UTHANDO PROJECT NEWSLETTER JUNE 2007
WESTERN AUSTRALIA

Dear dollmaking friends,

The Uthando Project is going ahead in leaps and bounds, thanks to
so many of you providing more dolls for the children in
KwaZulu-Natal. Here are some affirming comments from Rachel
Rozenthals-Thresher, CEO of Rob Smetherham Bereavement Services
for Children (ROBS) who arranged the Training the Trainers
dollmaking and psycho-social workshops with Dr Julie Stone,
Irene Gill and me in April this year.

…….our times together were so precious, and as you say reflecting
on them brings me great joy as well. I am honoured by your
commitment and passion (and Julie's and Irene's) to travel to KZN
to serve us, teach us, love us and make dolls. At our meeting
with TREE in April I was so struck by the thoughtful care that
goes into helping make the dolls appropriate for children
particularly in terms of weight, touch, softness, style of design
and clothing. Your attention to detail from the children's
perspective is so beautiful and so necessary. I know it brings
each child a uniquely precious experience. Please keep doing what
you are doing. I am also touched by how much what is given is as
much a gift to the doll maker as to the child receiving the doll.
That is to me as good a definition of love as one can get! "
Thanks to you
I can't thank you each enough for the precious gift of your visit.
It was such a delight to host you. Thanks for your love and support
for us, the women you trained, our beautiful country and of course
the creativity of the dolls. You have helped many celebrate their
creativity in a way that has strengthened their belief in
themselves and their relationships with children. WOW! That is
some achievement. I know that we helped with that too but it was
our mutual love and commitment that resulted in a really meaningful
interaction with those participating. Well done to us!

For myself I have made a few dolls since you left and have taught
the rest of our staff too, with much success. Mary Anne has her
doll as a delightful companion on her desk. Kathy whom you all
met via email made dolls for her two sons - and promised to share
the skills with her friends. Nomvula and Thembeka (our trainee
social workers) also made dolls and they are sharing their skills
with families they are working with in the community - more about
that in the soon to follow official UTHANDO update.

"At home Liam loves his doll. My mother in law made him a Zulu
warrior as well (large doll size) and the two are trusty
companions for play. The large doll I made for Rebecca is now
her favourite bed-time companion and it makes me feel so special
that, of all the things she has, she keeps this doll closest to her.
Through her experience I am constantly reminded of the value of
not only the doll but the doll made by a mother or other
significant adult, it has a meaning and significance and support
to the child way beyond its physical form."


Now to immediate business.
MAJOR FUNDRAISING DAY
DOLL AUCTION, UWA, SEPTEMBER, SUNDAY 23RD 2 – 4.30PM

We need dolls for the different aspects of this event.
1. ART DOLLS. Original dolls made by artists and top
dollmakers in W.A. suitable for either the vocal auction or the
silent auction. We are promoting the theme of "FAMILY" which can
be interpreted in many ways, eg mother and child, grannie and
grandchildren, human or animal, etc. In any 3D media. We welcome
single dolls donated as well.
2. Typical Uthando dolls suitable to sell at $20 each so
that Aussie kids can play with an African style doll and deepen
their awareness of other children's lives.
3. Uthando dolls which can be sponsored, $10, with a
personal card, to go to KZN.

Also a group of primary, secondary, public and private schools
have been invited to mount a display of their dolls before they
go to Africa. This will reveal the originality and generosity of
children expressing the principle of "A Child gives to a Child".
ACTION; please let me know if you would like to send in doll/s for
any of these 3 categories. If you are a member of a group, you might
like to set a target number of dolls from your group and set the
ball rolling!
Dolls to be delivered before Sunday September 16th to
Calico and Ivy, 1 Glyde St, Mosman Park,
Deborah Mickle, 88 Dalgety St, East Fremantle 9339 0484.
Note new email deborah.mickle@bigpond.com
Georgia Efford, 2 Healey Place, Gooseberry Hill 6076 ph 9293 2363
preferably Fridays. Posted dolls also to this address.

WHY ARE WE FUNDRAISING?
Given that our local costs of running Uthando Project are already
covered by many generous individuals being self sufficient and that
some funds are needed for freight and handling the dolls to TREE
(Training and Resources in Early Education) in KZN, our main drive
is to support work in KZN which brings children and their carers
closer through play.
It sounds so simple, but in the drastic family fragmentation that
has occurred through poverty and HIV/AIDS often children are brought
up by adults not of their family, or even by other children. This is
a serious Africa wide situation, not experienced on this scale before
in humanity's history.
You will be thrilled to know that preliminary meetings and a proposal
from ROBS for ROBS and TREE to work together towards a goal of deeper
understanding of the carer/child relationship. TREE trains hundreds
of women in early childhood education, (in fact have just won a
National Award for this) and the impact of their partnership with
ROBS' training will manifest in their teaching curriculum. The
proposal covers 3 stages taking probably until mid 2008. We now await
the costing for this programme. The income from our Auction Day is
intended to meet these needs. Our target is $15,000.
It makes the whole organisation of the Auction Day easier if we know
in advance who will be providing the dolls for auction, sale or
sponsorship. So please let us know.

Those with ART DOLLS for Auction, contact me, georgia1@iinet.net.au,
9293 2363
Those with African Uthando style dolls please contact
Joy Whitfield. jwhitfi@iinet.net.au 9291 6403

In the meantime there are the following workshops/dollmaking days
which you might like to enrol in. They are separate from our
regular meetings. Contact Joy for info.
• June 28th, Kalamunda Learning Centre
• July 1st, Hovea Ashram, 805 Margaret Rd, Hovea, $30
• July, starting a course of Uthando Project dollmaking
at Kalamunda Learning Centre with Irene Gill. Dates to be advised.

Irene is also working with the Hills Community Support Centre in
Mundaring and the Community Learning Centre in Cottesloe.
We now have printed the Schools Information Folder, not just for
schools, but for groups as well. Includes many patterns, background
information and photos. Optional donation $10 to cover cost.

Our Website is definitely in action, although the Information for
Schools is still on its way. Please check it out at
www.uthandoproject.org and don't forget to click on the Gallery
where there are new photos of animal dolls and the Zulu dollmakers
from our workshops in KwaZulu-Natal.

As always, there is such a feeling of generosity, grace, creativity
and love within this project of ours. We can all thank each other.
Looking forward to hearing from you,
Georgia and team










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