One B.C. mom is giving popular Bratz dolls a makeover to help Syrian refugee children feel more at home when they arrive in Canada.
Selina Prevost has been wiping the makeup from the dolls and swapping their usual outfits for hand-stitched dresses that look similar to those commonly worn by Syrian women.
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She's also been sewing new clothes for teddy bears, with Canadian flag patches and "Welcome to Canada" tags stitched on them. The greeting is written in both English and Arabic.
Prevost, who has a five-year-old son and a seven-year-old daughter, said she thinks a doll or a teddy would be a perfect welcome gift for the children arriving in B.C. by the end of February 2016.
"I've been seeing pictures of refugees just like everyone else," she told The Huffington Post B.C. on Wednesday. "It looks like these families have the clothes on their backs and that's it... They've got nothing."
"When something like [a refugee crisis] happens, and these people are coming to your own hometown, you realize it's not something that's a world away," the Coquitlam mom continued. "And you have to think, when you look back on it, what am I going to tell my kids I did to help?"
Slide the arrow left and right to see the dolls before and after Prevost's makeover.
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Prevost explained that a series of images by photographer Magnus Wennman, called "Where The Children Sleep," got her thinking about how she could help incoming families.
The Syrian refugee children captured in Wennman's photos sleeping in makeshift camps and on the ground outdoors said they're afraid to sleep at night because of the violence they had seen during the civil war.
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A photo of two-year-old Fara, included in photographer Magnus Wennman's "Where The Children Sleep" series. (Photo: Magnus Wennman)
"There was one story where one of the little children said they were afraid of their pillow," Prevost recalled. "And I thought, they'll be coming here to a brand new place, and they'll still be scared. So to have someone give them something that's familiar to them, I think that that would make a huge difference to help them feel safe."
"I thought, oh, that's it. That's my thing," Prevost said.
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A few of the Bratz dolls that have been made over. (Photo: Selina Prevost)
So far, the mom said she's re-done about 40 dolls and bears. With the help of friends who've joined in on the project, she hopes to have 100 of each finished by Christmas.
Prevost said she's been working with the Immigrant Services Society of B.C. and local volunteer groups on how the toys will be distributed.
"I'd love to be there when they get to a shelter, or show up once they land at the airport," Prevost said. "Just something for them to hold as soon as possible."
Canada's Response To Syria Refugee Crisis Since 2011
2011(01 of16)
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In 2011, internal conflict erupted in Syria that would later escalate into a full-blown civil war that rages on to this day, now complicated by the arrival of Islamic militants from neighbouring Iraq.Since the start, the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees has called on countries to help resettle some of the most vulnerable Syrians who can never return home, a call that grew louder as the crisis has escalated.Here's a look at how Canada responded over time.(Information by The Canadian Press)Syrians hold a large poster depicting Syria's President Bashar Assad during a rally in Damascus, Syria in 2011. (credit:Muzaffar Salman/AP)
2012(02 of16)
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- Canada closes its embassy in Damascus, a move that would come to have major repercussions for refugee resettlement out of the Middle East as that visa post was handling the majority of the files for refugees from other countries who had sought temporary safety in Syria. Those files were then transferred to nearby countries, leaving visa officers scrambling to handle them and the start of a surge in Syrian refugee applications.- By the end of 2012, the UNHCR had registered close to half a million Syrian refugees in neighbouring countries.- Syrian Canadians call on Canada to do more to support the refugees, including speeding up family reunification programs and opening the doors to more refugees, but the government said without an official request from the UN for resettlement, it would not act.Syrian refugee girls wash their clothes at a camp in Idlib, Syria, in October of 2015. (credit:Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
March 2013(03 of16)
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The number of people registered as refugees from Syria or being assisted by the UN hits one million.A Syrian refugee boy at a camp in Turkey in October 2015. (credit:Fatih Aktas/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images)
June 2013(04 of16)
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The UN makes its first formal request to member countries to assist in refugee resettlement, asking for 30,000 spaces by the end of 2014.Syrian Kurdish refugees walk in the United Nations Refugee Agency refugee camp in Suruc, Sanliurfa province, in January 2015. (credit:Buulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
