Beads Change Lives
Many of us already know that the pleasure we find beading and making jewelry brings us a lot of self-confidence, but it probably isn't something you really think about on a day to day basis until you hear a story like this from the blog, A Little Something,which documents the beading experience of a small group of female refugees now living in the US. This is an excerpt from an essay, entitled "Eight Dollars," which you'll find on the blog. It's written by Sharon McCreary, who works with this group:
Haiffa approached me after class today and somberly asked if she could talk to me. I smiled and asked her what was on her mind. She reached into her pocket and held out eight dollars in cash, a five dollar bill and three ones.
She looked at the money and then looked at me and said, “Do you know what this is?” Since Anna and I had set up a fairly standard pricing system for the jewelry, I took a guess and said, “Did you sell a necklace, Haiffa?” She said that on Saturday, Anna stopped by her apartment to tell her that Susan (another program coordinator) had bought and paid for one of Haiffa’s pieces.
Haiffa said she took the money from Anna and just stared at it. Anna asked her if it was OK—had we charged too little? Haiffa assured her it was fine. After Anna left, Haiffa closed the door and started to cry. She told me that she cried and cried for a long time. She held the eight dollars in her hand and thought about her life until now.
You read the whole thing at their blog. Be prepared to feel a chill as you do so. Many of us in the jewelry making community have been donating supplies, so any vendors or regular jewelry folks out there who are interested can also find contact information as well as a wish list on their blog.
jewelry, metal, Chik, beads, chick, beading, making, jewels
