Canberra's Unsung Soup Hero

I spent Australia Day today at the National Portrait Gallery in celebration of a good friend Ma Khin Mar Mar Kyi who was nominated as an Unsung Hero of Australia for all her tireless work in human rights, humanitarian relief, women and child trafficking issues and Burmese freedom. Ma is a force of nature no doubt, she is the only Burmese PhD student in Australia, she is warm, friendly, sweet and smart despite some unspeakable trauma's she has experienced in her life. It was wonderful to see Ma and pass on the pickled tea leaves from Mae Hong Son to her on her special day, thanks Austin

The special screening of Ma's video portrait was accompained by another Unsung Hero and force of nature the Soup Lady of Canberra, Stasia Dabrowski

Stasia Dabrowski was born in the southern mountains of Poland in 1926. During the occupation of Poland in WWII her family's lives were devastated — she lost everything and was driven into forced labour. After WWII she worked as a nurse and matron before moving to Australia with her husband and young family.

As her qualifications were not recognised in Australia she did voluntary house cleaning and emergency services for the Red Cross, looking after the bedridden and needy. She started cooking and providing essentials for the needy in the late 1970s, the start of the Soup Kitchen.

You can watch her video portrait here.

It's so adorable and wonderful I was almost convinced by the end that soup can save the world. Almost