This must be sent “to surgery” and “we are going to sew it up here”, says Judith, volunteer at the Venezuelan Soft Toy Hospital which, since 2017, has repaired and delivered to schools and associations in poor neighborhoods more than 30 000 recycled toys.
Located in the house of its founder Lilian Gluck, a 63-year-old teacher, the Stuffed Animal Hospital receives hundreds of toys each week to be repaired that must first be sorted: Barbie, animals, Mickey or baby toys.
“The Stuffed Animal Hospital works like a hospital, patients come in from the street,” says Gluck.
“Patients are sewn, washed, repaired, if they are missing eyes we give them some, their hair is combed, we put a beautiful ribbon and a card with a very beautiful message so that they take care of them and give them away as a gift to other children when they grow up”.
In one room, more than 300 stuffed animals are waiting to be sewn up. And in the room that serves as a workshop, the volunteers share the tasks.
There are those who clean the toys and sew them carefully, while others apply themselves to painting damaged dolls.
And there are the seamstresses who make the little costumes, one of Judith’s favorite tasks.
The 90-year-old great-grandmother marvels at the recognition in the children’s eyes: “I love seeing them when we arrive and they know they are going to get a toy. You cannot imagine the eyes they have, it is an immense pleasure”.
Each soft toy that will be offered is carefully packaged. Every detail counts, insists Lilian Gluck, convinced that “giving back dignity” to children means giving them toys in good condition, carefully packaged.
“Right to Play”
In a country where more than 76% of the population has to face extreme poverty, according to a study by the private Catholic University Andres Bello (UCAB), Ms. Gluck defends herself from focusing her energy on the sole distribution of toys.
“We accompany a lot of people who offer food, but we can’t stop there (…) Our children obviously have to eat, but playing and laughing are also part of their basic needs,” she says.
A point of view shared by pediatrician Maria José Rodriguez, a volunteer with the association since patients at her clinic have received donations from the Soft Toy Hospital.
“You will not get a child out of malnutrition with a stuffed animal, but playing is a basic need, children must have this right”, underlines this 47-year-old doctor.
At a primary school in Petare, the country’s largest favela, 10-year-old Elias has just been offered a toy with a bag, a box of pencils and sweets: “I don’t care if it’s recycled, as long that we can use it to play with”, he exclaims with joy.
The accompanying message reads: “Hello, I’m your new comforter, I’m experienced, because I’ve played with another child before, love me and take care of me. And when you grow up, you will offer me to another child who will love me like you”.
The director of the school, Mariligia Moreno, believes that it is “sentimental”, “emotional” food for children bruised by the absence shown by some parents.
“A stuffed animal is not going to compensate for that, but it is a way to help them express themselves, to take care of them, to give the love that maybe at the moment they have no one to who to give”.
