Julia and Maria are the creators of Pretty Purposeful. They decided to start their charity because they wanted to restore beauty and purpose into the lives of women who have been scarred by childbirth and prevent Obstetric Fistula from ever happening to women in Africa.

 

After watching a documentary filmed in Ethiopia (A Walk to Beautiful) about young women suffering from a devastating condition called obstetric fistula, they wanted to raise money to help reduce the problem and inspire the women to find their purpose and value again (by pursuing education, starting a business, etc.). 

 

In June 2013 they put on a one-day event, Camp Pretty Purposeful, for local teen girls inspiring them to find their purpose. 10 Speakers spoke on various topics plus many demos, focused on empowering girls to redefine "girl culture" and think differently about themselves and others.

 

In July 2013 Julia and Maria were interviewed by Pat Smith on D the Broadcast  (now The Broadcast) where they talked about their camp and their future goals for Pretty Purposeful. (Click here to watch the full interview.)

 

In November 2014 Maria and Julia became official ambassadors for the Freedom from Fistula Foundation, and traveled with the organization to clinics in Kenya and Malawi in the summer of 2015.

 

To date they've raised enough funds for over 70 repair surgeries as well as contributing to the refurbishment of a clinic in Sierra Leone that serves up to 300 patients a year. The Pretty Purposeful blog features the stories of some of the patients who have received surgeries.

 

In Fall 2015, Julia was named the Youth Ambassador to the United Nations for obstetric fistula. Both sisters have spoken at the UN on fistula as well as their other organization, YouthCorp (theyouthcorp.org).

 

To read more about Maria and Julia, visit their LinkedIn profiles: Maria's and Julia's. Or visit their personal sites (JuliaAnnMyers.com, MariaRoseMyers.com).

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