COQUITLAM, B.C. — Selina Prevost’s Coquitlam home has become a workshop. For a few hours each day, she’s busy with paint and a glue gun to make presents for the youngest Syrian refugees.
“I wanted to do something,” says Prevost. “I wanted to be a force for good.”
The mother of two decided to do was make toys for Syrian refugee children who will soon be arriving to live in her hometown; 600 refugees will be making the Vancouver suburb home. It’s not clear when they’ll arrive.
“I want to give them comfort,” she says.
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Prevost took one of her daughter’s Bratz dolls – which was a popular Christmas toy in 2006 – and gave it a makeover.
It was a lesson in culture for her. When she started to make the dolls and saw the refugees starting to arrive in other parts of the country, she realized not all of them wore hijabs.
So she’s modified the headdress so it can be taken off and made into a shawl.
So far, she’s repurposed 50 dolls with the hopes of making another 50.
Each doll comes with shoes stamped with the maple leaf and a tag that says “Welcome to Canada,” in English and Arabic.
“It’s important that we show you’re welcome,” says Prevost.
The boys will receive teddy bears outfitted in a homemade vest and a Canadian flag.
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Prevost tries to spend a few hours on the dolls and teddies each day, in between running a cleaning business and raising her children.
When the kids come home from school, they like to help out, and Prevost’s close friends join in on weekends. Strangers have also come forward with fabric and buttons for the outfits.
“We like that we are repurposing these toys with new clothes and a new home,” she says.
She wants to make sure there are enough to go around so Canadians can drop off their gently used toys and dolls at the office of Coquitlam’s mayor.
“If you want to be truly Canadian,” says Prevost, “you have to do something even if its small.”
She believes it’s a small gesture, but it comes from a big heart.
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