Beads for Life
beads_for_life
Few of us, if any, can fathom the adversities and tragedies women living in the extreme poverty of Uganda have had to endure. Violence, HIV, and hunger plagued the community until a chance encounter between a Ugandan woman sitting near her mud home and beads for Life founders, Torkin Wakefield, Ginny Jordan, and Devin Hibbard offered hope.
Inspired by the beauty and uniqueness of the paper beads the woman was creating, Torkin, Ginny, and Devin, realized this distinctive talent held within it the opportunity to create income for the impoverished community…
BeadforLife Eradicates Poverty: One Bead at a Time
Since 2004, BeadforLife has provided sustainable income for Ugandan women and their families by selling their beautiful jewelry, handmade from recycled paper. The women are HIV+ mothers, refugees from a brutal civil war, former prostitutes and other impoverished people. Before joining BeadforLife, all of the members struggled to get by on less than $1 a day.
Thousands of people have responded to this innovative project and opened their hearts, homes, and communities to these determined women. Hundreds of thousands of people worldwide partner with the beaders and share the BeadforLife spirit by wearing the vibrant jewelry, and talking to others about how to end extreme poverty. The average beader now makes more than $2000 a year during their membership – five to seven times more than they made before.
BeadforLife acts as a ladder out of poverty, providing women not only income, but entrepreneurial training, business funding, health programs, and the chance for women to build a home of their own.
With great ingenuity, beaders have started small ventures such as a poultry business, or a vegetable stall. The beaders, directly and indirectly, support over 4000 other people, who enjoy better health, housing and education.
beadsforLife invests in human potential, and the dividends are impressive:
99% of members say their lives have improved since joining BeadforLife
Over 90% of respondents report their health, housing and diet has improved
85% of graduates either opened a business or built a home; 42% did both
Members sharing a latrine with 10 or more families went from 50% to 6%.
With its vision of a long-term, sustainable community, BFL invests its profits back into community projects that fight extreme poverty in the areas of health, affordable housing, and vocational training/entrepreneurial development.
If you’d like to learn more about beads for Life or visit the online store, follow the links below.