UBUNTU DIOSAS, feminist dolls that rescue girls from ablation.

What is UBUNTU DIOSAS?

UBUNTU DIOSAS is a collection of ecological dolls that connects the power of women around the world to help girls who flee from ablation and empower mothers in poverty.

UBUNTU is an old African philosophy that means: "I am because we are".

DIOSA (goddess in spanish) is the ultimate symbol of female power, a power that is not the domain of some over others, but freedom, the capacity to create and empowering care.

From the union of these two ideas is born UBUNTU DIOSAS, a social enterprise that claims our interdependent nature.

We are not isolated. The violence of women from all parts of the globe has a common base: the patriarchy. Practices such as ablation or child marriage obey the same misogynistic logic that underlies gender violence in the West.

We, who are in a privileged situation, can respond to these problems with indifference, with resignation or with empathy. Everything depends on realizing, or not, of two things. The first: they are not only their problems, they are also ours. The second: we have much more power than we have been led to believe. UBUNTU ... GODDESS.

4 POWERFUL REASONS TO SUPPORT THIS CROWDFUNDING

#1. Prevent 10-year-old girls from undergoing genital mutilation in Abakuria (Kenya)

In December, while in a large part of the world children are looking forward to Christmas celebrations and gifts, in many places in Africa the time of mutilation begins and, with it, horror comes.

Female genital mutilation or ablation is one of the most extreme forms of patriarchal violence that exists. It supposes the partial or total extirpation of the external genitalia of the girls. Of course without anesthesia and carrying tremendous risks and sequels for all the life.

200 million women have already suffered it and 30 million girls are at risk of suffering it in the next decade.

But now let me tell you the good news: more and more girls are seeking help to avoid this terrible tradition and find it in non-profit organizations that work throughout the year in these countries.

This is the case of a small but effective ONL, the Kirira Foundation, which has managed to reduce mutilations by 70% in Tharaka, the Kenyan area in which they have been working for 10 years.

Thanks to our alliance with Kirira, every 50 UBUNTU GODDESSES sold will be used to pay for a rescue trip. 50 dolls = 1 child safe.

How will the rescues be made?

A rescue includes transportation from Abakuria to the Shelter House Estrella Giménez in Tharaka and stay and maintenance there throughout the month of December (only during this month mutilations occur, then the risk disappears completely).

After making this trip in 2020, Kirira Foundation will send us a report of the rescued girls (to which all the people that support crowdfunding can have access).

If you have any questions about the procedure, you can write us at [email protected] or contact to Kirira Foundation: [email protected]

#2.Provide decent income to indigenous mothers in situations of extreme poverty.

With the support of people like you, we can make wayúu mothers from La Guajira (Colombia) obtain decent income with which to feed their children.

It is an honor for us to have these artisans because for the Wayúu people, weaving is an ancestral practice, a way of conceiving and expressing life. Who better than them to become weavers of Goddesses?

However, and despite being expert knitters, these women receive a meager reward for their work and a lack of social recognition. They are the last of the chain. Therefore these dolls will be woven under Fair Trade conditions guaranteed by the Fundación Talento Colectivo.

Thanks to our alliance with this local foundation, the UBUNTU DIOSAS project will provide these artisans, not only much higher income than they obtain in a conventional trade scenario but also: training and professional qualification to help them to leave the circle of poverty, transportation to the workshop and nutritious food ** every working day (6 hours) and a **space for dialogue and personal and community empowerment.

#3. Empower girls in a world that wants them submissive and vulnerable.

Do you know what message the world continues to send to girls today? You are vulnerable. (conclusion of the study *It Begins at 10: How Gender Expectations Shape Early Adolescence Around the World

Through limited social stereotypes, women are taught to behave passively and that makes us vulnerable to future aggression. It is what we might call "learned gender helplessness". The good news is that empowerment in childhood immunizes against adult helplessness.

For this reason, we have rescued these ancient archetypes of feminine power. The collection starts with 4 dolls: Kali or life force, Lilith or freedom, Yemayá or creativity and Thea or empowered motherhood.

In the web that we will build thanks to the contributions received in this crowdfunding, we will offer free information in English and Spanish about the history and message of each goddess, so that you can understand and deepen its meaning and also share it with your little one.

#4. Take care of the Earth, our only home.

We have made a great effort to make our dolls with natural and biodegradable materials

For the exterior, we use soft and rich 100% organic cotton thread (we do not use conventional cotton, much cheaper, because it has a high negative impact on the nature and life of millions of people and we think it's worth it that these goddesses are free of suffering and toxic).

