Dollie maker takes dollies & teddys to hometown in Guatemala

In early November, dollie maker Aura “Christina” Hidalgo took 5 dollies and 5 colorful teddy bears to Guatemala while visiting her family.  When she was discussing with her sister Imelda of possible places in Guatemala City to distribute them, Imelda suggested “Why not take them to the village where we grew up?”   

A few days later Christina journeyed the hour drive by car to Espitia, a small rural village on the outskirts of Guatemala City.  In Espitia, her brother and uncle own a coffee plantation, and seeing as it was the harvest season, there were many native Indian migrant workers who had come down from the mountains as far away as a 12 hour bus ride to work the fields.  Whole families come, and even the small children work long days in the fields during this 2-3 month harvest season.

On the evening Christina arrived, her niece Lucy took her over to a house where a few of the families were staying, and together they handed out the dollies & teddys to the children.  Christina said there was such a commotion of joy, that suddenly other children from other houses came running over.  How she wished that she had brought many more dollies with her!!!

One of the mothers said to Christina, “Are you really giving these dollies away for free?  Who does that?”   The next day Christina saw the children playing with the dollies & teddys, wrapping them over and over in the small crocheted blankets.