BeadforLife Community Partners are a mobile force of intensive, educated and inspired community volunteers throughout North America. 
Their purpose is to expand our BeadCircle through education, outreach events, and bead sales. Community Partners are great supporters of BeadforLife and have the time, energy and passion to devote to our organization in an ongoing way. Some of the ways they promote BeadforLife include hosting BeadParties at people’s homes, workplaces, churches, or community events; selling jewelry to friends and colleagues; speaking at events, and telling the stories of our members.
Dawn Hansard, our Community Partner in Massillon, OH, attended the Akron Civic Theater’s Festival of Nations with her husband this past weekend. Here is her report of the experience:
“We found ourselves immersed in a multitude of cultural experience. There were performers such as The Celtic Eagle Pipe band, St. Nicholas Russian Youth Dancers, African Soul International and Pura Salsa. We were surrounded by the aromas of international foods including Indian food from the Bombay Grill, Le Radici Italian Pastries, Asian food, Irish food, and food from South America.
BeadforLife certainly fit in well with all of the different cultures represented at the festival. The people who stopped by our table to see the jewelry and to shop, asked great questions and were genuinely interested in the BeadforLife story. It was exciting to be around so many people who had a shared interest in multi-cultural experiences. I was very happy to have been asked to participate in such a wonderful, educational and exciting event!”
For more information about our Community Partner program, contact Korri Roach at korri@beadforlife.org.
Tags: BeadCircle, BeadforLife, BeadParty, community partners, Empowering Women, paper jewelry, Uganda, Volunteer, Women Making A Difference
Consider this:
- Out of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth, 70% are girls (The Girl Effect)
- One girl in seven in developing countries marries before age 15 (USAID)
Gender inequality continues to be a pervasive global issue, especially when it comes to education. We know that girls who stay in school through their teenage years to position themselves for future social and health benefits. Educated girls and women are less vulnerable to HIV infection, human trafficking and other forms of exploitation. They are also more likely to marry later, raise fewer children who are more likely to go to school, and make important contributions to family income.
How do we tackle such an overwhelming problem? One girl at a time.
BeadforLife’s Girls’ Education Program provides boarding school for more than 30 rural girls with no prior access to secondary education, and we plan to send 30 more this year. With so many girls in need of education, choosing which girls to sponsor can be a challenge. Just as we seek women with natural entrepreneurial talent for our bead-rolling program, we look for young women who are highly motivated to change the trajectory of their lives. They know that education is the key to rising out of poverty.
Irene Namaganda, Membership Coordinator at BeadforLife’s Kampala, Uganda office, describes the process:
“For our current group of 30 girls, we searched the rural areas of Eastern and Northern Uganda for good secondary school candidates. Specifically, we focused on the districts of Otuke, the selling center for the shea nut gatherers, and Iganga, a new beading location outside of Kampala. We select girls coming from very poor families, but with high grades in Primary Leaving examinations. We also look for that important spark of motivation. It can actually be challenging to find these bright, poor students because of the insurgency in the North that lasted 25 years. This political disturbance caused school attendance to be sporadic, and deprived so many children of basic education. However, we are determined to find those with the greatest potential for providing leadership to their communities and country.”
Meet one of these bright, motivated girls:
Nanyanzi Lillian from BeadforLife on Vimeo.
Born to a family of subsistence maize farmers with seven mouths to feed, Lillian’s parents could not afford to provide her schooling. The maize they grow also constitutes the main portion of the family’s diet. Lillian was taken to the city to live with an uncle who paid her school fees for five years. However, her aunt did not approve of him helping this young girl and berated her. “My husband is wasting his money on you,” the girl was often told. Her aunt turned her into a house maid, didn’t pay the school fees on time, and as a result, Lillian spent more time at home than at school. Fortunately, Lillian moved back to Iganga to live with another uncle. Despite the tough times she went through, this smiling 14-year-old girl managed to get a high examination grade to admit her to secondary school. Lillian now goes to Wanyange Girl’s School in Iganga District, and says she would like to become an accountant in the future because she “wants to be able to help [her] sisters and brothers to go to school.”
Tags: Africa, Child Poverty, Empowering Girls, girls, poverty, rural poverty, Uganda
Girls from the Democratic Republic of Congo expressing their support for V-Day
To most Americans, Valentine’s Day is known as the holiday for expressing love to one another. But to thousands of women and men around the world February 14th is V-Day, which stands for much more than chocolates and flowers. V-Day is part of a global movement to end violence against women and girls.
