‘Real women heroes’ dolls to inspire young girls

Some 50 women are making dolls of the "real women heroes," such as a Hittite queen and a Turkish astrophysicist, as part of a project which aims at both generating money to fund to help girls with their education and inspire them.

"We want girls to get their inspiration not from dolls with "plastic" messages but from the stories of women who really lived and succeeded in Anatolia," said Renan Tan Tavukçuoğlu from the initiative, adding that this social venture also provides employment for women.

The Hittite Queen Puduhepa, who lived some 3,300 years ago, is coming back to life in the form of a rag doll. Queen Puduhepa was the wife of Hattusili III, who sealed the first ever recorded peace agreement, also known as the Treaty of Kadesh.

The clothes of the queen are designed by the renowned stylist Arzu Kaprol.

Kaprol came up with a double-sided robe for the doll, Tavukçuoğlu said.

"Her thinking was: Puhuhepa lived 3,000 years ago. Ok. But if she lived today, she would sure wear jeans. The outside of the robe is made of denim, but the inside is made of a fabric, known as "kutnu," unique to the Gaziantep region," Tavukçuoğlu explained.

"With this initiative we claim our intangible cultural heritage and at the same time create jobs for women. We channel the revenues from those dolls to support girls' schooling expenses, creating social benefit in the short term," Tavukçuoğlu said.

Those dolls can help girls grow self-confidence and strong personalities, Tavukçuoğlu added.

The funds generated by the initiative is used for girls' education through a foundation, Tüvana Okuma İstekli Çocuk Eğitim Vakfı, which supports girls who cannot go to school because of financial problems.

The second rag doll created...