CAPE MAN STARTS BLACK DOLL DRIVE

During apartheid in South Africa, black dolls weren't produced or sold. Even now, they're tough to come by in a predominantly black country.

People in South Africa and the United States are working together for change through the South African Black Doll project, through which 3,000 dolls already have been sent overseas. The goal is 15,000 dolls.

Locally, Rathael Fambro, owner of Ethiopian Ocean Books and Artifacts, would like to collect a few hundred black dolls before Nov. 1. These dolls can be either bought or handmade, and they may be brought by or mailed to Fambro's store at 1030 Broadway.

"I just think black children should identify with the things they play with," Fambro said. "It helps in the psychological development of the child."

After Nov. 1, he will mail the dolls through South African Airways, which has agreed to carry them for free.

The project began with Helen Lieberman, a white South African social activist who wanted dolls for children enrolled in Ikamva Labantu day-care centers. The name means "future of our nation and people," and Lieberman wanted black children to have new dolls under their new democracy.

Linda Tarry, a black educator in the United States, helped coordinate the doll project on this side. The doll project will end in February when high school students from Frederick Douglass Academy in Central Harlem visit South Africa and deliver 100 handmade dolls to children as part of an international enrichment program.

Monetary donations to the project may be sent to The Sister Fund, Attention: Janis Lewis, 116 E. 16th St., 7th Floor, New York, N.Y., 10003. Checks should be made payable to Africa Fund-Black Doll Project.

Lewis, the national doll program coordinator, told Fambro in a letter that providing dolls is a simple approach to a complex problem.

"So often we are paralyzed by the magnitude of global problems," she wrote. "Providing a black doll for a child in South Africa is an easy way to promote goodwill, understanding and bring joy to the heart of a child."

For additional information on contributing black dolls, call Fambro at 335-0040.