Volunteers around the world participate in V-Day campaigns to increase awareness, raise money, and educate their communities about issues that surround violence against women and girls. One of the most popular ways to support V-Day is through producing or attending performances of The Vagina Monologues or other V-Day productions. Check out this inspiring video about how V-Day empowers women to take action around the world.
What is V-Day? from V-Day Until the Violence Stops on Vimeo.
Violence against women is a widespread issue throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Surveys in sub-Saharan Africa reveal that 46% of Ugandan women report regular physical abuse. At BeadforLife, we are devoted to helping women get out of extreme poverty by empowering our members to own their futures. With education, economic security and support, BeadforLife members are able to escape poverty, which also decreases the risk for sexual and physical violence.
V-Day Safe House for the Girls Founder Agnes Pareyio, Narok Kenya
BeadforLife has reached out to many colleges and communities asking volunteers to host a BeadParty alongside their V-Day events this spring. So far, BeadforLife will have a presence at V-Day events in California, Colorado, Arizona, Oregon, Missouri, Connecticut and Massachusetts! Our goal is to support V-Day events in every state, which means that we need your help! Attend a V-Day performance in your community or add BeadforLife to a V-Day event. For more information on how to bring BeadforLife to your community, email beadparty@beadforlife.org.
Happy V-Day from BeadforLife!
Tags: Africa, BeadCircle, The Vagina Monologues, Uganda, V-Day, violence against women, Women Making A Difference
The BeadforLife team was finishing up home visits to the members in Iganga when we met Eseza, a malnourished four year old girl with severe burns along the right side of her face. Her right eye was entirely burned shut. Eseza had fallen into a pot of hot beans at a neighbor’s house three days earlier. Her mother, Babirye Annette, could not afford to take her to the hospital. The government hospital in Iganga does not charge patients for services; however, Eseza’s family did not even have the few dollars needed to pay for transportation to the hospital. The only option was to try and heal the burns at home. Babirye Annette tried to care for the burn by applying dirt to the wound, not knowing this would make Eseza vulnerable to tetanus and other infections.
Recognizing that Eseza was in serious need of treatment, the BeadforLife team drove Eseza, her two month old sister, and her mother to the hospital. After checking in at the hospital and ensuring Eseza’s burns were thoroughly cleaned, we accompanied her to the pediatric ward. We found the ward dirty, crowded, and understaffed. There were often three mothers, each with at least one child on their lap, sitting on a single mattress. Many were not even lucky enough to have space on a mattress. They were left occupying woven mats on the floor. Used IVs were scattered on the ground along with clothing, dishes, and various other odds and ends.
Often, government hospitals are not able to provide their patients or those accompanying them with basic necessities such as food. Knowing this, we arranged for meals and purchased a wash basin, soap, and dishes for Eseza and her mother. We were later asked to provide burn cream and plastic gloves for her because the hospital did not have any in stock. We left the first night with assurances that an eye specialist would look at Eseza the following day. When we returned, we were dismayed to find that neither the eye specialist nor any other staff member had examined Eseza. We spent several hours trying to find someone in charge that could ensure Eseza would receive treatment. Unsuccessful, we left and promised to return the following day. Upon returning, we were happy to find the eye specialist had operated on Eseza and she was able to open her eye.
We continued to check on Eseza daily to monitor her progress until she was discharged from the hospital. A week later we visited Eseza
at her home. The burns had healed so well that she was virtually unrecognizable. We brought her some nutritional supplements from the BeadforLife health program. As we began explaining their use, Babirye Annette informed us that a few members in our program had already given her nutritional packs for Eseza. This is a true testament to the spirit of community that exists in Uganda. The members in Iganga are recruited because they have some of the lowest living standards in the surrounding area, yet they still find it in their hearts to recognize a need greater than their own.
Eseza’s story has a happy ending. Unfortunately, her story is not typical. Countless children like Eseza go untreated because their families cannot afford a trip to the local hospital. Even if a child is fortunate enough to reach the hospital, she may not receive care because of lack of staff or medicine. Finally, patients rarely have advocates like Eseza did, people who have the resources to do what it takes to ensure their patient receives proper care. Eseza is blessed to have encountered a caring, passionate group of advocates in the BeadforLife staff. A big thank you goes to Rovienah, Gido, Harriet, Nassur, and Esther for their compassion and dedication to Eseza. Their contribution to her story made all the difference.
