From a blade of grass beautiful things can grow!

My name is Angie Andrews and my husband and I are community development parishioners and we have worked in India with a team of Indian Professionals assisting those on the margins of Indian Society.

We raised our daughters there for 12 years and learned much from this beautiful opportunity to explore our beliefs on empowerment, use and misuse of power, spirituality, and voluntary service to those most forgotten. Ghandi and Mother Teresa are a few of our role models.

We are back in Brisbane Australia and we are doing the same work here in our hometown!!!!

I want to share a project for this new year that I think I will be of interest to you as readers. It's the local West End Grass Bead Employment Initiative!!!!!!! This is a new one of its kind exquisite jewelry grass collection - Make your own armlet, anklet, belt, hair wrap, choker, necklace, bracelet!

The beauty is it is a vibrant collection born out of struggle by an African Tribe of women who have suffered severe drought, lost their cattle, their menfolk and had to go in search of work, their children in search of food, water, education and health.

With the help of a compassionate couple, an Artist and Community development worker, that lived with this tribe they forged an employment initiative called the Zulugrass Collection.

Please read at http:www.lastfirst.net and http:www.westendnetwork.com.

I was moved by this story that come new year, I will go to the University markets to sell the grass collection and will encourage students to get involved in the project to create employment for refugee women. I will save what I sell to employ the first refugee woman and do this again to save another.