When Dr. Dale Lewis, a cancer research scientist at the National Institute of Health in Maryland, found himself with weeks upon weeks of time on his hands due to the shutdown of much of the government sector in the USA, he turned to learning new things.
He bought some beads and thread, and linings and chains, and “spent one whole day from 9 am to midnight making my first [purple] beaded bag with a handle,” he beamed. “So proud of myself.”
Then came Hurricane Melissa to Jamaica on Tuesday, October 28. It touched down at New Hope in St. Elizabeth and ferociously decimated everything in its path, requiring much aid to be rendered to residents.
Having tried his hand at designing a bag bearing the flag of his island home (Antigua and Barbuda), Dr. Lewis, a master photographer, gardener, and cook, figured he could make one too with the flag of Jamaica on it and sell it to raise funds for a charity that had approached him.
On Friday, November 14, the beautiful purse and several other items were sold by a charitable group in Frederick, Maryland, to help support the hurricane relief effort in Jamaica.
Let new hope in God arise, for “those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.” Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)
