The One Doll Project » North America

The dolls have made it to Haiti!

admin — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 22:15:06 +0000

The dolls have made it to Haiti!

Unfortunately we weren’t able to take them personally. We had plane and hotel reservations for April 4th-6th but were told that unless we had a locked compound to stay in that it wouldn’t be a good idea to go. There were a few reasons that was the case the biggest being the election results that were being posted the night we were arriving. Most of the NGO’s in Haiti were in “hibernation mode” which basically is lock down. They didn’t know what to expect with the announcement of president so it was a questionable day to arrive. The other reason we had to cancel was that our friends on the ground in Haiti were telling us that rapes and kidnappings were daily occurrences in the IDP camps and that arriving with dolls could put not only us but our hosts in danger. We were told that if we didn’t have 65,000 dolls that the camps were not the place to take the dolls.So we had to rethink our plan.

So….as luck would always have it as far as the dolls go…we found out that there was a Haiti convention being held in Miami the week we were planning on being in Haiti!!! We had been put in contact with Alison Thompson one of the founders of a charity called We Advance www.weadvance.org who had expressed an interest in the dolls so we flew to Miami and met with her and the other founders. While there we also connected with several other charities that are interested in our dolls. (It’s looking like Haiti will become a regular stop on our delivery schedule.)

Ed and I went to the convention center on Tuesday and presented 70 dolls to We Advance. They (among other things) run a clinic and counsel women and children that have been assaulted in the camps. They wanted the dolls for their youngest patients, girls of as young as 2 years old, that have been sexually assaulted. I can’t believe we live in a world where this happens to children and I hope the dolls you have lovingly created will be of comfort to them.

Anyway, Alison has promised that she will get photos for us once the dolls have been delivered. Delivery will of course happen over time as the young girls and children come into the clinic and the dolls are handed out.

A huge thanks to all of you that helped decorate and/or organized parties. A special thanks to my friend Kris Springer! Every doll was wearing a handmade necklace from Kris. The necklaces become perfect bracelets for the girls. AND…we still have some necklaces leftover for our next trip to Haiti (possibly this summer).

xoxo,
Tracy

Dolls for Haiti

admin — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 04:31:49 +0000

Event: Golden, Colorado Jan 31st. A doll making party for our spring deliveries. Egypt, Jordan and Syria. Next event: Haiti.

So far we have about 38 rag dolls decorated or being decorated. Here are a couple we’ve gotten back already from my friend Allyn and her mom, Jo.

Allyn and Jo with their dolls

We’ll be making rag dolls for Haiti and delivering them once things settle down. If you’d like to be included in our next event please contact me and I’ll make sure you get invited. If you’d like to make a donation to the Haitian orphanage we’ll be going to please visit Mercy and Sharing. You can also visit our website if you’d like to host your own gathering. I’ve just added supplies to our inventory to make it easier to pull a doll making party together.

News from Haiti

admin — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 16:54:04 +0000

Ed and I have been following Mercy and Sharing in Haiti for about a year now. Last year some of our dolls went to Haiti and afterwards we received this photo of Lisa with her new doll. Her first smile!

No one is smiling at the moment.

Susie Krabacher started this organization 16 years ago and it’s amazing what they have been accomplishing. Up until now. They really need help and the money will go directly to the children and their needs. Here is an email I received yesterday. Please help by going to their website www.Haitichildren.org

Thanks!

UPDATE SUNDAY Jan 17

Susie, Jeff, Bill, Jacques and two Haitian police (as security), crossed the border into Haiti and arrived at the Williamson project this afternoon. Unfortunately, things are not as we had hoped. Typically we have approximately 85 employees working eight hour shifts around-the-clock, there were a handful of employees on site trying to take care of hundreds of children. Many of the children have not had water or food in two days, the handicapped children have a bed sores, and they are trying to stabilize the situation in Williamson before nightfall. There is no diesel fuel to run the generators, which power the water pumps, electric and Internet communications. The well hand pumps are largely ineffective. They are getting water and food for the children this evening, and then searching for a place to stay that might have Internet or other communications.

We have now reports that the children of the abandoned baby unit have been two days without food and water. They are reportedly alive, but the morgue is piling up with hundreds of bodies, and the morgue is located right next to the abandoned baby unit.

The office building and hospital in Port-au-Prince have been completely demolished, we have lost all of our paperwork and records which are laying in the debris and blowing around the streets. The project has been completely looted.

The team is traveling to Port-au-Prince tomorrow to go to the Cazeau orphanage. We have reports that Cazeau is not safe because the walls collapsed, there are men with machetes robbing anyone with anything or value, and the people in the neighborhood have stormed the building, over powered the guard, and have taken up occupancy in what is left of the buildings on that property. We intend to remove all the remaining children from Cazeau and take them to Williamson tomorrow.

Madame Chenet is very traumatized, she has been living in her car, and having experience to the devastation, she is likely in shock. Dr. Rodriquez lost 4 family members, Dr. Algenor lost his brother. Our accountant lost his 2 brothers. Madame Chenet said it is total devastation around her.

We urgently need cash donations. We cannot accept supplies yet. Donate on line at www.haitichildren.org

Above all, pray fervently for the US team and the children, as well as the staff, are medical doctors and medical personnel.

B. Joseph Krabacher

Mercy & Sharing

201 N. Mill Street, Suite 201

Aspen CO 81611

(970) 925 6300 x 222 Direct

(970) 948 2277 Cell

(970) 925 1181 fax

jkrabacher@krabacher.com

www.haitichildren.org

A 501c3 Public Charity

Lori’s doll making party.

admin — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 23:36:53 +0000

These dolls were decorated by the McClay family in Canada. We delivered them to children living in Bolivia.