josh and mark eisemann

Josh and his family have been enthusiastic about Change the Truth since its inception in early 2007. In fact, Josh has been a pen pal to Nicky, one of the boys at the orphanage, ever since then. Both boys like to play soccer and draw, so they’ve been a good match. One of these days, I hope Josh and Nicky can meet.



Josh invited his father Mark to help him with his doll. The two had great fun working on the project,; Mark wrote the following about the experience:

“THE HUG

Josh was excited about creating a doll, but the challenge of coming up with an idea and executing it was a little daunting. We sat down and had a brain storming session. We went through many ideas. One seemed to fit – a doll with large hands reaching out to give a hug. Josh is a big hugger, with a well-earned reputation in our family and at school and his summer camp. In talking about Change the Truth, Josh and I imagined that hugs are an essential part of the program’s success. The beauty of the hug is that it can be reciprocal – as easily given by a child as by a volunteer or teacher. Josh’s grandmother, Bette Mark, was a quilter and we have many remnants waiting to be put to good use. Josh chose a color palette of green, blue and orange, and sifted through a number of samples before settling on the ones we used. The body is painted blue, so that it is not associated with any race. Executing the idea was more difficult than we thought. It took some time, and some sewing help from Leslie Mark, Josh’s mother, to create the hands. We hoped to drape the material used to cover the base in a wavy, flowing and casual manner, but settled on the solution seen. Working on our doll definitely made Josh and me appreciate the professional artists in the show.”