Collecting Barbie in Africa and Project Namibia

This transcript was generated from the episode captions and lightly edited for readability. Names and product terms may occasionally be imperfect. Quoted dollar amounts retain the wording of the interview; the currency is not always specified.

0:00Hello, dolls and accessories. I'm your host, Kelly, and this is Barbie Talk. Barbie Talk with Kelly in Pink. Today, I'm joined by Natalie, known as Barbie Namibia on Instagram. Her content brings a bold sense of style, fun, and personality to the doll community. Her Instagram is full of fashion, confidence, creativity, and dolls that feel expressive and full of character. She's quite the hashtag hostess throughout the year and is the leader of the Namibia project that gives back to children that are less fortunate. Please welcome Natalie. Hi. Hi, Natalie. Welcome to Barbie Talk. Uh I'm so excited to have you here. We've just got a little extra viewers, so um yeah, I'm just going to remove her. That's fine. That's fine. I like the extra viewer. She's grumpy. She's yeah. She wants to be in the show, too. She wants to be the star.

0:58I've been following you for quite some time, and I just adore not just what you post, but you. You could see right through your content where the type of person that you are. So, not to get too sappy off the hop, but tell everyone a little bit about yourself, where you're from, and how your relationship with Barbie started. My name is Natalie. Oh, we met at Afrikaans because I came a little bit early, so and Afrikaans we call it Natalie. I was born and raised here in Namibia. I stayed a while in South Africa. My grandmother they introduced me to Barbie. Babs, her name was Babs. So, I think deep down she loved Barbie, too, cuz my great-grandmother, her mother, was a collector, too, but of porcelain dolls. When I got one of my Barbies, obviously she wanted Barbies.

1:47So, she had two, which I will show you a bit later. So, my love for Barbie has always been there since the '80s, and my safe place is standing in front of the Barbie aisle and my grandmother patiently standing there with me and just staring at all those beautiful pinkness. I miss that. Yeah. The beautiful Barbie aisles that we don't see anymore. I think back sometimes to the 90s when the Barbie aisle was full, two aisles long. And now it's maybe 6 ft. It's not a lot. So yeah, I know that feeling of standing in like this pink wonderland of just you don't even know where to look. Those were the good old days. Ours ours were always 6 ft. We've only had Toys R Us recently. We got a Toys R Us in the capital. So we've always had independent toy stores. So for us it has always been small. I feel now the world is open, you know, you can just online shopping and all of that. For sure. And I think it's really interesting and I love having guests who are not in North America cuz it's a really great perspective on what the availability and what it was like to be a Barbie lover in a completely different country.

3:02And as much as everything's online, Natalie, I don't know, we kind of lose a little bit of that feeling you had standing there with your grandmother and looking. You know, we're kind of losing a little bit of that. You were speaking about your grandmother and some of the dolls that, you know, you had when you were young. Do you have one of your favorite dolls that you could share? Favorite is a very bad word in the doll room. Yeah, we don't call favorites, but my first one was Ah, loving you. This is unfortunately not the one I had in childhood because there was nothing left of her. I loved her so much. But Giovanni, the angel of our doll world, actually sent me her again when you heard I can remember it so clearly when my grandmother gave me this doll. And she started earlier. I think I was about three, four. I love the red bow in her hair.

3:57Did you add that in or did she have that? That is Giovanni's art. His hair styling skills. Yeah. I'm still trying to get there. And this one was actually my last one when I was a child. That she bought. Oh, Skipper. Yes, cool top Skipper. I was actually physically sick about this doll. She stayed in the capital and at that stage we stayed in a little town in the southern parts of Namibia, Keetmanshoop. It's hot. It's basically just sand and it's hot. On holidays I would go to her and stay with her and my great-grandmother during the holidays and then by the end of the holiday she would bring me back. And in the little town in between the middle of nowhere there was this doll in a grocery store cuz we just stopped. It was just like a pit stop and there was this doll in a box. There wasn't maybe like two others or three I I mean it's a grocery store. There's Exactly. just like five toys. And she was like, "No, no, it's too expensive. I can't I can't do it." Cuz we were actually on our way to Windhoek and I don't know how she She always did it. I don't know how she did it, but she got that doll

