A BEAUTIFUL BLACK DOLL THAT SPEAKS YORUBA, ENGLISH, IGBO AND HAUSA?? WELCOME THE ROOTI DOLLS

The idea of a black doll that speaks any African language is one that I am sure will resonate with any African parent living in the diaspora and who desires for their children to have deep African values and speak their native language. I cannot count how often I have seen a child with African parents living here in London who understands their mother tongue but cannot speak it. I remember being so worried about this before I had the girls that I started speaking my mother tongue, Yoruba to them as soon as they were born! My older girl speaks a bit now although I am unsure how long this will last for.

Hopefully it will last till her adult years, if I can get them a rooti doll that is. These beautiful dolls are the brain child of Chris and Ada Ngoforo, a Nigerian couple living in England who had growing concerns that none of their three daughters were speaking Igbo, their native Nigerian language. They came up with the idea of designing black dolls that will speak African languages and so far have developed a range of twelve different dolls who speak a range of African languages and who each have their own unique story. There's Simbi girl, a quiet and adorable girl who loves helping her mom around the house with chores and would love one day to become a company director in one of her dad's companies and who speaks Nigerian languages Ijaw, Tiv, Edo and Idoma  and Nubya girl who is of South African origin and speaks Zulu, Thoxa, Twana and Swati. There are also a range of dolls from Ghana and Kenya.

The dolls are available to buy online and can be shipped worldwide.

I think I am sold on this one.

Read more about this story on CNN