by Marie Kauna – EMTV Online, Port Moresby
Homelessness is a global struggle that exits on a large scale, both in rich and poor countries.
According to estimates, 100 million people worldwide are literally homeless.
Amongst many contributing causes, economic and political disregard for the human rights of the poor is one that contributes to homelessness experienced globally.
With hope to helping small girls her age, nine year old Gianni Graham of Norfolk in Virginia, USA, has started a Barbie Doll collection mission, to collect dolls to donate to homeless girls her age.
The inspiration came during a play session with her dolls, when Gianni thought to develop a project “1K Barbies for 1K Girls” to help young girls her age who are homeless.
The inspiration drove Gianni, who started collecting Barbie dolls. In her mission, she has collected more than 700 Barbie dolls that has now fill her room.
Gianni has started wrapping the Barbie dolls in pink papers with written encouragement notes saying ‘I hope this brings you joy’ and ‘this is given to you as a friend’.
Once she reaches the set number of 1,000, Gianni plans to get in touch with the local shelters and social services to figure out the best way to distribute the dolls to girls in their needed area.
