A new home for Pepe
Caitlin created a little room out of a card box in her art class today. It was a mouse house. She first drafted the room as a drawing in a piece of paper. She drew the bed, the lamp, the windows and the colors of the wall papers. It was a cozy little studio for a mouse. And then she made her mouse and named her Katie.
After three days of art class finally everything was ready, the little mouse house and the mouse herself. During art class break, her god mother Melissa Sunjaya gave her a doll named Pepe. Pepe is a little cotton doll in a shape of a tooth. Why a tooth? Because it brings good luck. However, Pepe is more than just a good luck charm. Pepe is a guardian angel. Pepe is a story of love, a connection between human beings. Pepe is a little love bundle in a shape of a tooth.
Melissa created Pepe to help a small non-profit group in Jakarta called Kampus Diakonia Modern/ The Campus of Modern Diakonia (“KDM”). This non-profit group has been rescuing children of the streets in Jakarta since 1972. Some of the kids are orphans, some run away from home, many are victims of child abuse and exploitation. Pepe costs Rp98,000.- (about $10). This amount helps provides proper meals for five days, a week of school education, a set of learning materials for six months and ten visits to local healthcare centers. Melissa conducted art workshops for a group of children at KDM, taught them how to create
the doll, provide them all the materials they need. Her little beautiful boutique in Dharmawangsa Square in South Jakarta, Tulisan, then sell the final product, which is Pepe, to raise money for KDM.
When you see the little doll, it really brings a smile to your face. There is something quite unexpected about Melissa’s design: it transforms emotions. She creates from a deep place where happiness and imagination live side by side. Everything Melissa created seems to be vibrating with joy. If you remember what it feels like to laugh a little sillier the way you did when you were little and you didn’t care what people think of you. Pepe has that energy of hope and excitement.
Caitlin fell in love with Pepe. Melissa told her, “Now you are a guardian angel for helping a kid in Jakarta!” Cait went back to her art class and finished her mouse house. When she came out from the studio where she worked, Cait brought me the house, with Katie and a roommate in it. Pepe found a home in Los Angeles. “I am sorry I don’t have a bed for you yet Pepe, I will make you a nice big bed next to Katie’s. You will never be alone again little doll.” And with that the little girl kissed and help Pepe tight.
with lots of love,
Lolo
PS: Pepe double duty as a cute accessory for your purse. I hung mine on my tote bag. Cait hung hers on her tote bag during the day, and put Pepe to bed in its little room every night. The two are inseparable.