5:19back days there weren't couriers or stuff like that. It was just who you know, who's coming, can we get a lift? I don't know how she borrowed, begged my money to buy the doll and Oh, wow. I love hearing memorable stories like that. When you look at a doll and you have Yeah. a memory like that and you can remember where you were, what the weather was like, the sights, the sounds. It's crazy how a doll can do that. Yeah. Yeah. What do you look for when you're deciding to add a doll to your collection? What are you looking for? A doll has to speak to you, right? It has to like touch your soul in some kind of level. It's not about if it is a signature doll or platinum or it has to speak to you deep down inside, I feel. Even if it is a plain line doll. I mean, I was so mad at myself when the Dream Bestie touched my soul. I was like, seriously, that is not my scale. It's got the big heads. It's got Man, but that face doll won with a cowboy hat and uh that one uh just got me there. Cuz I only wanted her because of her Barbie core pinkness. Like the Barbie Extra with a pink latex pink latex

6:43pink latex Sorry. It's okay. I just saw Great Shape Barbie. She went flying. She didn't go flying. Is she good? She's got a soft landing. She's got a soft landing. Good. Good. Okay, good. I've got a section in my doll collection where I like the pink even even though they're new dolls, but it's got like the pink Barbie core theme like that Barbie Extra with the latex dress and Dream Bestie also gave me that. Then there was another Barbie Extra. She had like these long brown hair also with like a Barbie bag, but with a Barbie '80s logo sort of almost like a little see-through clamp.

7:30Okay, she the African-American? Yes. Yes? Okay. So, then I've got all those together in my pink section. Oh, so you have it. You have like a whole Barbie core I mean, cuz that's When you see pink, it's Barbie. There's some beautiful colors, but like pink, it's that pink. What is inspiring you when you build your your content? It's about what's going on in the world, and also feel what is going on in the doll community at this stage. There's so many events. There used to be so many That used to be my thing, joining events. But these days, I don't know if I just don't see them, if I'm not on enough to like notice all all the events that's going on, but I used to join every event. That was like I had a diary. If somebody post this week, next month, in 3 months time, I would go and I still have the diary, but I don't know. I just don't seem to catch it. Yeah, and when you say events, you're talking about the hashtags that you're part of, correct? Hashtags.

8:33You are the host of #lookat my tiny stuff, which is on Wednesdays, and then #friendstobarbie. So, do you have any tiny stuff there that you could show us that you would include in maybe a look at my tiny stuff hashtag event? Can you remember these? I don't. What are those? Magic Diaper Babies. And you would put them in like the fridge or cold water, and their diapers would change to pink or blue. Oh, is this from the '80s? Yes. Oh, and I see they came in blister packs, but here they only came in blind bags. Cuz this little bugger, I was looking for ever.

9:20I kept on I don't know if you can see him there on top, a tiny redhead one, mhm, because he's also got the legs apart. So cute. So, my gran and I would stand there for hours and feel like, "Oh, which one is this? Which one is this?" So, Kind of like the mini brands where we're shaking the ball and we're listening to see what this be inside. So, you know what I like about those? They're Barbie scale. They're They're great. This was my Barbie's babies cuz I didn't have Yeah. That's sweet. I would use that for Barbie's babies, for sure. Yeah. Definitely. Is there any other little mini stuff there that you'd like to share? My 80s stuff. See, baby. I love the little knick-knacks. I love the little things and I know you appreciate those things, too. Actually, Grandma Gets Real. This is how my dollstagram thing started is because my daughter was like, "Oh, can we watch Grandma Gets Real?" And I was like, "Okay, fine. Let's watch Grandma Gets Real." So, she actually introduced me to Grandma Gets Real. And Grandma Gets Real opened up this whole dollstagram universe. She gets real. And And she's actually the one that also, um, I'm very nosy. If you like show a reel in your house, I would be like zooming in,

