In case you didn't know, I have several passions--the first being fashion of course, the second music, the third food, and the rest well, they follow behind equally. As many of you know, I have participated in the Tickle Me Pink Fashion Show for three years and last year I co-produced the show alongside presenting a five piece collection, one day after arriving from a month long trip to Israel. The show profited a local breast cancer awareness group called The Pink Ribbons Project in Houston. In any case, I was able to mix my love for design with my love for helping people--it was a fulfilling philanthropic event, yet at the same time I emerged myself in a world of fashion by designing and co-producing the show.
Now the title of this post might seem like it does not correlate to my blog at all since it has to do with the movement sparked by The Invisible Children to raise awareness for the arrest of Joseph Kony. But all throughout high school I spent my fridays volunteering with refugee children from all over the world, and many of them were from Africa. While I seemed to have an even larger connection with the children from Spanish speaking countries (since Spanish is my first language), the children that came from Africa still held a special place in my heart, in particular because at one point in my life I wanted to hold a charity event to raise awareness for Darfur. Knowing that these children had left countries such as Sudan made me think about my failed attempts to raise awareness for a cause that is unknown by most of the world. Although my plans never came through and that charity event never happened, I haven't ceased to look for alternative ways to evoke change and help people. The Tickle Me Pink Fashion Show was one way to help, and spending time with the Refugee children was another. In all, I spent over 400 hours in three years trying to find ways to make at least a tiny difference (I received the Gold President's Award twice and the bronze award once). Now I am a student in a huge university where it is even harder to find your niche to volunteer and I have found myself volunteering less and less because I have gotten caught up in socializing and enjoying my time in college. And yet. I feel like there is something missing, despite being in the center of the live music capital of the United States and studying fashion design and being surrounded by some of the most incredible and intelligent people I have ever met. That something, is my passion for helping others, which is why I am posting this 30 minute video. It is long, but beyond worth watching and listening. Help #stopkony and raise awareness.
xox,
RoJo
