T-Shirt Travels (Film)

The documentary, T-Shirt Travels is an in-depth look at how exactly the clothes that we donate impact those around the world, particularly in this case those in the African country of Zambia.  Here, a man named Luka is the main person followed.  He makes a living reselling bundles of clothes to support himself, his mother, his two sisters, and his three cousins.  Charities that accept clothes from donations sometimes sell the excess donations for 10 to 15 cents per pound.  The dealers who buy these clothes then sell them in Africa for markups of up to 300-400%.  It was sad to really see how deprived and depleted Africa is of the resources necessary to be successful without international intervention.  The same people who are trying to “help” countries in Africa are also, in many cases, the same people who are looking to benefit from them as well, usually at the countries’ expense.