10:42"What did your house look like? What is this?" So, I just enjoy looking at people's tiny things. So, Yeah. Wow. Yeah, I see a guitar. I see the little pizza greens spindle. 80s. Yeah, this is my childhood. What's left of the tiny things of my childhood. it's a It's like a little sewing machine. That's cute. machine. Yeah. And it winds. Look at that. And then this one, maybe the viewers can say, "Is this bread or steak?" Cuz it's pink. I think it's It looks like a piece of meat. With the lines in it because it's got the lines in it, The little lines, I would think it's a piece of meat. I didn't know in the '80s what this was.

11:37I still don't. Wow. Okay, well, if anybody knows, leave a comment below. I think it's meat. I'd love for people to leave comments and just tell us what they think it is. You also do some collabs in some events. So, you've got Christmas in July, Cowgirl Summer, and you host that with Jin's Doll Life and Miss Lizzie's Dolls. That's in July. Keep out Keep an eye out for that, people who are watching. And then in November, you're part of the Thanksgiving Doll Friends with Beyond Fashion Factory. Yes. With the Friends set up. It actually started the Friends when it was the anniversary. And then Beyond Fashion Factory said, "Let's Let's do something for Thanksgiving." Cuz there's there's 10 Thanksgiving episodes for Friends. And I actually started with a boys diorama to build the boys diorama. And then slowly but surely started, cuz it gets overwhelming making cuz I don't see myself as a crafter. I really don't. I'm a very anxious crafter, and I've got the luck of always having a glue gun that doesn't stop spewing glue. So, I have I got a new one. It's not as bad as it used to be, but you know, so then I get very anxious about making stuff. You know what I've recently learned through um a previous episode with Dawson

12:57Digs Dolls. He's got beautiful dioramas. He doesn't use glue, cuz he says it's messy. So, even I'm learning that there's other methods to I think some things need glue, but his dioramas are stunning, and he says he barely uses any glue. Uh there's different types of of adhesives that he uses. Just something I'm even learning, too, cuz I thought, "How do you not use glue?" I think at times, but yeah, the glue gun is really messy. It's really messy. I'm too impatient. If I do a project, I want it finished now. And then I tried to like pace myself. And say it doesn't need to be finished today. So I want to show you a project that I went the total opposite side and I made something that took me 2 years to finish. It waited for 2 years.

13:47Oh, wow. This looks like a chair. Game of Thrones chair. Thrones. I was just going to say Game of Thrones. It looks like the Game of Thrones chair. It was just Look at all of the Wow. So tell us a little bit about how you made this. Let's show the back. Let's show the back cuz I actually finished the back, too. It's from cereal boxes. Cereal box. Yeah. So it's cardboard. All cardboard. Yes. How did you make the little swords? I cut them. And okay. So So it's funny because you say you're not crafty and then you pull out this thing. No, but this is My Froggy Stuff inspired. Does it matter? She didn't do it. You did it.

14:36You made it. I think a video is like 5 years ago and then mine took 2 years to complete. Can we put a doll in there and see how it looks when they're sitting in it? Oh, let me put my mini-me in there. Sure. Let's see your mini-me. Oh, this was also like a grail. There you Oh, I should have had Maleficent in here. She just looks Look at that. Look at that. You're the queen of the throne. You're the queen of the throne. I love that. That's awesome. Oh, and holding the little doggy. That's beautiful. So you got that off of Froggy Stuff. I have to I have to find that video. Yeah, she's very talented. Very talented. Uh, my friendship with Giovanni started cuz when I first started, you know, you want your stuff to be natural and you want it to be more realistic. So, I spray painted my childhood furniture.

