Last year it was bras, this time it was female undies piled high at Hillsong auditoriums on Tuesday night.

Both were collected by Hillsong’s Sisterhood, aimed at helping girls and women overseas. Described as “a company of women making the world a better place”, Sisterhood meets weekly at Hillsong’s Australian campuses.

While the bras were for HIV positive women, the undies are for “Keep A Girl in School,” both projects of the Watoto programme in Uganda.

Watoto explains that many girls aged 11-13 drop out of school upon menarche (their first period), embarrassed because they have no underwear or sanitary products.

Initially staying away from school one week each month, girls soon fall so far back in lessons that they eventually drop out altogether. This affects more than their education. Luke Willey, Country Director of Watoto Australia, says, “ The biggest thing, for me, is that when they drop out they help with chores and walk long distances for water, exposing them to abuse every day.”

In a trial project last year, Watoto provided sanitary pads for girls in three Kampala schools. Hillsong participated in the trial, providing the undies.

The result was staggering – a 50 per cent reduction in the girls’ dropout rate.

That’s why Hillsong’s Senior Minister, Bobbie Houston (below, left) recently sent the call for a collection of  “Aussie undies”.  In response, Hillsong sisters in campuses all over Australia contributed new underwear by the hundreds.

Rhyllis Davey who was at the Baulkham Hills campus in Sydney, said it was an amazing sight. “I couldn’t believe my eyes. Piles of underwear of all colours, and people did crack up as they made their contribution! It was funny, but it was a statement of how something so very small can have such a huge effect on so many lives.”

Hillsong now has hundreds of  “Aussie undies” to send, but is looking for financial support to help provide sanitary products. It says the contribution doesn’t have to be large – even the price of a regular pair of undies “will help keep a girl in school for another month.”

In brief, a case of a little going a long, long way.

Click here to read more about the Keep A Girl in School project