“I pray that you break my heart so wide open
that the whole world falls in.” 

                                   Mother Theresa

Slum Dog Millionaire
For those of you who have seen the new blockbuster award winning film Slum Dog Millionaire you will not be surprised that people say the movie broke their heart wide open as well as lifted them up. A visually dazzling movie, Slum Dog tells the improbable story of a poor young man who finds himself on a TV quiz show winning millions of rupees. This story of success is interspersed with flashbacks from his life of desperate poverty, a story of two brothers being raised in a slum by their single mother. The mother is violently killed, the boys are exploited into begging, girls are prostituted, children are maimed, one brother learns to steal and kill. For all of this straight forward glimpse of what extreme poverty actually looks like Slum Dog pulls its reality punch by wrapping the story of crushing poverty with a happy love story between gorgeous actors, millions in winnings, and joyful dancing as the credits roll at the end. You can leave the theater uplifted and happy.

The truth is for the 1.3 billion people living in extreme poverty there is no happy ending, no million dollars, no romance between air brushed beauties. What is real about Slum Dog Millionaire are portrayals of people eating garbage, of women struggling to protect young children, of orphans running through streets living by their own wits. What is real is the inventiveness, hard work, family loyalty, and resilience of people determined to survive under difficult circumstances.

Another reason for hope and optimism in defeating poverty are the incredible diverse efforts across the globe, many of which are from small grass root organizations like BeadforLife, organizations that partner with the poor to make a sustainable difference.

If the movie touched you, if you want to make a difference it is easy to get involved. Look at Take Action below. Find out what others are doing and join with your co-workers, neighbors, church friends, and community projects. Consider giving a BeadParty or giving beads to friends. In 2009 you can resolve to buy fair trade goods and encourage others to do the same.

We look forward to continuing our friendship and collaboration with each of you to say “Yes, we caneradicate extreme poverty.”

All the best to each of you, our friends in the BeadCircle.

Torkin Wakefield
Co-founder and Co-Executive Director

Take Action:
Help Impoverished Women and Win $100 in Beads

This year BeadforLife is undertaking an ambitious new Market Linkage Initiative that we hope will help thousands more people climb out of poverty. Capitalizing on our knowledge of finding beautiful, high quality items in Uganda, and sharing the stories and products in North America, we hope to create opportunities for 5000 more people to earn a living in the next 5 years. With most of these products, we will link producerbasket groups directly to retail stores to create sustainable long-term commerce.

You can help in our efforts to identify new products that you believe stores would like to carry.  Take our short survey to see the seven products we are considering, and let us know what you think. The survey takes about 15 minutes and we will enter you to win a BeadforLife gift certificate for $100.

Surveys must be completed by Feb 13th to qualify for the drawing, and the winner will be notified by Feb 20th.

YES, I WANT TO TAKE THE SURVEY AND HELP WOMEN OUT OF POVERTY!

Teachers Wanted to Test Our Middle/High School Curriculum on Global Poverty

BeadforLife is excited to announce the new Middle/High School curriculum about extreme poverty and successful poverty eradication models. Extreme poverty is one of the major global issues of our times and BeadforLife believes that young people in North America and beyond need and want to understand how extreme poverty is created and defeated. Students appreciate a way to get involved.

We are looking for teachers to pilot this 5 hour experiential dynamic curriculum with students in their classroom between March and June 2009.

Please contact Patty Manwaring patty@beadforlife.org if you are interested and can help us. 

Stay tuned for the official launch of our curriculum later this year.


Meet two hundred of our members attending our holiday party! Each of our members has a startling story of difficulty and hard work, and of a journey away from poverty. Then meet one of these exceptional people...

xmas

margaretMeet Awata Maragret

Margaret’s proud strong face gives the impression of the resilience which kept her going through years of difficulty. Born into a very poor family she was unable to go to school. By the time she was seven both of her parents had died and she drifted from one relative to another, none of whom had enough to care for her. She married young to an army man and together they had three children. At 27 Margaret was widowed when her husband was killed in the war in Northern Uganda. She and her children were left destitute. Providing even a meal for her children was difficult. When BeadforLife met Margaret she lived in an abandoned house that was falling down and occupied by a large snake.

Margaret became an industrious bead maker and her life began to change. She saved her money so that she could start to build a house in the BeadforLife Friendship village. Here her natural leadership began to emerge and she was elected the Chairperson of the village, a respected and strong leader. Margaret’s children are now all in school. Her garden is full of food. She knows she will never be poor again.

indexLaunching Our New WebSite:

To start off this year we have launched a brand new BeadforLife website. It is 105 pages of wonderful information and photographs that will tell you everything there is to know about BeadforLife.  In Meet the Beaders we have added video which brings ten of our members right to you. Our BeadParty section makes it easy for those of you wanting to know how to host a fun party.

Our website is much more user-friendly, making it easy to navigate and move from one section to another -  CHECK OUT OUR NEW LOOK, www.beadforlife.org.

Facebook, Myspace, and YouTube
We are also catching up with our younger BeadforLife friends by launching our presence on Myspace, Facebook, and YouTube.  Just click on the icon and join the fun. 

bead jewelryOur incredible BeadParty Hosts

Thank you very much to all of our amazing BeadParty hosts for another record-breaking year. Thanks to your outstanding efforts in 2008, over 1800 BeadParties were held, reaching over 100,800 people throughout North America and around the world. Our gratitude and blessings goes out to each one of you for your time, passion and support of BeadforLife. Each time you host a BeadParty, you not only help a Ugandan woman raise herself out of poverty, you also bring her story, hard work and joy into your home and into the heart of each of your guests.

We invite you to consider hosting again in 2009. If you hosted a party in your home, consider bringing BeadforLife to your office, community event, school or place of worship. Together we can increase our ability to create a better world.
“Weybale Nyo, Nyo, Nyo!” (thank you) from all of the beaders.

 

Shopping is Giving!

 

Happy Valentine’s Day

If you are looking for a way to share friendship and love this Valentine’s Day, consider purchasing gifts from BeadforLife’s wide selection of Fair Trade jewelry.  Each piece is hand made by a woman in Uganda working to support her family, send her children to school and build a home of her own.


Great Valentine Gift Ideas:

  • Bangle Bracelet:
    This is our most popular item!  It is affordable and looks fantastic when worn in a multitude of bright, juicy colors. $5
  • Single Long Necklace:
    This necklace can be worn long or can be wrapped twice for a versatile and stylish look.  $15
  • 3-Strand Necklace:
    This necklace gives an elegant touch to
    any outfit $20

Check out these and other items at our webstore.

Your gift gives twice: once to the lucky recipient and once to the woman who made the beads making a profound difference in the lives of Ugandan Families.

 
 

Letters from the BeadCircle

Hi BeadforLife,
I promised my girlfriend that I would write you because she doesn't do computers.  My friend has lymphoma cancer and has been fighting it all year. She is doing really good.  For Christmas I gave her one of your bracelets in her favorite color. When I told her your story she was so touched and told me that she will never take it off.  It represents hope and a future. She feels such a bond for fighting for your life. She understands integrity. The joyous faces on your pictures are so unbelievingly sweet and beautiful. Could you relate this to the beaders so that they will know how much we care about them. Thank you! God bless you all! 

Love, Lois  Goertzen