15:35And because I was very impatient, I did not want the paint to dry. Look at this mess. Look at this mess. Oh. I ruined How? How did that happen? I just sprayed too fast. Yeah. Oh, man. And these doors These doors never held cuz it the mechanism where they would They would just like flip in. So, There's probably a way to fix that. Oh, but that's a nice piece. Yeah. That's a really nice piece. And this is from your childhood. This is from my childhood cuz when I first sprayed it like a coppery coppery Yeah, I see like a copper. Yeah, and then I decided, nah, let's See, it's totally messed up. Every time I would change my nail polish or I would take the swab and start removing it. And Giovanni was like, "Listen, it's going to take you for decades."

16:41Cuz then I approached him. I did finish this one. It took me like 6 months. And then I started giving up and I approached him and he was like, "You know what? Just spray everything pink and you will never get it back to the way it was, unfortunately." So, that's actually made me scared to like try other things. Yeah. You know what? Not everything works out. Of course. And I think if you live and you learn. I'm kind of the same. Even with taking a head off a doll, I get nervous popping a head off. So, I'm almost like practicing on maybe some thrifted dolls or a doll that's I'm not as attached to because I have pulled the head off and I broke the neck and I was like, "No." So, you know, we live and we learn and that's the only way that we learn, but I would love to see the diorama behind you. I don't know how we can get to it because that looks professional. This is the whole cast. You've got the whole cast there. I've got the whole bunch there. They're still not perfect. Mike Dawson Digs Dolls gave me this. I think she's the perfect Monica. We just had Mike on the show, too. So, shoutout to to Mike Dawson from Dawson Digs Dolls. Wow. So, she's perfect, but if anybody else has recommendations of what they think might work for Carl, but Where did you get that statue? I made it. Okay, you say you're not crafty and you made it. Come on. Come on. But

18:08that is a weapon, but there's lots of spit, tears, blood, everything involved, so I believe it. Yeah. You incorporate a lot of your faith into your content. Do you find that this is a way to kind of express yourself spiritually? I think the way I feel is that I want to give glory to God in whatever I do. If it's dolls, if it's cleaning my house, it's also how the spirit moves me. Sometimes I feel like I just need to get this across or it's important to and it's just the way I don't want to Bible bash because I know people will get there when they get there and uh I just feel sometimes that it's like something that moves me that the spirit needs to Yeah. Yeah. No, for sure. And I know it's important to you, so that's why I asked and there's people who can relate and there's people who can't and that's okay. They can, you know, move along. And I've made so many other not just you know, doll friends here.

19:06I was going to ask you what has your experience been like within the doll community, but I think you've kind of answered that and you recently did do a live where you got a grail shopping from Giovanni's collection. Tell us a little bit about that. Maybe some people haven't seen your live. Do you want to show a couple of those that you purchased? We have thrift stores, but I mean, obviously, there's no Barbies. I can show you my Barbie that I picked up at a thrift store. She's my weird Barbie. I was so surprised when I got her. I was just I had to have her. I had to buy her because she's always in the splits. Um Who is that doll? That doll is that one in yellow. Yes, it is. It's the same doll. That's Magic Curl Barbie from 1981. Wow.

19:59And you found her thrifting? This was the only rare unicorn that I found thrifting. Cuz then I thought, no, she's the perfect candidate for Monday's makeup covers for Giovanni. And I was like, who is she? And Giovanni was like, it's the Magic Curl Barbie. And I tried my best, people. I tried. So, Giovanni probably thought probably thought, no, this is not So, yeah. Because I can't go to doll shows, the bear community is quite big here to make bears and stuff, but not dolls. So, I reached out to Giovanni, and I was like, listen, are you going to do Sherry's doll show again? Can I maybe get in on that? And he's like, sure. And which ones do you want on your list? And I'm like, well, I've got a very long list, but here's a couple. And so, back and forth, and yes, we've got my childhood dolls back again. So, to give everyone a little background, uh there's quite the time difference between where I am in Toronto, Canada, and where Natalie is. And I woke up to go to the bathroom at about 3:00 something in the morning, and my phone notifies me that Barbie Namibia is live. And I thought, "What's going on? She doesn't go live that often." And

