After a year of hard work from countless children, families, and organizations, the Uthando dolls are on their way to bring joy to the children of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa.  

Over 100 dolls were created by children and families from Waters Elementary School, Oakwood Shores after school program, City Year, and other members of the community who spent hours lovingly making dolls to help a child in KwaZulu Natal whose life has been affected by AIDS.

Many thanks to Amy Vechhioni who coordinated many of the doll making sessions; Chicago Arts Parnership in Education which provided funding to Waters to host the project; teaching artist Patricia Okulinski-Reyes, parent volunteer Naomi Fothergill, teachers Amy Vecchioni and Nancy Beza, and the Waters Parent Ensemble who were instrumental in the Waters dollmaking sessions; the volunteers from City Year who coordinated a community doll making session at Waters; Pam Chermansky who hosted a community doll making session at her house; and Rachel Faulkner, Miss Jackie, and the other volunteers and helpers at Oakwood Shores. Deepest gratitude goes to the Ted Oppenheimer Family Foundation for providing funding to Amy Vecchioni to ship the dolls to South Africa. And, thank you to the Uthando Project in Perth, Australia, for conceiving of this wonderful project and allowing us to become a part of it.