July 2013(05 of16)
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The Harper Conservatives promise to admit 1,300 Syrian refugees by the end of 2014, with the majority sponsored by private groups. The 200 spots available to government-assisted refugees are not new refugee spaces — the Conservatives choose to allocate the 200 they set aside each year for the Syrian program.Stephen Harper speaks in the House of Commons. (credit:Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
January 2014(06 of16)
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Prime Minister Stephen Harper visits a refugee camp in Jordan, one of the main host countries for Syrians. He announces $150 million in humanitarian aid; over the course of the conflict Canada has been one of the lead financial donors for relief efforts in the Middle East and North Africa. By this point, some $630 million has been committed.Stephen Harper and wife Laureen Harper visit Za'atri Refugee Camp in Jordan in January 2014. (credit:Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
February 2014(07 of16)
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The UN High Commissioner makes a new request: an additional 100,000 places for Syrian refugees by 2016. Canada says it is reviewing its options.Antonio Guterres, UN High Commissioner for Refugees, speaks during a press conference in Geneva, Switzerland in October 2015. (credit:Jean-Christophe Bott/Keystone/AP)
March 2014(08 of16)
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Conservative Immigration Minister Chris Alexander admits that fewer than 200 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada since the July 2013 promise, saying the UNHCR was slow passing on referrals.Chris Alexander speaks in the House of Commons. (credit:Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
December 2014(09 of16)
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By the end of the month, just over 1,000 Syrian refugees have arrived in Canada, meaning the government missed its deadline.A Syrian Kurdish refugee walks in a UNHCR refugee camp in Suruc in January 2015. (credit:Bulent Kilic/AFP/Getty Images)
January 2015(10 of16)
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The Conservative government commits to allowing 10,000 more Syrian refugees in by 2018, most through the private sponsorship program. The focus is to be on religious minorities.Syrian refugee girls sit at the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) 'Child Friendly Spaces' in the Zaatari refugee camp, near the Jordanian border with Syria in 2014. (credit:Khalil Mazraawi/Getty Images)
March 2015(11 of16)
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The government finally meets its July 2013 promise to resettle 1,300 people, achieving it by increasing the number of government-assisted refugees.Stephen Harper gives the thumbs up during a photo opportunity. (credit:Jonathan Hayward/The Canadian Press)
June 2015(12 of16)
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The Conservatives order an audit of the government-assisted refugees coming out of Syria, citing security concerns. The review identifies no problems but delays the processing of those files for several weeks.Chris Alexander speaks at a press conference in Toronto in September, 2015. (credit:Aaron Vincent Elkaim/The Canadian Press)
August 2015(13 of16)
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The Conservatives pledge that if re-elected, they will allow a further 10,000 Syrians in over the next four years, continuing a focus on those being persecuted because of religion.Stephen Harper takes questions from the media on the campaign trail. (credit:Adrian Wyld/The Canadian Press)
September 2015(14 of16)
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- Three-year-old Alan Kurdi dies during his family's escape from Syria. The photograph of his body on a Turkish beach and word his family had considered Canada as an eventual destination sees Canada's refugee response become a dominant issue in the election campaign.- The Conservatives increase available resources for the processing of refugee applications, promise to speed up resettlement of the 10,000 originally promised places and announce they'll match donations for Syrian relief.- The Liberals say they'll bring over 25,000 government-assisted refugees as soon as possible and encourage the private sector to take in more. They later promise to bring them in by the end of the year.A handout photo courtesy of Tima Kurdi shows a photo of her three-year-old nephew Alan Kurdi. (credit:Tima Kurdi/The Canadian Press)
October 2015(15 of16)
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The Liberals win a majority government and say they remain committed to refugee resettlement.Justin Trudeau waves to the crowd as they arrive to Liberal election headquarters in Montreal. (credit:Sean Kilpatrick/The Canadian Press)
November 2015(16 of16)
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The Liberal government announces its plan to resettle 25,000 Syrians.Immigration Minister John McCallum holds a news conference with Health Minister Jane Philpott and Defence Minister Harijit Singh Sajjan. (credit:Fred Chartrand/The Canadian Press)
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