21:19she's opening this grail hall and asked me if I could go back to sleep. I was literally like this in my bed in my bed pure dark and the light I just the light from my phone. And then I'm like, "Oh my goodness." And I'll let you show the dolls, but watching you I could see the love in your eyes. The appreciation, the gratitude was very It's very heartwarming because we don't see ourselves look at a doll, but when I saw you look at that doll, I'm like, "Oh wow, that's how we all look at dolls." And it's the love that's coming through your eye sockets was Anyways. Oh man. I mean these that It's just this It's Oh, I mean these It's funny cuz you're speechless. That's how you were during your live. You were speechless. And even that doll you at one point said, "Oh, she even has her belt." Because a lot of us we lose the pieces. We lose the ring, the shoes, the headpiece. You're picking up on those little details. So anyways, I'll let you talk and and describe. I don't want to Because steal your thunder. I just feel we live in a different world. We say, you know, Barbie is not the same, but we're not the same. You're right, we're not the same. We are not the same.

22:30We want to do stuff quicker and we want to get stuff done, you know, we don't want to take our time. No. Getting a pair of pants on Derek takes me at least 30 minutes. I want to freak out. As a child, I would sit there for ages and just So obviously now the fashion goes into a easier way and a cheaper way, if I can say a cheaper way, but just the easier way to to dress the dolls. And I just feel we need to get back to this. We need to get back to making it count and making it time. We need to change back. Not only the quality and the Yeah, whenever we mention about the quality um is not the same anymore and that then I just feel, you know, but yeah, we are not the same.

23:22I don't want to Oh my god, I was just just like this doll this crystal Barbie. It's like So, you did that in the live, too, which I was going to say. I think that's what it is about us as adult collectors where we hold these dolls and we remember those moments of like sitting there combing her hair, sitting there putting on the pants and that crinkle in that dress. You also said that the crinkly was very nostalgic to you. Ah, and the smell. That '80s plastic. Mine doesn't have her little shoes, but that's okay. And her headband. Mine's missing her headband, too. But I got to get that still. So, I try to piece them together, right? Like I'm missing something, I'm missing this, so try to piece them together. This is one of my first dolls. Do you remember your first Barbie? Yes. My first Barbie was Club California.

24:18Yeah. Or California Dreaming. So, this doll that I was holding in the great shape was actually my sister's. This is not the one. My sister then passed it on to me and I ruined it. Like she went to the gym. She was She had no joints. She was doing all the flexing moves and trying to impress Ken at the gym. I ruined her hair. So, she's somewhere in a bin somewhere. This is one that I actually got from a friend from '80s Barbie Girl. We did a a bit of a doll swap. And I'm like, I want a great shape. There was also a Canadian version where she was in a green outfit. So, I'm trying to still look for that one. And Yeah, Club California and this one were my firsts. Oh, is that Peaches? that's Peaches. I've got my Peaches to look at us with our classic with our classics. Like you know what it is? The eyes, right? It's the eyes. And the It's like her skin looks peach. Her skin looks peach. That's a good point. Her skin does look peach. Beautiful. They just don't make them like they used to. Do you have any dolls that has like a funny or a memorable story attached to it? A funny doll story is actually on my grail list. You know that Cher doll that it's not the Turn Back Time? If I could turn back time and she's like there with the sailors on the boat and she's like half naked. The leather. With the with the leather

25:39and the strip and my grandmother almost fainted. She's like, "Switch off the phone. She's naked." That's so funny. And I'm like, I'm like, "It's so pretty." And my grandma is like, "No, switch off the TV. She's naked." So, that Cher doll, I know it's not the Turn Back Time video. It's a Bob Mackie Cher and Bob Mackie, but it's the box is also like sort of like frosted over the private parts and yeah, so I do have a video if you want to watch that I talk about Cher dolls and I show myself picking her up. We was a Facebook Marketplace pick up. Was that you? Cuz I think that is how I started following you.

