The initial idea (which has been reworked a dozen times already) for this came to me at least a year ago. We don’t get a lot done very quickly at our house, which is something we need to work on … but I digress.

I made time for it a couple days ago and finished a proto-type.

This is definitely not a finished product. Changes I’m already making:

• Darker floss thread so you can actually see that that outline is Africa.
• The mosquito netting (that greenish hue) will probably go between the shirt and the red instead of on top.
• I might reposition Africa – if I can – so more of it comes down the front of the shirt.
• There will be a dead (up-side-down) mosquito and an issue number screen-printed on the back.

I was inspired (a year ago) when I read that about 700,000 to 750,000 children die of malaria every year. Most of them are in Africa. (Another approximately 250,000 adults die from malaria every year as well.) Malaria, of all things.

Malaria should not be that big of a deal. It should not be costing us one million daughters, sons, friends, brothers, fathers, cousins – every year. It’s largely preventable and it’s treatable. It’s only as devastating as it is because mosquitos (which carry the disease) have a field day at night when people are asleep and susceptible, and because those same people are living in such poverty they can’t afford treatment.

Read: Its only as devastating as it is because the rest of us aren’t doing anything about it.

The idea was to make a shirt I could sell for cost +$10, because $10 is all it takes to deliver a mosquito net – treated with insecticide –  to a family in Africa.

Since then I’ve learned there are other wonderful people and groups that are doing similar work – selling shirts for good causes – which was news to me. Still, I couldn’t push the thought away.

Since then, scores of other worthy causes have landed in front of me or been picked up by various ministries and NGOs. Worthy causes have a way of trending, but despite all these other good and worthy issues, I can’t shake this thing about stitching a piece of mosquito netting to a shirt in order to provide a $10 life line to a family in Africa.

So I’m working on it, but what do you think? Like the shirt? Hate the shirt? (They’ll probably be in an array of colors, so don’t worry about the purple thing.) Ideas on how to improve the shirt?