A little girl from Chin State in her new hand made dress.

Up to 80 pieces of clothing have been delivered to children in a remote Chin village in Burma thanks to the generosity of a group of AMES volunteers and sewing groups across the country.

The clothes made were a result of the Dress a Girl Australia movement which gathers up hand-made clothes and distributes them to needy children around the world.

AMES Volunteer Coordinator Gitta Clayton said the program was a fantastic way for ordinary people with dress making skills to make a difference in the developing world.

“It’s a great movement and our volunteers have embraced it,” Gitta said.

“Our volunteers have made and have received, from people all over Australia, hundreds of children’s dresses, t-shirts and shorts.

“And Tawng, one of our AMES Community Guides had his brother out here visiting so I had the opportunity to have him take lots of the clothes back with him last month.

“He distributed them to a small village and to an orphanage in Chin State, in Burma, which is particularly hard to access,” she said.

Gitta herself has already distributed many items of clothing in refugee camps on the Thai/Burma border.

“We went to Thailand late last year but this is the first time we have been able get clothes for children into the Chin State,” she said.

“Another AMES staff member is going next month and so I have more dresses/boys clothes coming in for her to deliver,” Gitta said.

For more information on this story, contact Gitta Clayton on: 9847 0405.

Sheree Peterson
AMES Staff Writer