26:27Was with that Cher video. did a Cher video and it was like all the Cher dolls cuz I really like the Turn Back Time song. And in your video you showed about the circus one, the blonde version. Very rare. Very rare. Yeah. It was Yes, cuz I did not know about that circus blonde Cher with uh They only made 996. I don't want to say the wrong number, but I think that they only made that much. And I recently saw it on eBay for like $1,500 Canadian. I don't know what that is in your currency, but that's a lot of money. That's a lot of money. If Mattel were to approach you and say, "We want to do a reproduction on an old doll, or maybe even create a new one." And they ask you for your opinion. Yeah, what would you doll, and she should have like a Twyla's Met Gala with a sand sculpted to a body. Can you remember that Met dress? Yes. Where they actually had to pick her up and move It was like Yes, like that. I would love a Namibian doll. They've got the South African queen. They've got Ghana. On that note, I did my own version especially for your show.

27:44Oh, look at that queen. She's dressed in the traditional bamboo cloth. Did you make that? No, I can't take the credit. I Sewing and cooking for me is like on the same level. Now and then I would The next one I sewed, but it's like the chair. I lose interest and then it's like pretty from the front and naked at the back. So, this is a one-of-a-kind. You have a one-of-a-kind doll, Natalie. That's what this is. I made a one-of-a-kind. Yeah. Good for you. I love her. She's beautiful. So, Mattel is Mattel If Mattel is ever watching this in the future, you never know if they're watching. We can do like a whole series cuz there's Nama, Ovambo, Herero, Ovahimba. There's so many different they can actually do a whole series just about Namibian dolls. Wow, see? And you know what? They should hire you. There you go. Ah, Wouldn't that be a dream? Wouldn't that be a dream to Hey, you got to put it out there. Manifesting. You got to put it out there. And the next one. What else do you have there? And here you Oh my god. And here you doll.

29:01Oh, look at the material of that dress. They actually have sometimes up to eight different petticoats underneath to give it sort of a poof. Wow. So, it will See that's What I mean like don't ask me to do anything because nothing's finished at the back. Nobody sees the back. Nobody sees the back. No. She's also looks She's a looks. All that hair and that skin tone is beautiful. The head piece they always measure their wealth on the cow horns. So, the further apart these are, the richer they are because of the size of the horns of the cows that Wow. Mine would be this big.

29:50It'd barely be a hat. Barely. I'm kidding. That's beautiful and I love that fabric and that color, especially on that skin tone. Come on Mattel. Look at this. This is what we have to do. This was my grandmother's Twirly Curls Barbie. She made this one. Yeah, my grandmother would um let's crochet. Yes. Yeah, my grandmother would crochet. She did that. Cuz my great grandmother lived two weeks before her 101st birthday and she crocheted her own curtains and yeah. This is my Twirly Curls. I love the crochet dress, though. Look how sweet that is. That is, right? When I was a child I was like don't want a crochet dress. I want a real Barbie dress.

30:39And now it's a treasure. Yes. Now as an adult, it's different. You appreciate it more, right? Yeah. She lived in a toilet roll. I love the hat. I love the accessories. You can just see the love that was put into it. You can't put a price on these things. They're priceless. Yeah, it's beautiful. I actually have a variation of my mini me. Mattel made two different ones cuz it's the Hippolyta doll from Wonder Woman. So, this is the one and this one came with a horse. Oh. She is different. Yes. And also more muscular. They had the Wonder Woman, too, and very big feet. Oh, look at those boots. Oh, wow. Isn't that just gorgeous? This place it. You wanted to hear another funny story?