For the interior, nothing of the usual cheap Polyester (not renewable or biodegradable) but spongy organic wool, not bleached or dyed, only washed with an agent approved by Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS).

In short: a UBUNTU GODDESS doll is not just a beautiful crochet doll. It is a symbol of hope, commitment and hope for the creation of a new world, where the care (of the environment, of the people, of the most vulnerable ...) occupy the priority place they deserve.

AND NOW: CHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE DOLL!

Kali is the Hindu mother goddess in her destructive facet. Carrier of a complex and powerful symbolism, represents aggressiveness at the service of life. That vital force that allows us to go with determination towards what we want, put limits to protect our integrity and express our needs and emotions.

Playing with Kali empowers against gender violence. This markedly active character breaks with the stereotype of the "good girl" that affects passivity, weakness and complacency.

According to a Jewish legend, before Eve, God created another woman, Lilith, but she, seeing that Adam demanded that she submit, took off her wings and flew away. Yes, Lilith decided to leave Paradise rather than submit and renounce her freedom. Is not it a beautiful myth? Okay, it's not really a goddess, but we could not leave this story behind!

Lilith is natural, wild, sensual, innocent and free. She is all that our corrupt society disapproves of.

And, things do not change as fast as we would like: the Observatories against domestic and gender violence speaks of relationships of affection between adolescents "based on control", whether mobile, family environment and social relations , and of the absolute permissiveness of minors.

Lilith legitimizes girls to fly away when their freedom and dignity is questioned.

Yemayá is the Afro-Caribbean mother goddess. In UBUNTU DIOSAS is a symbol of resistance against an educational system that crushes diversity, inhibits the imagination and penalizes originality.

Playing with Yemayá is allowing girls and boys to be what they already are.

Yemayá is a symbol of confidence in one's creativity and the development of one's own talents.

Thea doll (Goddess, in Greek) is inspired by an ancient figure present in all cultures of the world: the Great Mother.

Playing with Thea is empowering against Obstetric Violence, because she teaches that women have authority over their bodies, their babies and their experiences of gestation and childbirth. It is a symbol of empowered motherhood. Our daughters will give birth as goddesses ;-)

Are the UBUNTU GODS just for girls?

Do not! We have taught dolls to girls and boys alike and everyone loves to play with them :-) That these dolls are based on female archetypes and on a feminine conception of power does not limit their use to girls. That could be the first mistake, do not you think?

THE REWARDS

To our goddesses you already know them :-)

In addition, we wanted to offer cheaper rewards so that whoever wants to support this project and its values can do so. We need you!

• Sponsors: for only 10 eur you will be a patron of the project and your name will appear on our website.

• T-shirt “Cada día más bruja y menos princesa” (Every day more witch and less princess, in spanish) in organic cotton. As Starhawk, a feminist witch, said: claiming the word witch is claiming our right to, as women, be powerful. We are almost 100 witches who have it! We are a Spanish movement but we want to enchant the world!

• Vulva crochet, woven in organic cotton. You can choose a keychain format or an original bookmark format.

About us

In front of the project I am Ada Galán, graduated in Philosophy and mother. But UBUNTU DIOSAS would not be possible without the collaboration of Sandra Espinosa, Social Educator addicted to crochet, who has given life to these dolls that were only in my imagination. Our intention is to continue giving life to other goddesses together. Next goal: Hecate!

In addition, thanks to the work of ** Patry Lara ** you can see the dolls in the photographs and video that accompany this crowdfunding.

To what we will destine your contributions

Once the donation to Kirira has been deducted, the cost of manufacturing the rewards, shipping costs, taxes and commissions of Verkami and Paypal, we will use the remaining money to create a website for the project from which to start operating.

The achievement of this first and humble objective implies the achievement of our social goals: the first rescue in Abakuria and 2 months of work for our artisans.

And from here: as far as you want to take us :-)

Scheduled calendar

Once the campaign is over, we will get to work immediately, we will buy the necessary materials and start the Colombia workshop. However, we need time to do things well and ensure the welfare of all the people involved in this project. The dolls will start arriving in May 2019. But it is now, at this exact moment, when we need your help and your confidence to start the project!

The t-shirt and the keychain / bookmark vulvas will be sent starting in February and the webinar will be carried out in the spring.

A hug and ... Ubuntu, Goddess!

+ Info

• You can follow us on the facebook page of the project.

• To learn more about Ada Galán, CEO of the project, you can read his blog in Spanish.

• To know the work of Sandra Espinosa and her SannSann Crochet brand, visit her Instagram.

The alliances that make our social purpose possible: