangladesh that killed more than 1,100 garment workers. The companies were very aware of the treacherous conditions of this building. Safety codes were being violated left and right. But when the leaders of the fast fashion industry (brands you probably wear and love because of the “good deal” you get) nickel and dime the manufacturers for lower and lower prices, it is the vulnerable garment workers who suffer.

I first became passionate about ethical fashion after moving to Haiti. My family and I live in Port-au-Prince, very close to a major industrial park where well known brands manufacture clothing. I used to cheer and get excited whenever I would shop in a store in America and see that an article of clothing said “Made in Haiti” printed on it. Now my reaction is less like a cheer and more like a cringe. Instead of celebrating, I now know to stop to pray for the hands that made that shirt/dress/boxer brief, because I have seen their struggle. The lack of pay. The unfair treatment. The sexual abuse. The inability to put simple meals of rice and beans on the table, despite long hours of work. The anger that escalates to protesting, as workers try to advocate for a small raise. Is it really too much to ask to be paid $6 or $7 a DAY?

Living in Haiti, I witness the contrast between factory employees and living wage employees. (Employees who are paid living wages working for job creation/artisan groups.) When a company takes into account a fair wage for a country, instead of paying the smallest wage legally possible, the impact affects the employee’s quality of life in every area. Not only are they empowered to meet their family’s most basic needs, but they are also treated with dignity, protected, poured into, and seen as equal human beings with skills and talents.

The dollar amount you save on your factory made dress means so much more to the hands that made it. I have seen it mean dinner on the table each night. I have seen it mean dignity and respect. I have seen it mean children growing up in their own homes, with their own parents. I have seen it mean the health of a child who was sick.

Knowing and believing this impact so fiercely, last Christmas I decided that every single present I purchased for the whole Christmas season would be fair trade or ethically made. I cannot tell you the sheer joy it brought me to be able to empower men and women all across the globe as I prepared to celebrate my Savior’s birth. The Savior of ALL mankind, who taught His followers to love and protect the vulnerable. I could not imagine a better way to celebrate the birthday of my King.

About a month before Christmas a dear friend and fellow ethical fashion advocate came over and made me watch the documentary “True Cost”. It rattled me to my core. There were portions of the film captured in Haiti, India, Cambodia, and other major fashion industry countries around the world. Yet all of the trauma and pain was the same: workers in the third world are getting abused and left unprotected while shoppers in the first world are blinded by materialism and cheap prices. If you aren’t ready to watch the whole documentary, please take a moment to at least watch the trailer. It is just 2 minutes and 30 seconds. Watch it now.

It is really tough to swallow. Please don’t close your eyes. Please don’t think it’s lies. It is a deep, ugly truth that keeps me up at night. That weekly makes me cry. In fact, I just had to pause my typing for a moment because I couldn’t see through my tears. It’s a gut wrenching reality that made me realize my impact. Your impact. The power we all have to say no to fast fashion.

Not one more.
Not one more garment worker death.
Not one more child orphaned.
Not one more worker raped.
Not one more family separated.
I will not wear that.
I will wear love.

Our job creation program here in Haiti, Gift of Hope Haiti, has adopted Colossians 3:14 as our theme verse: “And so regardless of what else you put on, wear love. It’s your basic, all-purpose garment. Never be without it.” Buying fair trade, ethical, and sustainable fashion is wearing love. It is recognizing the power you possess to love others simply by getting dressed.

Next up - shopping! In my next post I will tell you about some of my favorite ethical brands, and share everywhere I bought from for my ethically made Christmas last year! There are so many quality, dignity giving, empowering gifts I can’t wait to share about!

His Kingdom come, His Will be done,
On earth as it is in Heaven.