How is this student sewing educational opportunities for young girls?

“When you educate a girl, she will one day teach her children more about the world, leading to more peace and understanding.” – Lily Miller

Using recycled materials to renew the educational opportunities of young girls in Nepal, Lily Miller from Missoula is making headlines with her fabric scrap lovebirds.

From participating in a second grade class fundraiser for an all-abilities playground project, to founding Lily’s Lovebirds, this 13-year-old US student is using materials to make a real-world impact.

As Lily herself states on her online shop, “After school and our hockey practice, we cut and sew lovebirds to help raise money to send girls to school around the world. We make the lovebirds from recycled fabric scraps donated from all over the US.”

Flying all around the world, these lovebirds are spreading the message of educational equality and hope.

Once a sale is made online, the proceeds go straight to the Conscious Connection Foundation – The Power of Five, the Malala Fund and local school scholarship programmes.

By using recycled materials, Lily’s charitable efforts are also sustaining the environment and promoting the use of eco-friendly resources; a great message to send out to students, teachers and organisations worldwide.

But her generous actions don’t stop there. If a lovebird develops a small hole or tear once stuffed, Lily refuses to let the bird be wasted.

As she explains to The Mighty Girl, “At first, we did not know what to do with these birds. So we decided to fill them with catnip and donate the lovebirds to the homeless cats at our local animal shelter.”

Taking initiative and tackling real-world challenges with her sewing skills, it’s learners like Lily who pave the way for change.

Craft is gluing together communities Source: Shutterstock

As Christmas is already on its way, it would be a great idea for teachers to take Lily’s story as an inspiring talking point for their class discussions.

Encouraging students to use recycled materials to better the lives of others and to spark their inner creativity is a win-win situation!

It doesn’t have to just be about lovebirds either – learners are free to sew innovative designs and put their own spin on the sewing sessions.

When she was 9, Lily Miller started making and selling fabric scrap lovebirds so she could help send girls around the world to school. 5 years later, Lily’s Lovebirds have flown around the world and she’s donated $7000 to girls’ education. https://t.co/JM5AmJI1uo

— amightygirl (@amightygirl) December 6, 2018

Ideas like this may start small – in this case at 13-years-old – but as Lily has shown, they can lead to great things. Who knows what good your class will come up with?

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