Have you heard of Catherine Bolt? She’s an amazing Aussie with a huge heart and willingness to help others. She’s mum to 9; a humanitarian; conservationist; Patron for Cate’s Cause, which is an appeal against homelessness; AND is also the Founder of Project 18.

Project 18 works to raise funds for humanitarian and conservation projects, the first of which is an orphanage in Bali, Indonesia.

Project18 not only seeks to improve the quality of life for orphaned and underprivileged children – it also seeks to teach them the importance of conservation and sustainable living. The orphanage is in its infancy and currently cares for 9 children.

Thanks to twitter, Cate and I ended up having a chat about how she is seeking dolls for the orphanage for Christmas – but not the kind that line the shelves in a department store. Cate couldn’t find any dolls that she felt the children could truly relate to or that defined beauty as anything other than a very Caucasian-centric standard.

So here’s an opportunity to create something with love, and put a smile on the face and on the heart of an Indonesian child this Christmas. The Project 18 orphanage is in need of 9 handmade dolls. There are no specific requirements, EXCEPT that the dolls should be female and they should be made to reflect the Indonesian people in appearance, so hair colour and skin colour should be of darker tones and it would fantastic if the dolls could also reflect Balinese influences.

The dolls will need to be sent to me before the 19th of November, which is only 4 weeks away. This is so that they can then be delivered to Cate by the end of November, and Cate can organise for the dolls to be sent to the orphanage before Christmas.

So how can you help?

I’m looking for 8 people to sign-up by leaving a comment on this post, who can commit to making just ONE doll each and who can commit to getting their doll to me by the 19th of November. I will contact these wonderful people via email with the details on where to send the completed doll, plus links to free doll patterns and resources.

If you are able to help in this way, please do sign up! Your time, skill, effort and love will be sincerely and deeply appreciated by Cate, Project 18, and most importantly, by an Indonesian child who will be constantly reminded by your doll that she is loved.