International Dolls
Name: unknown
Date of birth: ?
Date of Diagnosis: ?
Doll Title: Senioretta Mondo
This doll represents an outreach effort in an orphanage in Cape Town, South Africa. In July of 2006, a University of Michigan student agreed to take some doll forms to South Africa where she was going to study for 5 months. When unforeseen difficulties scuttled the original plan for the dolls, Lindsay came up with another one. These are her words:
"In September I went to the orphanage bearing gifts of dolls and valuable information. By using colorful posters as visual aids, I explained to the girls about HIV/AIDS. Being that the girls were between the ages of 3 to 13 and had very short attention spans, I kept my presentation brief.
Then it was time for the fun to begin. I told them about the STITCHES campaign and said that they could decorate the dolls to remind them to be safe and careful in the future. The rest of the evening flew by in a fury of feathers, glue, and beads.
Sure, some of the dolls met an unceremonious end; being covered in glue and abandoned by the former artists. However, most of the girls had a wonderful time. One of the dolls even had a hand-written sign on her back that read:
I have HIV. Give me hugs, not drugs.
Upon leaving the orphanage, I hung the posters on the wall and admired many beautiful dolls. I left that night feeling hopeful. For if just one of those girls remembers some small fact about my presentation or decorating the dolls, then the global conflict that is HIV/AIDS is one step closer to being resolved."
This STITCHES artist was a small child in an orphanage in S. Africa, where AIDS is wiping out entire generations of people. Her innocence and her pain has a voice in this doll. Listen, if you dare. Help, if you can.
