Patty Manwaring on January 27th, 2010

BeadforLife has been working with Vermillion Design + Interactive of Boulder, Colorado to re-vision our branding and create a new look that embodies the heart and spirit of BeadforLife and the work we do. We love the end result and think you will too.
As always we would love to hear from the many voices of [...]

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Patty Manwaring on January 21st, 2010

Check out this great video created by Nam Kiwanuka a great friend of BeadforLife.

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Patty Manwaring on January 11th, 2010

Giggles and laughter can be heard in the BeadforLife compound along with the sounds of women repeating phrases in English. A class of 20 women is sitting outside under a tent canopy with their teacher Irene. They are excited because they are doing something very important; they are learning English with the hope of bettering [...]

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Phoebe Hedwig - Uganda Staff on January 4th, 2010

 
You have overcome! “Banange kino siki kiriza!” “My dears I can not believe this!” exclaims Constance Nakaliri who has been waiting to get a house for the past one year, really her entire life.
Constance is a  beader with the Kakwanzi group.  She graduated  last June before she could build a house because she was too [...]

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Torkin Wakefield on December 21st, 2009

by Torkin Wakefield
“My jajja (grandmother) raised me and my brothers and sisters.  And also some cousins and neighborhood orphans.  She said that although she could not send us all to school but for a few years she was glad that she had enough money for soap to be clean and paraffin to light the lantern.”   [...]

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Devin Hibbard on December 10th, 2009

I just came across a fascinating article in Foreign Policy magazine that claims television is one of the strongest tools for societal change out there today. It claims that when people start viewing television shows, their ideas about the role of women, family size, response to international events, and traditional cultural norms begin to change.
Who [...]

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Devin Hibbard on November 4th, 2009

Suubi is one of the most lively BeadforLife groups. When they come to sell beads, there is always a lot of laughter, singing and dancing. This despite the fact that they came together as strangers and had to weave a strong community over time.
Suubi recently finished their business training course and had gathered to receive [...]

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Patty Manwaring on October 27th, 2009

 
 
This is a hip hop song written by a young man, Short Richard Bills, who has started a paper selling business to supply paper to the BeadforLife Beaders.

Short Richard’s story is an example of how one person helped create the paper bead industry in Uganda. Richard will now be able to lift his family out [...]

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Chelsea Burns on October 20th, 2009

I wasn’t exactly looking for  something like BeadforLife when I stumbled upon it my sophomore year of college. “I want to do something with Africa,” I told professor McLean that day in her office. As a young aspiring journalist turned anthropologist, I knew I wanted to make a difference. Never in 100 years did I [...]

Continue reading about From Concept To Reality: A Student’s Journey With BeadforLife

Patty Manwaring on October 6th, 2009

In 2005 an estimated 40,000 children were fighting to survive in the midst of Uganda’s 20-year civil war. Many children escaped death every night by walking from rural villages into the town of Gulu and other urban centers for safety.
Upon hearing this story, in 2005, two Canadians began walking every night to downtown Toronto to [...]

Continue reading about Guluwalk: Helping Northern Uganda Rebuild