31:30This place it. We were actually on the 7th of December in 1988. We were walking to my friend's house carrying this place it and all the Barbies. And the wind was blowing so much, the finger of God, it was like a monument. It was a mountain rock shaped like a finger that was one of our attractions in Namibia. That whole rock fell. And I can still remember the sand hitting our legs from the road carrying the Barbies and stuff. I think that's the day I lost the handle. Oh, I love that it's the dating my play set. I love that. Can I see it? You You can have a closer look. Wonderful. Oh, wow. This is really cute.

32:21That's really sweet. What a great play set. Here, I'll give it back to you. Those tiny little memories that you always carry and the fact that they survived in this heat cuz I know heat I've learned from the doll world that heat and also like putting them actually in a sealed where there's no air is actually damaging to the doll stuff, to the plastic. Makes it break down faster. For sure. And I think heat, humidity, here like it's gets really cold in the winter, like freezing. So you got to just watch how you keep your stuff. But it's interesting that you have that set because I've always wanted that set. And I recently did a doll swap with Giovanni. So I sent him doll, he sent me doll. And this was part This was part of it. So mine does have the handle, but it is missing the clips on the side. It is missing that. But the stickers are in great condition for something that's from the '80s. It's in you know, really good condition. must give kudos to that kid because you had to stick them on yourself. You got a sticker sheet and you had to stick them on yourself. It did not come Oh, that's hard to do. I could see where it lines up, but it's not easy to do. I just can't wait now to get the accessories, the chair, the computer.

33:43It doesn't have any of the accessories, but love this. The fact that your clips are still intact is amazing. But see, I did a sucky job sticking stickers. Oh my goodness. You know what? Though Natalie, you can't tell. You cannot tell. So you know what? The fact that it still held this long And I can still remember the to get those stickers in that hole was such That does look hard cuz it's got the shelves. And it's such a tiny space to get that sticker in straight. And the bed is in here. What a fun little play set. Well, that's a nice story. And I'm glad that you were able to show me yours and you're able to pass me yours. That was nice. Aw. So tell everyone a little bit about the Namibia project that you started up and what that's all about. when I just started here on Dolls to Gram Monday for Dolls, which Bella Bella Dolls do every Monday. She had a prompt for that Monday about introduce herself and what do you want to do here and I wrote this whole long story of my life like this interview. And I said, you know what I really want to do is I want to give kids that special feeling of getting a doll. Yes,

35:03here in Africa they don't have shoes, they don't have clothes, you know, but getting a Barbie such a big dream and to give every child a Barbie would be something that I would like to accomplish. I would like to pass on that feeling that as you say, if you look at that doll and you just I mean that what she's about, you know, that essence and to give that to another child that would never never have even thought it possible. And also to open doors, if I can get that doll, I can dream bigger, you know, because I've noticed kids have stopped dreaming because they're just trying to survive. So Didi Doll House reached out to me and she said, you know, let's do something. Let's get it together. So if it weren't for her, I wouldn't have had the guts to actually go with it. So it started with people would first send her the dolls and then to me, but unfortunately now with all the tariffs and the shipping and stuff, it's not cuz I also thought, you know, we rip off heads and then you've got all these stuffed bodies lying around and it's in your way and it's in your so Kids, they just want a doll to play with. You know. want the doll

36:24and to be able to brush the hair and the hair brushing, you know? Very calming. Very calming. Yeah, for sure. I feel like this is your calling. It's very natural. It comes very natural to you, and you were fantastic with those kids. And to see their reactions, and to see their smiles, that's the reward there. So, and it's unfortunate that the tariffs and stuff are such a problem because people just want to give. They just want to help. Oh, and I just wish I could put you there and let you feel that feeling of that when they opened that, and they um Yeah. And they see that I'm sorry. It's okay. And they see that doll Yeah. I watched the video, and anyone who follow Barbie Namibia, and you'll see the video on it, and it's very touching. I don't know how you don't get watery eyes. It's It's the most biggest reward, right? And God bless you for being part of that, and for leading that, and It's all of you guys. It's all of the doll community that sent brushes and dolls and clothes and shoes, and it wouldn't have been possible with any with if Yeah. Yeah, for sure. And I could see it's touching you because it is. It's very touching, and it's heartwarming, and there's good people in the doll community. Yeah, there's some great people. Yeah. So, it's I am so blessed to be part of this community because I mean

