This necklace is from Cambodia.  On Saturday, November 19th, I went with my friend Lisa (who makes amazing jewelry) to a benefit concert at The Meeting House in Oakville, Ontario.  An artist I had never heard of called Kelita who was performing, but her concert was to benefit the Ratanak Foundation, an organization that rescues girls from the brothels in Cambodia.  Some of these girls are 5 years old.  FIVE YEARS OLD.  My girls could be one of those girls, sold into rape, servicing 8 to 10 men a night if it wasn’t for the grace of God allowing us to live in the luxury and ease of North America.

Anyways, my necklace was made by one of those precious rescued girls.  Isn’t it beautiful?

Ratanak partners with several organizations to give these girls a safe place to live, receive much needed medical attention and counseling, and to learn new skills so they can live lives of freedom from abuse and slavery.  Lisa invited me to help her sell some of her creations in support of this much-needed mission of social justice.  Her goal was to support Newsong, where the girls go for healing and recovery.

This is a picture taken in her home as we were working on getting all the tags put on each piece.  What an honor it was to be there, listening to Kelita’s songs and skits, and seeing the beautiful creations that Lisa had made going like hotcakes in support of setting these young girls free.  Free.  When I’m confronted with the horrors of the way other women and children around the world have to live their lives, I am so grateful – so grateful – that my girls can grow up in safety and health.

I chose two pieces:  the beautiful yellow jade necklace, and this quirky 34” long stone necklace with copper findings.

BTW, I’m nagging Lisa to set up her own blog and website so you can see more of her creations and buy a piece for yourself!

Don’t you just love the uniqueness of these stones?  I don’t think you could make two necklaces exactly alike out of these beautiful natural stones.