It is magical and simple, even animals do it and it is present in actions as natural as breastfeeding. It is understood almost everywhere in the world and it is a simple but powerful gesture. It is hugging, Bonga’s essence. He was born in a rain forest, camouflages amongst the trees and blends in with the leaves and the birds’ sound. His skin has the color of hiding and he has the power to remember people we cannot see but we can feel close to through a hug.
Bonga is one of the huggers of the family created by Viviana Otálvaro Guzmán, product design engineer graduated from EAFIT. Cumbia, Maco and Tollo are also part of the family; they share the simple and amazing action of communicating through emotions, through love.
They live on Huggers Island, the place from where around 2,000 donated huggers have left to accompany children with heart disease, adults in oncology wards, homeless people and anyone who wants or needs to feel the healing power of a hug. "Hugs increase the oxytocin blood level, create a feeling of well-being, and help people sleep better. A hug builds confidence and helps us to connect with others," says Viviana, director of the Hugger Island foundation.
Huggers’ bodies are simple, they do not have eyes or noses, their arms are long and they are already known in places such as Casa de la Chinca, Mamá Yolanda Foundation, Cardiovascular Hospital and San Vicente Foundation.
Believing originates the conviction that a rag doll has regenerating power. It is about believing that design can improve people’s conditions and make emotional connections, adds Viviana. This is what she believed when she designed the first hugger to keep contact with her boyfriend who stayed in Argentina when she returned to Colombia after completing her graduate degree studies.
That is what she believed when she entered the ideas competition organized by The Do School German institution, where she won a scholarship to further her education. There, she met students from many different countries and cultures and everyone understood the power of her idea. This universality, in addition to the social nature of the proposal, led her to be among the best 20 out of 900 participating initiatives.
The power of simplicity
Huggers, besides being simple dolls that anyone can easily identify with and be projected or project someone in their shapes, are also simple to assemble, sew, and stuff almost in a craftsmanship way and by anybody.
Hugger Island weavers are 11 women who live in Altos de la Torre and Robledo La Huerta neighborhoods in Medellin. Many of these women are displaced from Dabeiba (Antioquia). Through sewing, little by little, some of them have been able to expand or improve their home, only one owns a brick house; or make their dream of going to the sea come true. This is how Viviana’s idea of leading an entrepreneurial idea that generates social capital and contributes to a fair income distribution is gradually becoming a reality.
Carolina Cortez Pérez is part of this group. She is 32 years old and has four children, and she prefers to start making the huggers from their heart. This is what she first adds to the body before putting the rest of the parts together until it is time to stuff the dolls to shape and design them. They are stuffed with the seeds of peas, lentils and cherries so that the hugger can be sown when he is no longer there, thus keeping its meaning.
On Hugger Island, everything is full of meaning. While Bonga helps to remember those we cannot see, Cumbia’s gift is to let things go, "she teaches through her love for the sea and wind, how things flow, pass, how change is the only constant and how to let it flow". Macu saves a piece of sunshine in her heart and can make a rainbow with the rain and gray clouds to teach that "crises can be opportunities." Tollo “is the bright yellow hugger, he discovers himself from meeting the other. From their differences, he understands that they are the same and he discovers this through the feeling of his heart as the only necessary element".
To date, about 2,000 people have received huggers, all thanks to the foundation model of solidarity. Those interested can buy one hugger, or buy two and donate one. The donated toy goes to give hugs in hospitals, adoption homes or foundations that work with homeless people.
According to Viviana, deliveries are magical meetings involving psychologists, social workers and health care professionals who have been surprised not only by the toys themselves but by the effects of the gift.
Each hugger comes with a book to work on emotional education and actions that help to overcome trauma, see crises as opportunities and let resentment go. Viviana’s idea is to continue collecting funds to donate huggers and, at the same time, create employment for the Island’s weavers. For information about donations, please go to
http://huggerisland.com/es
For further information
Alejandro Gomez Valencia
Journalist at EAFIT Information and Press Area
Phone: 574 2619500 Ext. 9931
E-mail: jgomez97@eafit.edu.co