Contributed by Karen McKenna: Karen started volunteering with BeadforLife in 2008 as an undergraduate at the University of Colorado. She recently spent the summer interning at the BeadforLife program in Iganga, Uganda. While there, Karen had the opportunity to visit many of the beaders in their homes and fields as part of a pilot agribusiness project.
Tags: Africa, Child Poverty, healthcare, poverty, Poverty Eradication, Uganda, Volunteer, Women Making A Difference
Shea Tree
Our 100% natural shea butter is from the Vitellaria Paradoxa sub species nilotica which grows across Northern Uganda. With higher olien content than West African shea, nilotica is a silky smooth product high in vitamins A, E and F. The shea trees grow wild across Northern Uganda, and for generations the nuts have been collected and sold by women who refer to it as “women’s gold” because of its various uses, from cooking oil to skin moisturizer. The nuts also pay for food or school fees. The women who gather the shea nuts live in an area that was terrorized for 20 years by a rebel group called the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). Rebels raided and burned rural villages, killed over 10,000 adults, abducted over 20,000 children, and forced boys to be soldiers, and girls to be “mistresses” of commanders. An estimated 2 million people were displaced by the conflict.
One of our shea nut gathers, Costa Atim, is a 60 year old grandmother of 4, and mother of 8. Costa has lived through colonization, Ugandan independence, Idi Amin, and the LRA rebels who killed her sister, nephew and daughter-in-law. Despite all, she works hard and hopes her grandchildren have opportunities of which she’s never dreamed.
Costa Atim
Two years ago, Costa enrolled herself in an adult education class. Now she can slowly write her name. She collects shea nuts and last year earned enough to buy a bull to help her plow her fields and work a larger piece of land. She says, “there is nowhere to get sugar if I don’t work hard. And I want to take my tea with sugar.”
Under a holistic development model, BeadforLife works with Costa and other women like her, to provide mosquito nets, agricultural training, and health services. Our goal is to create economic empowerment such that the women invest in their futures and leave poverty behind.
Visit our website to learn more about BeadforLife’s shea butter initiative and our shea butter products.
Tags: Africa, Poverty Eradication, shea butter, Uganda
Many a college philosophy class will debate over whether or not helping others can be done selflessly. Does happiness come from making other people happy? Studies actually show that experiencing compassion, benevolence, and kindness is one of the best ways to overcome stress (Stephen Post, Ph.D, Case Western Reserve University). I’ve also read that generosity is a way to find one’s own satisfaction through the satisfaction of others.
Anne-Blandine, Volunteer Community Partner for BeadforLife Europe in France and her daughter.
In 2009, Anne-Blandine, a young woman from Lyon, France, attended the European Fair Trade Fair held in her hometown where BeadforLife was one of 100 organizations exhibiting at the event. Here, she discovered BeadforLife and our beautiful, surprising paper beads from Uganda, along with the meaning behind them. The Beaders’ stories touched Anne-Blandine at a time which she would later describe as, “a time in her life when she was looking for deeper meaning and engagement.”
Anne-Blandine has been a volunteer Community Partner for BeadforLife Europe ever since, working to educate and engage others to help fight extreme poverty. “All my work brings me great happiness and energy,” says Anne-Blandine, “I didn’t think it would be so beneficial! Those are the benefits of volunteering … that many do not know!”
Whether it is volunteering at the local food shelter, donating to a great cause or organizing a BeadParty, doing good for the planet and its inhabitants is good for your health. Here’s to a virtuous cycle of doing good and feeling good!
Tags: BeadCircle, beaded jewelry, community partners, Empowering Women, Europe, Volunteer, Women Making A Difference
2011 was a tough year. Tough in Uganda where inflation reached 19%, putting items like sugar out of reach for many families, and tough in America where unemployment soared and many people experienced a shrinking standard of living. As our 2011 holiday initiative, BeadforLife reached out to women in America who are struggling to get on their feet and who, just like Ugandan women a world away, are willing to work extraordinarily hard to change their lives.
