Gem of a woman

Dubai: Surrounded by priceless gems, a New Zealand woman was making bracelets from pins and cans to highlight a potentially crippling disease.

Award-winning fashion designer Mandi Kingsbury informed visitors at the Dubai International Jewellery Week which concluded last week about Multiple Sclerosis (MS), a disease that makes people lose control over their body's movement, sometimes ending their ability to walk or talk.

MS has no known cure.

Everyday items

Kingsbury, who suffers from MS, held a workshop on making jewellery out of everyday household items like metal screws, bottle caps and even rubber gloves. The bracelets were sold - at Dh175 to Dh260 apiece - to pool money for Protest MS, a charity she started two years ago to create awareness about the disease. Other ornaments, like ‘flowers' made from measuring tape and gloves, are also tagged with signature Protest MS labels.

"It's a grassroots movement; a way of giving back to society; to make people feel more comfortable about MS," said Kingsbury.

"We're quite global. We hope to reach a point where we can actually sponsor research for finding a cure, for example."

She also works with the UAE MS Support Group in Al Ain and The Shelter community centre in Dubai to ‘protest' the illness.

Protest MS will hold more events in January and May next year in Dubai, she added.

For updates check for Protest MS on www.facebook.com.