Cape Town - Her name is MissDela and she has soft curly black hair. She is beautifully dressed in a colourful summer frock, and is a doll like no other.
At 10 years old, she is wise beyond her years. She has learned the importance of living by a few key principles, the three Rs taught to her by her makhulu (grandma) – “Respect for self”, “Respect for others” and “Respect for the environment”.
MissDela believes that if every young girl and boy learned and lived by the three Rs the world would be a better place.
What makes her even more special is that she is named after former president Nelson Mandela and is the only doll in South Africa who sings the traditional lullaby Thula thul’, thula baba, a comforting song sung to babies just before bedtime.
MissDela was “born” in 1994, a momentous year for South Africa with the country’s first democratic elections.
“Her birth coincided with the big elections. There was no ethnic black doll in the market at the time and I felt that it was a terrible loss,” says MissDela’s creator Judith Oosthuizen.
Over the years MissDela has gone through quite a transformation. In the beginning she had short ethnic hair with red ribbons. She has since grown her hair so that children can play and style it in different ways, explains Oosthuizen.
“She is robust, soft to the touch and flexible. Two-year-olds can play with her and she won’t come apart.
“I want this doll to be a mascot for children, especially at schools, because that is where the groundwork for good values take place.
“MissDela sings the Thula thul’ lullaby because it’s a well known traditional song that is loved by many,” says Oosthuizen.
She also comes with a special story told by celebrated South African writer Sindiwe Magona, who has published internationally acclaimed works such as Beauty’s Gift and Living, Loving, and Lying Awake at Night.
Magona says MissDela is a “warrior” girl who believes in standing up for what is right, a hard worker who obeys her elders, always tell the truth and loves reading and listening to her makhulu’s stories.
“MissDela is here to speak truth to the people. To remind all us Africans who we are, who we have been and also put a little bit of a reminder of who we could become. The steadfast values of honesty, respect and responsibility she is teaching run throughout the continent.
“She is old enough to be able to say the things her grandmother tells her. Things like it’s better to share. Values that one wishes to instil in young minds,” says Magona.
Even though MissDela’s parents work in the Big City, she is loved and cared for by her makhulu – a typical South African scenario – in a small village where everyone shares the responsibility to love and care for each other.
“Back in the days, villagers took their life as a community seriously. Discipline was swift for all children from all grown-ups. We should remind ourselves that we had these traditions and make the education of all children in South Africa a national concern. MissDela is also here to remind us that we have these traditions,” says Magona.
“We are forgetting little things that are essential in building a great nation. This doll is here to teach young girls and boys to love and respect themselves and not to violate the environment – this is the only Earth we have,” she adds.
MissDela costs R650 and is distributed throughout South Africa.
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Cape Argus