$0.00 L.O.O.K. is the acronym for our newest endeavour. It stands for LOVE: Orphan Outreach for Kids. We have  several ongoing projects happening at the same time. They all have to do with AIDS orphans in other  countries. I will explain each of the projects so you can understand the sphere of influence that young people  can have in our world today. It is very exciting!!  This first orphan project came about serendipitously when a friend told me she and her daughter were going  on a missionary trip to Tanzania. They would be going to help at an orphanage in Moshi called KIWAKKUKI.  She asked if I would like her to take some plain dolls in case there were HIV+ women who wanted to make  some. I heartily agreed.  What happened in the meantime was nothing short of a miracle. Because of time constraints another woman,  Trish, who lives at the orphanage, took over administering the doll project. She purchased tribal cloth for the  clothing of the dolls, to make sure they reflected the heritage of these people. Then she worked with one  psychosocial group that was having some problems. Following is an excerpt from an email that Trish sent: The orphanage is what would be considered, very under-funded, but relatively loving. The caretakers  are relatively few and very young, and most are orphans themselves, but they are very enthusiastic to  learn. The program started when one of the Norwegian benefactors at KIWAKKUKI relayed information  to the orphan support program that they felt that the issues of psychosocial care were not being  addressed well enough by KIWAKKUKI and most other AIDS organizations in the Tanzanian (and  indeed in Africa) areas. The children were dealing with the trauma of the death of their parents, and yet  being expected to be grateful that they had a roof over their heads and that for most, their school fees  were paid. So the benefactors requested that KIWAKKUKI do a study of orphans in different areas of  Moshi to identify issues that the caregivers had and issues that the children had. They found  interesting results, not rocket science, but for both groups somewhat of a surprise and conundrum.  They found that the caregivers were exhausted, overworked and overwhelmed. The caregivers  reported that the children were disrespectful, ran away from school, screamed in the night, and  generally wore them out even more. The caregivers reported that they scraped to just feed the family,  and that they just couldn't take anymore. The children reported that they were tortured at school about  their parents dying of AIDS, that they were taunted and that fights were picked, so it was much easier  to run away. Even their teachers picked on them, they stated. They said that they were frightened  particularly at night because the ghosts of their dead parents appeared before them when they were in  bed and asked them -where are you?, why did you leave me?, I miss you etc. It was very frightening  and caused them to wet their beds, to scream, and to be unable to sleep at night so that they were  exhausted, terrified and dirty in the morning.   The program formed its goals, based on the 8 principles of international child development (ICDP)  which included, hugging, talking, touching, teaching respect and playing. The volunteer leaders were  trained for 3 weeks in facilitating these trainings. Then the groups were formed in different areas of  town. Children for the most part were separated from the caregivers, and had time to talk about the  issues they were having, and with the help of the facilitators were forming plans on how they could give  better care to one another without causing further exhaustion. Just simple things like teaching both  boys and girls to cook some of the traditional dishes and sing traditional songs and games etc., that  wouldn't take time, to do things like when the children wound up screaming to take them into bed with  them or let them sleep near them etc.   They brought in the teachers and worked with teachers on AIDS education, treating children equally  and helping the children with problems to become part of the group, also tolerating one another and  breaking up fights. They were told that they should report when children were coming to school with no  shoes, ragged clothes (more ragged than usual) or not coming to school at all.  So at the end of the training sessions, the children and caregivers were re-surveyed and both groups  reported that things generally were better. The children found that they loved learning the traditions of  their tribes, and the caregivers found that the children liked helping them. The children were having  fewer nightmares and when they did, the caregivers were sharing the little space that they had so that  they could sleep. They stopped wetting the beds, and screaming. Everyone got more sleep, and  though there were still a lot of glitches; most especially related to poverty, not enough food, kids  around to sell the boys esp. marijuana and trying to get the girls in the sack, that things were generally  better.   Teachers were very appreciative of training regarding HIV/AIDS. There are many myths in Africa about  it and the teachers are generally young women who have just graduated from secondary school  themselves, hardly prepared to deal with psychologically disturbed orphans.   Anyway, these pictures are just one of the psychosocial groups. They have been meeting about  once/month to discuss the issues that most concern them. Most of the time they meet separately, but  they always come together for a soda and cake at the end. It was very moving. The children loved the  doll making. Some of them worked so hard on their dolls, and we didn't have enough needles and  thread, and many of the children weren't old enough to use a needle, but they made dolls of their  fathers and mothers, and also of course samurai warriors as well. The girls wanted to make dolls that  would show the way they would be when they got older.   So that is the story as best as I can tell. And you are most welcome to add the KIWAKKUKI children to  the project. They would be thrilled. I will send you their stories as well. They are rather self-  explanatory with the lifelines showing quite clearly when parents died. It is moving.   Thanks for your interest. Trisha So you see, the orphans loved making the dolls and kept them to remind them of their parents. What a  wonderful way to help heal the lives of these unfortunate children. On these pages you will see pictures of  these children and you will read their handwritten biographies, most with time lines of their lives. They were  written in Swahili, their native language, so we have translated them into English so that others may  understand these children’s words. The second orphan project is with a new orphanage that is opening in Honduras. It is called Walking With  Children. The facility houses children living with HIV infection so that they can get proper care. STITCHES  Doll Project is currently seeking grant money to fund a training mission to Honduras. Our plan is to train  volunteers and local women to plan and implement a doll-making workshop. In this way, they can continue to  empower girls and women who are living with HIV infection. The facilitators will take pictures of the dolls that  we will then post on the STITCHES website for all to see and learn from.  At present we are making beautiful traditional jewellery with beads made from Honduran river clay. We get the  beads directly from the women that make them by hand, then, our STITCHES volunteers make them into  different jewellery items. We will sell these pieces at displays, fund-raisers and on our website, and share the  profits with Walking With Children. This will help raise the awareness of the plight of the orphans in Honduras,  raise needed money, and forges a great working relationship between the orphanage and our organization. The caveat to this is something wonderful that happened when I told this story to some middle school girls in  inner-city Detroit. I had been requested to bring some dolls to Durfee Middle School on the west side. The  girls loved looking at the dolls and hearing each of their moving stories. Then they asked lots of questions  about AIDS and sex in general. You could see that they were hungry for good information. Upon hearing  about my involvement with these orphans, the girls also wanted to do something tangible. A few weeks went  by and their teacher contacted me to say that she had a gift for me from the girls. When she arrived she  presented me with 14 colourful dolls, handmade by the Durfee girls. Each one had a message of love and  hope attached to it is“ for the orphans in Honduras. Needless to say, it brought me to tears. A month later I  met with the Director of Walking With Children while she was in Michigan for a fund-raising mission. I  presented her with the the Durfee Dolls and a huge bag of brand new socks for the children. She was as  overwhelmed. Because there is such an interest by young people to get involved in this work, we have developed several  other workshop sessions that we offer. Our resident artiste, Gloria, designed beaded doll pins made on wire.  These are fun to make for people of all ages. We then sell these at local events and on our website to raise  money. Each doll pin is unique and colorful. They can be worn on a lapel, used as a sun catcher, or hung  from a rear view mirror.  The other workshop ideas involve sock puppets, made from socks and small pillows made with scrap  materials. These are very simple craft projects that kids and adults of all ages can take part in. Once they are  finished we send these creations to the orphanages to bring fun, love, and entertainment into their lives. It lets  the orphans know that other children of the world care about them. And it teaches our children here how  blessed they are to live in this country and have the resources that are available to them.