music box melody
I got you a very special gift. Yeah? Yeah, I can't wait for you to open it. Hi, Stace. - Hi. You just asked me to go to your mailbox. And there was something in there for you. I see you looking at it patiently... Oh, my gosh! -... with your dad.
paper rustling
What happens when you say "yes," when the stars align? You decide I am going to use my skill set. The opportunity is there. I think that amazing things happen. Oh my gosh.
onlooker joyfully chuckles
Onlooker
Oh my. It's amazing. Look at her feet.
joyfully
Onlooker
Oh my gosh. It's amazing. She made braces. Oh my gosh.
onlooker joyfully chuckles
Onlooker
My name is Amy Jandrisevits, and I am a doll maker. I own the nonprofit 'A Doll Like Me.' 'A Doll Like Me' is a nonprofit organization that provides dolls for kids who don't see themselves on the store shelves. Each doll is handmade and custom-made to how the child looks. So typically, a parent or caregiver will email me. Sometimes it's a doctor or a teacher. So they'll send me a lot of pictures so that I can try and get, as much as possible, an accurate look at how they are. Obviously, it's never perfect because it's a doll. But I try my hardest to be as accurate as I can. I've probably done close to 400 dolls. It typically takes about six hours to make a doll start to finish. I work on one at a time because I think that family deserves the courtesy of my time and my attention.
click, whirr
Onlooker
When I sew for an extended period, I can get in the zone. I can actually think about the child that it's going to go to and kind of imagine what will happen when they get it or how they'll use it. And so, I kind of get lost in that mindset. It's really relaxing. So, even more than this being something that I do for people, it actually is very therapeutic for me to sit and do this. There's something really comforting in being able to hug a doll. When I design the doll, I wanted to make it durable, and I wanted to make it something that could go into a bed with a child, that they could take in a hospital bed or take to surgery or wherever these dolls will go. But they've gone all over the world. They've gone to Israel and Egypt and South Africa. England is very common, Australia, Canada, Germany. They have gone more places than I have, actually.
laughs
mouse click
Onlooker
There's this whole group of kids who are underrepresented. And why is that? Why are we comfortable saying, "You know, you are beautiful. "You're perfect inside and out. "But yet, we're never going to design something that looks like you?" And I think that's probably why 'A Doll Like Me' has been so successful. People realize for the first time somebody is going to take that perfect child that you have and adapt it into a doll. Jay, can I give your baby kisses? I realize that I've been given this opportunity. I honestly don't take it lightly. But it does get very overwhelming. Look!
little girl squeals with joy
Onlooker
And the stories are so remarkable. Yeah! Every doll that you look at has an amazing story. And I look at every story, and I think, "Oh my gosh, everybody should hear about this child."
Woman
What do you think about that doll? She's even just like me. Mmm.
kisses doll
Woman
Every doll represents a person. And I think that it's so validating for a child to be able to look at a doll and see their own face. Other people should look at these kids and say, "It's not the kid with the limb difference. "It's the kid that can do all of things. "And how great is it now that they have a doll that looks like they do?"
laughing softly
Woman
Wow. I feel like we have this obligation to each other. We genuinely are a global community. And I think that we owe it to each other to be good to each other. We all have a place at the table and we all have something that we're good at. And I do feel like it's our obligation to each other to bring that to the table, and share it. It goes to show you, when you say "yes," what can actually happen and how your life can be kind of the vehicle through which change happens.
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