I am often asked to donate pieces of my jewelry to various good causes, and I am always happy to make those donations, especially when the funds go to cancer- or Aids-related causes.

But there is another cause that is equally worthy, in my opinion: improving the lives of orphaned children in China.  Some of the orphans are girls and some are boys; many are handicapped.  Their horizons are unfairly limited by circumstances far beyond their control.

Starting in 2008, I will begin donating the sale of one piece of my work per show to the Half the Sky Foundation.  Records of these sales and the donations I make will be available for anyone who wishes to see them, although the names of purchasers will be abbreviated so as to maintain their privacy.

With the guidance of Dr. Red Chan, my contact at Half the Sky, I will be teaching beadwork at one or two orphanages in China in September, 2008.  What I hope to teach are techniques developed in China one hundred or more years ago for making from beads the geometric structures we in the West know as cubes, octahedrons, icosahedrons, dodecahedrons, and so on.  I have found examples of each of these beaded geometric structures dating to the late Qing Dynasty (ca. 1900) on my various trips to China, and so I can say these techniques are definitely Chinese.   I am aware that my efforts will do little to change the material existence of the orphans.  I simply hope to bring a small amount of beadwork-related happiness into their lives. 

When you have a spare moment, please visit the Half the Sky Foundation's website and consider donating a small portion of your income, now or in the future to a very worthy cause.

Thank you.

Valerie