Our mission at One Doll is to educate, inspire and connect people. And hopefully spread some love and smiles in the process. That is why several times a year we travel to far flung countries, taking rag dolls to children in orphanages and schools around the world.

 

Friends have said that through our doll parties, our journeys and our website we have educated them and their children about other cultures and we have inspired them to find their own way to give back.

 

Most people are looking for a way to make a difference in the world and in their own children’s lives. Decorating the dolls gives them a few hours to contemplate their own compassion and how to channel it into something meaningful to them. Certainly the people embellishing the rag dolls get as much out of the dolls and the experience as the children receiving them.  Listening to each other's stories during the gathering inspires people to find their own way to make a difference. Making a rag doll or two with their own kids is educating and bonding.

 

We’ve never had to look far for help decorating the dolls. People everywhere enjoy using their creativity and reaching out to others.  The love is most tangible as the dolls start to come alive. The faces are painted, sewn and drawn on, and they quietly take on personalities as the artists get attached to them. If you love something set it free….right? Once the dolls are loved it’s time to turn them loose!

 

We don’t plan what to do with the dolls before arriving at our destination. We just show up and hope for the best. It’s amazing how finding homes for the dolls becomes a mission of the people we meet. The tuk-tuk driver in Cambodia, the shop owner in Bolivia, the hotel manager in Iran, the missionaries in Zambia... They have all guided us in the right direction. Most of the children are poor - some orphans, some handicapped - but all of them are showing up for life each day and doing the best they can. It is the most humbling and heart-warming experience to show them someone cares and to give them a rag doll decorated with love.

 

And when listening to the squeals of delight when handing out the dolls, I know we have made a connection!