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Dolls, Teddy Bears, and the Littlest Immigrants
Posted on Sep 12 2018
Imagine a five-year-old child, hundreds of miles from home and feeling the stress and fear of their parents as they face a new life in a new country. Perhaps they came from a refugee camp in Thailand or from a mountain village in Guatemala. People in Minnesota look different and sound different. Even the colors and clothing feel strange. But what if there were a doll or a teddy bear, dressed in familiar, traditional clothing from your homeland, waiting to welcome them?
The Immigrant Law Center of Minnesota (ILCM) is pleased to announce our new partnership with “Don’t Cry… I’m Here” (DCIH), a nonprofit organization that provides dolls and teddy bears to children who have recently arrived in the United States. They currently have over 450 members who purchase, sew, and prepare the dolls, teddy bears, clothes, and accessories. When DCIH receives a request for a doll or teddy bear, they research the family’s country of origin for inspiration to create clothing that closely resembles clothing the child would recognize. Each doll/teddy bear is given multiple outfits and accessories, and a “Welcome” card from a child in the U.S.
Four months ago, DCIH connected with us through Lutheran Social Service of Minnesota. We were intrigued by DCIH’s mission and excited to provide dolls and teddy bears to our clients from our offices in Minnesota: Austin, Moorhead, St. Paul, and Worthington.
This past Friday, August 31, DCIH delivered 18 dolls and teddy bears styled for Karen and Guatemalan children to our St. Paul office. These dolls and bears will be distributed to our offices in Worthington, Austin, and Neighborhood House in St. Paul to be kept on hand for families in need. We are currently ordering dolls for a family from Ethiopia, and in the future, we hope to order dolls and/or bears for specific families. Ideally, we will give dolls/teddy bears to at least two families a month.
For more information about “Don’t Cry… I’m Here” visit their website at https://dontcryimhere.org/ or contact them at dontcryimhere@yahoo.com
(Photos by Mari Arneson for ILCM.)