On August 6 I was evacuated from besieged Beirut on board a French warship. Knowing it would take at least a couple of days of sailing-plus-waiting to reach Berlin, my final destination, I packed in a small box the supplies I needed for the most transportable but most time-consuming craft I could think of: beaded dolls. It helped me while away the long hours, and kept a few little girls on board entertained as well as we sat on sponge mattresses in the stifling heat of the aviation hangar.

I had meant it to represent hope, hence the dominant white colour and the blossoming rose, but I improvised as I went. It has glass beads, pewter pendants (the one in the back is a hamsa or Fatima's hand, for peace), fibers, a shaped bead for the face and a paper rose.

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