Large Doll

Burma, once a British colony administered as a province of India, gained independence from the Commonwealth in 1948. Currently, Burma is governed by an extremely oppressive military junta, the State Peace and Development Council (SPDC). Despite multiparty legislative elections in 1990 that resulted in the main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), winning a landslide victory, the ruling junta refused to hand over power. NLD leader and Nobel Peace Prize recipient Aung San Suu Kyi, who was under house arrest from 1989 to 1995 and again from 2000 to 2002, has been imprisoned since 2003, where she remains virtually incommunicado. Her supporters, as well as all those who promote democracy and improved human rights, are routinely harassed or jailed.

Ethnic-based armed resistance groups have been seeking autonomy by fighting the regime for the past 50 years. Since the 1970s, the SPDC's official policy concerning these rebel groups has been based on the notion that the best way to destroy these groups is to destroy the ability of the civilian population to support them. This approach has resulted in the Four Cuts policy, intended to deprive opposition groups of food, funds, recruits and intelligence. The military uses mass relocation in areas where it believes the opposition may operate. Entire villages are burned and shelled, and their inhabitants driven into forced labor in Army-controlled sites. Many people flee across the border when the threat of a forced relocation seems imminent.

The Karen people are targeted by the Army and at least 120,000 Karen people are now registered at refugee camps on the border of Thailand. Many more are not officially registered. Global Sistergoods partners with NGOs working with these refugees.

Female life expectancy at birth: 64.03 years
Total fertility rate: 1.98 children born/woman
Infant mortality rate: 61.85 deaths/1,000 live births
HIV/AIDS adult prevalence: 1.2% (2003 estimate)
Literacy: Male 89.2%; Female 81.4%
Per capita income: $1,700, 25% below poverty line

• Available in boy or girl
• Wearing traditional Karen clothing
• Approximate height of 27"

$40.00 USD

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We partner with an organization on the Thai border that works directly with Burmese refugees, largely from the Karen ethnic group. They provide culturally-appropriate health education concerning reproductive health, family planning, nutrition, HIV/AIDS education and violence against women. They also provide assistance to nursery schools in the refugee camp though teacher training, supplementary feeding programs, parent education and special early childhood development programs for children with special needs. Their income generation project provides thread and a pattern to Karen women who are then able to work from home so that they are able to care for their families while earning an income.

Our Karen dolls are quite special in that for every two dolls sold, a doll is given to child in one of the refugee camps. Our naturally dyed bags are of utilitarian design: in Burma, the Karen people use such bags to gather yams.