Time brings changes to everyone’s life. I had my own beautiful little girl, and eventually could no longer fly with the airlines. Though I resided in my own little corner of the world, I could never forget the faces of the distraught children, nor erase the reality of the suffering homeless. The passion to help change the miserable situations of the misfortunate had never subsided, in fact, it had only become stronger.
Not too long ago, my daughter, Alexandra and I heard about the Omega Kids’ while visiting friends in California. The Omega Kids are teenagers who have seen the needs around them and have taken the initiative to do something about them. One of the Omega Kids, Jenné Blackburn, had gone to Kenya, saw the devastation, and came home with a mission. The Omega Kids got together, formed their own T-shirt Company for funding the orphans, instigated benefit concerts and have helped raise thousands of dollars to help build a Kenyan orphanage called the Liberty House! My daughter and I were excited to meet with these inspiring teenagers!
Alexandra was happy to learn that she could correspond with these orphans, and invited her friends and classmates, ages 7 to 9, to paint pictures and send letters as well. This was fun and rewarding; however, I knew that corresponding alone would not take away the orphans’ hunger. “What else can we do?” I prayed. That simple prayer led to the fulfillment of my dream.
Soon, my daughter and I began making jewelry to raise money for the orphans. We started in our small home in Massachusetts. Before long, not only did Alexandra’s friends join us, but the neighborhood children, her classmates and eventually her entire school from Kindergarten to Twelfth grade students gladly participated in our Jewelry for the Orphans vision! We have since branched out to children from the surrounding towns of Amherst, Florence, Hadley, and Northampton, Massachusetts. Most of the children who make this jewelry are ages 4 through 11; we’ve even had children from ages 2 to 89 help us out! We are so grateful!
We would like to thank Loretta of “Ten Thousand Villages” for graciously inviting Jewelry for the Orphans for a day of exhibition, jewelry making and marketing our finished products at her Northampton store location. We were elated to learn about ˜Fair Trade” and to meet other people in our community who share our concerns. 100% of the proceeds from this event has already been sent to feed and house the orphans of Nairobi, Kenya! What a dream come true!
Working with these enthusiastic children has been such a joy! How fulfilling it is to witness the expression of hope in their eyes when they realize that do not have to wait until they graduate from high school to do something to help their friends across the world; they can do it now!
We are not limited by age, but are joined together by the compassion that motivates us to pour out our lives on behalf of the hungry, and abandoned. As we fit one bead to another in our simple creations, we become more and more aware that we are not a gift to these orphans; they are a gift to us! They are opening our eyes to the reality that every life is significant, and worthy of love.
Psalms 9: 12 states it clearly, “For he remembers, he does not ignore the cry of the afflicted. The needy will not always be forgotten, nor will the hope of the afflicted ever perish.”
Thank you for your interest,
Sandra Fitzgibbons
