Christmas dolls for the vulnerable

CLAIR Martins and friends were talking about orphans and underprivileged children and how they would spend their Christmas, when they came up with the idea of making dolls and giving them as Christmas gifts.

‘The next day I went and bought a sewing machine without knowing how to sew. I got a pattern and made Eve,’ Martins related to The Namibian.With Eve, the ‘Adopt-a-Doll, The Promise of a Gift’ project was born. Martins spoke to her domestic worker to assist her finding someone to help her to sew the dolls and Frederika Kandelo came to her house offering her help. Martins’ friends started to collect material, buttons, wool and other usable items for the project and soon six other women offered their help with the sewing. The group decided to make 500 dolls and stuffed animals for the children. ‘We cannot give a doll to a boy so I made some giraffes and elephants for them,’ said Martins. At first all the women made dolls on a volunteer basis, but later Martins decided to pay them and also to give them taxi money so that they could come to her house. The women gather every day from eight in the morning until four in the evening and make dolls. Eleven friends and volunteers make the dresses, handbags and necklaces for the dolls. The women get the materials from Martins and then drop the finished items off again. The dolls are then dressed and fitted with necklaces and accessories. All the dolls are unique and have their own personality, according to Martins. ‘One woman makes the body, another the arms, another the dress and so when everything is done the doll is assembled and this is what makes them unique and special,’ said Martins. The dolls can be ‘adopted’ for N$150 and the adoptee’s name and a slogan will be embodied on each doll like Clara, the Brave. The money collected will go towards the wages of the women and other operational costs like the buying of stuffing and eyes for the dolls. Examples of the dolls are exhibited in Swakopmund, Rundu, Tsumeb and Outjo for people to adopt. All the dolls ‘adopted’ in those towns will go to the children in these towns. Aside from the machine Martins bought, Kandelo also brought her own and Conny Pimenta a friend lent the project her sewing machine. ‘I hope we can reach our goal of 500 dolls and animals but we only have three sewing machines and six women who can sew, so if we had one or two more machines we would definitely reach that goal,’ said Pimenta. In the two months that the women have been making dolls, they have completed 118 toys. ‘We are so proud that we can do this for the children,’ said Kandelo. ‘We definitely want to continue with this project until every needy child in Namibia has a doll and we will make more next year,’ she added. Martins wants to continue with the project next year and she hopes to be able to grow the operation so that more children can benefit. ‘This is not just a toy but also an emotional gift. You can dress the dolls, make up their hair, cuddle them and give them love,’ said Martins. People who want to lend a sewing machine or who want to adopt a doll can contact Martins on 081 124 6768. The dolls will also be featured at the Bank Windhoek Kidz Fun Fair this weekend where they can be adopted.

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