Uganda
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 [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Since the beginning of the year, the Uganda currency has been falling against the dollar. When I moved to Uganda in 2008, you could get about 1600 shillings per dollar. Now the rate is around 2900. Imagine if two years ago you spent $5.50 for a sandwich and today it cost you $10 – that [...]
Two years ago Suubi and Sanyu groups were enrolled into the BeadforLife program, their faces wore a heaviness that could only be interpreted as sadness, worrying, hopelessness and anxiety. They came and rolled many million beads which became small and big businesses, houses, education for their children, independence, acceptance by the community and families. Recalls [...]
Sometimes the senseless loss in Uganda threatens to engulf me. Last week, I stopped to give Joseph, a member of our shea soap team, a ride home from work. He had been speaking to an older man, and he told me this was his father. Then slowly as we drove home through a terrible traffic [...]
The Vocational Education Training program (VET) students sponsored by BeadforLife visited Kawempe slum, where they counseled people living with HIV/AIDS and sought opportunities to give back. They met a ten year old boy whose name was Dan; at first sight they thought he looked sickly and forlorn. The students, who were deeply touched by his [...]
You may remember the July 29th blog entry where you saw and read about the Ugandan team packing a sea container full of our beads, Shea Butter and Soap. After two and a half months in transit, the container finally arrived in the US! It cleared customs in Huston, where Damco (our shipping company) arranged [...]
Continue reading about After a long wait, our sea container has finally arrived!