Every Scarf [Social] Tells a Story
My name is Sophia, and I am 13 years old. I have been interested in the cause of girls’ education since second grade, when I did a research project on Malala Yousafzai. I was seven when I found out about this cause, and it has continued to shock and anger me that so many girls around the world are denied access to the basic right of an education. I wanted to change this, so in 6th grade, I founded the Let Girls Learn Club at my middle school to raise awareness and funds for the cause. Last year, I was worried there would be no way for my club to support girls’ education in the middle of a pandemic, until I found out about RefuSHE.
After my dad heard about RefuSHE through a client, my mom and I attended RefuSHE’s virtual fashion show event, Fashion Challenge: Reimagined. I was excited to learn how RefuSHE helps refugee girls in many ways, including providing education. I was especially taken with Chantale, a RefuSHE alumna who told her story at the fashion show. She talked about how RefuSHE saved her life after facing an exceptionally challenging childhood. I was so inspired by her incredibly moving story and only wished my club could have heard it.
My mom and I were also blown away by the beautiful designs and the fabrics that the girls hand-dyed. There was one green dress that I fell in love with and couldn’t stop thinking about. I continued to look at my favorite dress on the website, and even though it was only a fantasy, I was sad to see one day that it had sold. Not long after, my dad surprised me with the dress, which he had secretly bought, and I was overwhelmed with joy. The fabric was even softer and more beautiful in person. He said he was happy to support the cause and make my wish come true at the same time.
RefuSHE reached out to my family after the purchase, and I told them about my club. The RefuSHE staff let us know about their Scarf Socials, where you plan an event to sell RefuSHE scarves, and asked if we would consider hosting one. I really wanted to support RefuSHE and thought this would be a perfect project for my club. However, I was hesitant, because I was not sure how safe an in-person event would be during COVID-19. After my family talked it over, we realized that we would be able to host the Scarf Social safely by making it outdoors, masked, and allowing only one party at a time to shop.
While we were planning the Scarf Social, I asked RefuSHE if there was any way I could get Chantale to speak to my Let Girls Learn Club over Zoom. I was so grateful that RefuSHE put me in touch with Chantale and that my club was able to interview her. Chantale told us about her heroic journey of finding RefuSHE after losing her parents and being kidnapped. Chantale was so generous with her time, and the club members were extremely touched by hearing her tell her amazing story. After meeting Chantale, everyone was even more motivated to help other refugee girls through the scarf sale.
The club set a goal of raising $2,500, and a club member created flyers to send out. We planned out the dates and times that club members could come and volunteer. The wonderful RefuSHE staff also helped a lot with planning. RefuSHE mailed us all the scarves to sell and made counting the money really easy by sending us a mobile credit card reader.
We hosted the Scarf Social in late November outside in my backyard, and despite the COVID-19 precautions, we still had a great time. The shoppers were pleased with the selection and happy to buy gifts that supported such a good cause. We played music, and altogether it was a lot of fun. For people who couldn’t come to the sale, RefuSHE gave us an online code for website purchases, so that the money would count toward our goal. My family also hosted Zoom calls for our friends and family, where we would show them the scarves and arrange to mail or hand-deliver their purchases.
Overall, the Scarf Social was a success, and I was happily surprised to learn that we exceeded our goal and raised $2,860, which supports one girl’s journey through RefuSHE’s holistic programs for an entire year (education, life skills, childcare, counseling, food, case management, etc.), as well as a one-year high school scholarship for another girl at RefuSHE. I am amazed at how far the money will go and how much of a difference my club was able to make.
I found working with RefuSHE such a fulfilling experience. The interview with Chantale was so powerful, and the Scarf Social was fairly easy and extremely fun to do. My club members and I discovered that focusing on supporting others actually helped take the focus off of challenges from the pandemic and quarantine life. My club and I look forward to keeping up with RefuSHE and continuing to support them in the future!
Sophia Rothman is an 8th grader at Los Angeles Center for Enriched Studies (LACES). In fifth grade, she won the AEMP Written Word and Multimedia Contest with her video project on Michelle Obama’s Let Girls Learn initiative, which inspired Sophia to start her own Let Girls Learn Club at LACES. This year, Sophia joined her school newspaper and won a Scholastic Art and Writing Silver Key Award for journalism. She is also in the theater program at LACES and loves to play guitar in her free time.