Pinjarra Uniting Church’s Adult Fellowship (UCAF) recently made use of their annual craft get together to create dolls for children in South Africa, through the Uthando Project.
The Uthando Project sends handcrafted, donated dolls to children living in orphanages in KwaZulu Natal, a province of South Africa, who have been affected by HIV AIDS. This area is currently suffering a pandemic of the virus.
This WA based project works in partnership with non-government organisations in South Africa to deliver dolls to where they are best needed. Children can then use ‘play’ to enjoy life, but also to express the emotions and grief of losing one or both parents. Uthando, a Zulu word, translates in English to ‘love.’ Gill Muir, from Pinjarra Uniting Church, said their UCAF group wanted to provide the children with something they could cherish.
“We were looking for a craft project for the year and we thought it was really worthwhile,” she said. “We’ve done a variety of things over the years, but this was something a bit different.”
Around 8 to 10 dolls are currently in the process of being made, and will be ready to deliver by the end of the year. Patterns for a range of dolls are available to download from the Uthando Project website.
The Pinjarra UCAF meets monthly at Pinjarra Uniting Church. For more info, email Aladina Foster at rayaladina@dodo.com.au.
For more info on the Uthando Project visit http://uthandoproject.org.
Top image: Gill Muir with an example of a Uthando doll.