37:4840% of I mean, Margaret Ann Doll sent me a car. I mean, she sent me a Barbie car. Giovanni sent me my first doll that I lost, and Yeah. I don't even want to mention at all, you know, like dreams that Yeah, just look at that that you don't think would be possible. And the biggest gift because I was always that kid that had Barbies, and um I think there was also a a of jealousy around that because I did not have a lot of friends. So, Barbie was my friend and she was always there. So, I've wanted doll friends and friends for years, for decades. And yeah, I have a whole community and just love. It's just the best thing since sliced bread. Yeah, it definitely is and I think that's such a great way to end off the show with a lot of the love that the love that's in the doll community, but also the love that you spew out into the doll community as well. You're very humble. I could feel that you're taking a lot of that love and that feeling of like Barbie was my friend and you took that and you gave that feeling to all those kids. So, again, God bless you for your efforts doing that and everyone in the doll community is so grateful

39:08for that. Is there going to be any information on like a future in Namibia project that people can donate to? Is there anywhere they can get information? You know, Didi and I are currently not collecting the dolls now at the moment, but if people feel free to DM us on Instagram and let's see cuz I don't want this project to end. I don't want it to end that way. Um Yeah. Yeah. I have to say something to you. Yes. I don't know if anyone's ever said this to you. Has anyone ever told you you have a very calming voice? Really? Yeah, if you did narrating, you know how some people do audiobooks and those apps that you listen to to kind of calm yourself down, you have a calming voice. Really? Yes. Even that night when you were doing the live and I was listening, I was in bed and I was trying to stay awake. Obviously, it was still 3:30 in the morning, but I was like this and then as I listened to you talk, you were very soothing.

40:07So, I don't know ASMR, that type of thing. You've got a very soothing voice. So, something it could be a money maker for you. You've got a very calming soothing voice. No, I'm don't know I don't know if this is the first time you're hearing it, but Yeah, cuz I always feel so self-conscious about my accent and about my language because I went to school in English, but obviously it's not my mother tongue and Yeah, but you No, your English is great. And I hear you say certain words that I want to ask you about. When you say Afrikaans, is that just the way That's how Afrikaans, that is our culture. Yes. Our culture is Afrikaans, yes. Okay. We speak Afrikaaner. Um we speak Afrikaans and uh we are actually our forefathers came from the Netherlands. So, where are you originally from? Namibia. I was born here.

40:57Got Got it. Yeah. My forefathers, my ancestors are from the Netherlands. Yes. Interesting. Thank you so much for sharing your time, your collection, and your wonderful stories today. Not only do you bring so much creativity and style to your content, but you also give back to the community through your charity work and your own projects. All those children got a doll, all the stuff that you gave to them, the positive self-esteem coaching that you gave them just gives them even a little bit of hope during their challenging times because I know that they're dealing with some challenging times, those those poor children. It's very inspiring. So, on behalf of the doll community, I want to say thank you and God bless you. Thank you, Kelly. It's all you guys. It's only because of you. It's because we as a community are so kind and gentle to one another that we can bring it to them. Well, thank you so much for being on Barbie Talk. Uh thank you so much, Kelly. Thank you so much, Natalie. Take care. Bye. Bye.

41:58It's amazing how one doll can not only spark joy, but create real change in someone's life. Make sure to like, subscribe, and hit that notification bell if you love all things Barbie. And if you enjoyed this episode, click here to see one of my other episodes. Thanks for watching.