Doll of Tsunami saving lives | Fusion - WeRIndia

In 2004, a violent tsunami hit many regions of the world leaving many people’s lives shattered. Out of this tragic situation was born the doll tsunamika a little doll which helped many women to make a decent living for themselves. This doll turned 10 years on January 10th. In the present day, there are over 6 million tsunamika dolls in the world. The dolls can be found in many diverse places across 80 countries. These dolls cannot be bought but they can only be gifted.

This idea for this doll came to Uma Prajapati, a Pondicherry based designer. She got this idea while working with children affected by the calamity. She taught doll making to these children which later got the attention of the mothers. The doll making worked as a great way for trauma counselling. However, the need for creating a livelihood for these women was imminent.

Prajapati, and her team at Upasan (a textile design studio she found) decided to pay the women for each doll they make even though they were not sure what to do with the doll. 600 fisherwomen were taught how to make this doll. The dolls were given away to those who visited Upasana studios. Some people suggested that she sell the dolls and others donated for those cause. However, instead of selling those dolls she gave them away around the world as gifts. People who were interested could make donations to the cause.

Even though this decision seems like a leap of faith to several people, her idea worked and many people donated to the cause helping the lives of those fisherwomen.