Uthando’s Doll Auction day is getting close, and they invite you to come make it a riproaring success. The idea is to raise funds by showing the public how handmade dolls can be enormously creative, both for the maker and the player. Through an exciting exhibition, people will absorb and share this creativity. In our case, we want everyone to gain an understanding of the lives of the KwaZulu-Natal children whose lives are severely shaped by the impact of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. Our Uthando dolls are making a difference there.
Our guiding principle is that children can express themselves more openly through play. Where children’s lives are tougher, often when parents have died or are absent, then the ‘doll’s work’ is to bring closer the child and his or her carer.
This auction, sale and exhibition of dolls is our major event of the year to raise funds for the training of the carers in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The focus will be on experiencing the vital nature of expressive play and incorporating that into the curriculum of TREE (Training and Resources in Early Education).
As we make the dolls for these children all of us think about the hands that will eventually hold them. It is also good for Australian children to be in touch with the lives of African children by having an Uthando doll of their own. This means we need many Uthando style dolls to actually sell on the day at $20 each, (separately from the dolls up for auction). Our target is $4000 from the sale of these dolls (i.e. 200 dolls).
Our overall target for the Auction Day is $15,000 – $20,000 so you can feel the seriousness and scale of the money needed in KwaZulu-Natal.
Please invite family and friends to come. We are a network of people wanting to make children’s lives happier. Our success really does depend on all of us bringing people from our own network who will financially support Uthando Project.
The Uthando Project Doll Auction is at UWA, Undercroft this Sunday September 23. Doors open 2pm, and the auction starts at 2.30 sharp. Entry is free, donation preferred. Refreshments will be for sale and credit card facilities available.
