The Uplift Fiji project has sent out more than 40,000 second-hand bras from Australia to countries such as Fiji, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.
Organizers said the program gives women dignity and prevents fungal infections and abscesses on the chest wall that can result from living in tropical climates without wearing a bra.
But a women’s development organization in East Timor said Operation Uplift is a classic example of a donor driven project that shows little understanding of the needs of developing communities.
Rotary International ships the second-hand bras overseas to a number of countries, with 1,000 bras going to Papua New Guinea this week.
However, not all organizations are supportive of the project.
The Alola Foundation in East Timor was established by Kirsty Sword Gusmao to increase the status of women in that country through community development grants, humanitarian relief and advocacy.
Community program adviser Meredith Budge, who is based in Dili, said projects such as Uplift Fiji can do more harm than good.
“These kinds of projects really are only, I think, designed to focus on the donor, the person who feels good because they can give something that they would otherwise throw in the rubbish,” she said. “But what happens is that you then create this dependency relationship.”
Budge said her main concern is that programs such as Uplift Fiji are essentially misdirected and can undermine local economies.
“Dumping a whole lot of second-hand and possibly new bras in a charity faction actually would undermine the ability of anybody to actually start up a decent and cheap supply business in that country,” she said.
She said the Alola Foundation is now discouraging donations of second hand goods because often they are in poor working order, can be bought more cheaply locally, and then only add to rubbish collection problems.
Uplift Fiji national coordinator Liz Baker said they sort the bras in Australia and only send them in biodegradable packaging.
She said the project was created to address a critical need.
“The women we are shipping to have asked for bras. The project started because women were asking a particular aid worker for bras and she was giving hers away on a regular basis in isolated communities,” she said.