The Women’s Alliance “provides professional attire and career skills training to disadvantaged women and their families to achieve self-sufficiency through employment.” BeadforLife has donated several thousand pieces of beautiful beaded jewelry to this organization so that women across the U.S. can dress to impress, land jobs, and change their futures. Says Jeannette Kraar, Managing Partner of The Women’s Alliance:
“When you shipped the necklaces to our members across the country, you sent much more than a gorgeous accessory. You provided a strong message of hope, support, inspiration and self-esteem to each woman who received your gift. . . When our clients saw the necklaces, they were thrilled to have something so pretty. . . but when they heard the story behind the necklaces, they were truly inspired to know that other women who shared many of the same struggles were now succeeding.”
This is what BeadforLife is all about—creating connections of support across the globe, and providing opportunities for women to raise themselves out of poverty.
Contributed by: Korri Roach and Heather Megan Hine
Tags: Africa, BeadCircle, beaded jewelry, donating, Empowering Women, paper jewelry, The Women's Alliance, Uganda, Women Making A Difference
Baby Japhy, Torkin Wakefield, Mike Brady, Allie Olson, Judith Butigara, & Devin Hibbard
BeadforLife has some BIG plans for the future. Our Board of Directors just authorized a significant scale up of activities in Uganda over the next 5 years with some projects starting as soon as July. Judith Butagira-Tema, our Deputy Director from Uganda, was in Boulder this week to help brainstorm ideas, look at the best opportunities to reach more people, and to start the ball rolling! Our expansion will focus on creating more income generating opportunities for people throughout Uganda. Some of these opportunities will come from creating products like beads or shea butter, and some will focus on agribusiness opportunities such as linking farmers to markets or eliminating the middle men so they can get a better price. As much as possible, we will support these members by providing some training in how to use additional income to invest in sustainable and long-term income creation. Our goal is to see Ugandans improve their livelihood for years to come.
We are very excited about these initiatives, and will be sharing more ideas throughout this year. Watch for posts on ox plows for women farmers, a new BeadforLife business school, conditional cash transfers (and what they are), market connections and much more!
Tags: Africa, agribusiness, Empowering Women, Poverty Eradication, shea butter, sustainability, Uganda, Women Making A Difference
What are your memories of being 12 years old? You may be thinking of the joy (or angst) of being in middle school, learning new things and gaining independence. The impactful and concise Girl Effect illuminates why age 12 is the turning point in a girl’s life in the developing world. At this age, girls with a solid primary education – and most critically, the financial means – can continue to secondary school. But for a very large portion of the population, this is the end of their educational career. 70% of the world’s 130 million out-of-school youth are girls. This makes age 12 the dividing line between a life of poverty and a hopeful future.
Consider:
- When a girl in the developing world receives 7 or more years of education, she marries 4 years later and has 2.2 fewer children.
- An extra year of secondary school boosts girls’ eventual wages by 15-25%.
(Source: www.thegirleffect.org)
By staying in school through their teenage years, girls align themselves for future social and health benefits. Educated girls and women are less vulnerable to HIV infection, human trafficking and other forms of exploitation, have children who are more likely to go to school, and make important contributions to family income. There is other compelling data from the Population Council to suggest that the longer a girl stays in school, the better her life will be because she will spend far fewer hours engaged in household labor.
Making it Possible to Stay in School
At BeadforLife, our goal is to empower impoverished Ugandan women with our entrepreneurial training program. But we also think about the girls who will become these women, so we launched a Girls’ Education Program. In the 2011-12 school year, we identified and funded 30 exceptional students who would not otherwise be able to continue with their education. Awino Colline is one of them.
Awino Colline from BeadforLife on Vimeo.
Awino Colline is a bright-eyed, slender 17-year-old girl with a big role to play. As the eldest girl in a family where her father has HIV, the responsibility of the home and garden in the village of Agwing in Otuke District are left to Colline and her mother. Colline has to make sure her five siblings are comfortable and well cared for. She fetches water and collects firewood for cooking. During the planting season, Colline borrows a neighbor’s plough to clear their garden and, in turn, does gardening for him.
Colline’s hard work and determination are not only seen at home. Due to her chores and the long running civil war disturbance in Northern Uganda, she missed some years of school and started secondary school late. However, Colline has made tremendous improvement in her grades and is one of the brightest students in her class at St. Mary’s Magdalene Girl’s School in Lira District. Her goal is to become a nurse, “so I can treat sick people in my village.”
Tags: Africa, Education, Empowering Girls, Empowering Women