Community News
Back to Felicia Design for a Good Cause This month, in response to popular demand, NNR again offered the opportunity to see the process of jewelry making. The tour took us to the Silom district, where a lot of gems and jewelry factories are located. Some thirty years ago, Norwegian Vibeke Lyssand Leirvag came to Thailand to work as an intern in the jewelry industry for one year. She stayed and now is the managing director of an impressive jewelry factory called Felicia Design, which produces for many big designers. We arrived at the factory and were warmly welcomed by Vibeke with coffee and snacks. She explained the long and precise process of jewelry making showing models for each step. We learned that Vibeke not only has a passion for jewelry, but she also makes an effort to help out with Kids Action for Kids (KA4K). This is a non-profit charity organization, run and initiated by children and youth, with the help of adults. KA4K helps provide surgeries for children born with cleft lip, cleft palate and other facial deformities. We finished the coffees and then had a tour through the factory and saw all the interesting steps. From the drawing room to the polishing of the pieces and everything in between. And I can tell you, there are a lot!! It still takes so much handwork and skill, that we appreciated the end result even more. To help Kids Action for Kids, we had the opportunity to buy Vibeke’s jewelry. Almost all the proceeds went to KA4K, and while we are still waiting to know how many operations our purchases helped finance, we are confident our shopping will help bring smiles to a couple of faces. After all the excitement of seeing so much shine and sparkle, it was time for lunch. We went to a lovely little courtyard where the vegetarian Indian restaurant Suananda is situated. They serve tasteful vegetarian and vegan meals and have a full sustainable ethos, even using pure plant-based dish soap made of soapnuts. Vibeke’s husband introduced us to Luna Blu, his line of plantbased organic cleaning products and body and hair washing products for humans and pets. A big thank you to Vibeke and Pascale for this fun, social and meaningful morning! Annabel Kersten-de Jongste
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Felicia Design: feliciadesign.com Kids Action for Kids: kidsactionforkids.org Luna Blu (organic plant-based care products): lunablucare.com Suananda Restaurant:suananda.com March 2020
