Following our commitment to ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages, and to invest in the empowerment of girls and women as reflected on the newly adopted Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) promoted by the United Nations (Goal #3, Goal #5), our ECOSOC-accredited organization, Transdiaspora Network (TDN),  is partnering with Michaela Jarvis, a former TDN RIPPLE Program participant and a Brooklyn-based senior high school student, to create a joint social venture for the fiscal year 2015-2016: a fashion club that will engage high school students from low-income neighborhoods. With our humble resources, TDN aims to fulfill one of the targets of the U.N. post-2015 Development Agenda; get closer to an AIDS-free generation by locally promoting HIV prevention, health and positive self-esteem among youth (read Michaela’s reflection below).

 Written by Michaela Jarvis, TDN BOLD Initiative intern*. August 24, 2015

Fashion has always been a part of me. But, I never knew what I could do with it to help change the world one step at a time for the better. Although, some may see the fashion world through a materialistic aspect, there is a lot more to it than just the outer layers of the fabric. I just had to figure out a way to make that clear to the people around me, who didn’t necessarily comprehend my natural interpretation of what also came with the fashion territory.

During my sophomore year of high school, I had this crazy idea of starting my own fashion club in the school that I am currently attending [Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women]. The inspiration came from my everyday school surroundings. Style in a lot of the girls was a little, interesting. It’s not that it was necessarily bad, I just was always taught that you attract what you advertise. What some of them advertised through their personal styles, however, I could tell that the word ‘respect’ was not really in it. Then I quickly came to the realization that what they were wearing wasn’t necessarily the full reason. It’s what they were wearing that made them feel good about themselves. The subconscious power that fashion may have mentally on an individual is quite interesting. After taking a health class [TDN RIPPLE Program workshops] at Medgar Evers College Upward Bound Summer Academy, the experience of it made my reasoning more valid: promoting health (and as a consequence HIV prevention) among youth, especially low-income background girls, by improving their self-esteem. I realized that health is a lot more than just the physical realm. Health is also one’s mentality. A person’s mentality can easily affect one’s physical being as well. I’ve noticed that through Transdiaspora Network, a number of the enrolled students had the opportunity to see and meet amazing people which helped our mental health as well. The amazing experiences that some of us had definitely cultivated our minds on a whole new level.

The fashion club that I will continue through the 2015-2016 school year, in association with Transdiaspora Network, is meant to help young women to find their own individual styles and assist build their self esteem, which conveniently connect with their well being. Fashion, again, is not just about what’s on the outside of the individual wearing it; it’s also about how the person feels on the inside when they are wearing it, which initially propels what they’re wearing to the next level. Transdiaspora Network can help achieve this goal by providing an understanding of a topic (HIV prevention/health promotion) because I feel there is lack of knowledge. The crucial importance of a healthy mentality works along with the ideas of the fashion world. I truly believe that this could be a successful venture; a collaboration that will inspire others to be healthy and fabulous at the same time!

*Michaela Jarvis is also enrolled at Medgar Evers College Upward Bound Program. Michaela is currently completing her senior year at the Urban Assembly Institute of Math and Science for Young Women located in the Downtown Brooklyn area. Originally from Hampton VA, her love for the Fashion Industry blossomed when she moved to New York City a few years after. Her innate creative spirit as well as her love for fashion was ignited by her own mother and she likes to describe fashion as “a forever-changing authentic art form.” Her current enrollment at school provide the inspiration not only to keep dreaming about fashion, but also to provide an emotional outlet for young women of low-income background. The initial mission of Michaela’s fashion club is to assist teen girls to find their own unique individual styles and help build their self-esteem.