YouTube Star Lilly Singh Uses Friendship Bracelets To Promote “Girl Love”

Lilly Singh is all about “girl love,” and her fans now have an easy way to show their interest in her message. Singh, who is known on YouTube as iiSuperwomanii, has partnered with ME to WE for a line of “rafiki bracelets” that support the education of young women in Kenya.

The word rafiki refers not to the Lion King mandrill but rather to the Swahili word for “friend.” As with all of ME to WE’s products, proceeds generated from the sale of the rafikis will go to an important social cause. In this case, Singh and ME to WE are looking to send Kenyan girls to school. That goal fits within the broader positive message of #GirlLove, which aims to empower women and encourages them to be kind to one another. Singh launched #GirlLove late last year, and the campaign is nominated for an award at this year’s Streamys.

In tandem with the launch of her new rafikis, Singh took a trip to Kenya to visit some of the children she is trying to affect. The results of her journey were cataloged in a video on her YouTube channel.

“When I saw the #GirlLove Rafiki Bracelet for the first time I thought it was exactly what I wanted it to be. The bracelet represents not only my passion for #GirlLove, but me acting on that passion,” said Singh in a press release. “In Kenya, not all girls are able to go to school and while on my ME to WE Trip, I was honoured to meet three girls currently studying at Kisaruni All Girls Secondary School. As they walked me through the Kisaruni campus, I could see how going to school has given them more than an education, but confidence and ambition. All girls should have that opportunity and that’s why proceeds from my bracelet go towards giving Kenyan girls the chance to go to primary school.”

The #GirlLove rafikis sell for $15 apiece. After reaching its initial goal of 1,500 “impacts,” ME to WE is now looking to sell a total of 6,000 bracelets. With some help from Singh’s fans, it is currently less than 700 sales away from that goal.