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Heartfelt Dolls

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Heartfelt Dolls

A message from my niece, Mimiw (age 17):

I was inspired to sew these dolls for my high school service project after visiting with friends who work with internally displaced families in Burma and Kurdistan. I knew I couldn’t give each of those children a warm bed or soft pillow, but I could still provide some small comfort. I’m raising money to produce more dolls, which will be hand delivered to the children. Each costs 33 cents and are hand-sewn here in Thailand. Please make a donation and share this to your network! If you donate $20, you will receive a doll too!

As a small child in my Lisu village in Northern Thailand, I was very, very attached to my doll (picture below). She followed me to New York City and later to Los Angeles, where my family lived for a number of years. I still have her and plan to take her to college with me next year!

Now that I’m back in Thailand finishing high school, I want to help give a little of the comfort of my own doll to others who have nothing. A family friend who does amazing work for displaced people has been taking my handmade dolls to children he helps in Burma (Myanmar) and Kurdistan. In Burma, ethnic minorities (not unlike my own Lisu people) have been living for decades in border areas, always on the run from the Burma army and in danger of forced labor and ethnic cleansing. In the picture below, a baby is given medical treatment by the Free Burma Rangers.


I cannot imagine the daily horrors these people are forced through. I cannot imagine being coercively separated from my family and home. I cannot imagine being so hungry that the pain is unbearable. I cannot imagine being make to watch as my family is killed. I cannot imagine. . . the list goes on. It’s overwhelming. It’s easy to feel there is nothing I can do to help.

But what I can provide is some form of comfort. Something to hold. Something to squeeze. Something to soak tears of saness or worry into. Something to love, Something to confide in. Something to be constant when everything else is uncertain. In the picture below, a girl in Syria, receives one of my dolls :)

My own village in Northern Thailand is known for their beautiful handicrafts, and I was lucky enough to inherit some of that ability and passion for making things by hand. That, and the love of my doll, has inspired me to do what I can to help now, rather than ‘some day’ when I have a career.

Thank you for your interest, and please follow me on Facebook at HeartfeltDolls and Instagram at heartfelt_dolls for updates and photos of the dolls with their future humans!


With my heartfelt thanks,

Mimiw Seagrave
Chiangmai, Thailand

Organizer and beneficiary

Tinker Seafun
Organizer
Saint Louis, MO
Sean Seagrave
Beneficiary

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