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You must be the change you want to see in the world. ~ Mahatma Gandhi

Hello BeadforLife Friends,
Last week we received a DVD from the St. Paul Lutheran Church in Terryville, Connecticut of a puppet show they created to tell the BeadforLife story to guests at their Bead Party.  The puppets cleverly explain how the impoverished women make the beads, how they are bought by friends in America, and how the money returns to Uganda to help feed children. The puppeteers were ages 7 to adult. We were so delighted to see this DVD and marvel at the creativity in this and so many Bead Parties.

Over the past two years over a thousand volunteer hostesses have given Bead Parties.  Tens of thousands of other women, and some men also, have attended these parties.   They have appreciated the beauty of the beads, the bright colors, and high hopes. And all of you together have been generous in buying gifts for friends and special items for yourselves.

This is where the money changes hands and begins its journey back to Uganda.  BeadforLife is proud to tell you that 74% of our net profits return to Uganda in direct income to the beaders and tailors and in community development projects.

The stories of the Bead Parties are heartwarming. I would like to invite each hostess to share her experience and write to us. In the next Bead we will print some of these Bead Party stories and will also develop a page on the website for your Bead Party stories.    We like to read these letters to the women in Uganda who always receive each story with clapping, ululating, and happy "Oh Yeahs!."  They will love seeing the Puppet DVD!

Send your stories to Torkin@beadforlife.com.

Happy summer to each of you. May this be a season of family fun and rejuvenation.
Torkin Wakefield
and The Bead Team

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Meet Pamela Layet

Pamela, like many of the beaders, is a refugee from the war in Northern Uganda, a war that has displaced a million and a half people. Pamela fled her war torn village in the middle of the night hiding with her family in the bush. At 27 she is married and the mother of four children. She has taken in five other children, including four orphans, the children of relatives dead from war and AIDS.  In all, twelve people live in her two-room house, which she can afford to rent due to her hard work, making beautiful beads. While she is the primary breadwinner, five of her relatives help her make beads.

Recently a more personal lose was distressing her. She lost one of her front teeth as a result of domestic violence. Never smiling she tried to hide the gap in her teeth.  She was self conscious and shy. One day she asked the BeadforLife staff if we could assist her in replacing this tooth. Here is her story in her own words        

"I am sending you greetings dear BeadforLife friends. Thanks very much for helping replace my tooth. When I lost my tooth, I thought that was the end. I didn't think that I would ever have it replaced. I lost it when my husband  hit me in the face in 1997 on Christmas day because I had asked him for permission to go visit my sister. I was very hurt but because I did not have any money I could not even afford to report the case to police so nothing was done to him. I am still married to this same man cos I have nowhere to go and he still drinks a lot of alcohol.

But I really needed my tooth back cos I like smiling. I was very happy when BeadforLife, through its Compassion Fund, paid 100,000 shillings as part payment and I made bangles worth 50,000 and was therefore able to get my tooth replaced. Thanks very much.  Now I can smile and laugh without feeling shy. Thanks to all the BeadforLife employees who treated me real well and helped me.

Yours faithfully, Layet Pamela

BeadforLife Partnership with Millennium Promise

BeadforLife is very excited to announce a partnership with Millennium Promise that will reach thousands more impoverished people in Uganda. 

The Millennium Villages project is working to prove that extreme poverty can be overcome through holistic interventions ranging from health care and primary education to road access and agricultural improvements.  They have partnered with 11 sites across Africa and will invest for five years, after which each village should be self-sustaining.

As a result of your support, BeadforLife is able to help fund the expansion of this comprehensive development strategy in partnership with Millennium Promise.  This partnership will not only benefit five thousand people in a village in southwestern Uganda, but is also an investment in a model of development that could hold promise for millions of the poorest people worldwide. 

Millennium Villages is spearheaded by economist Jeffrey Sachs, whose book The End of Poverty is excellent reading if you want more information on this project. It recently gained the attention of Angelina Jolie who has leant her support as well.

Take Action

The Millennium Villages Project   provides a blueprint for helping people in poor rural areas climb out of extreme debilitating poverty. The goal of this project, like that of BeadforLife, is to end the poverty trap so that people who work hard can support their families and have a sustainable income. 

Millennium Villages is evaluating each intervention they provide and has an ambitious goal: to prove this model works so that it can be expanded to the three billion people worldwide who live on less than two dollars a day.  Now you can get involved (same link as above) in this innovative project with your dollars and with your awareness and support. We are building a social movement to end extreme poverty and your voice counts! 

Get involved today!

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Songs from the Heart;  the Making of the BeadforLife CD

Singing about life's joys and sorrows is part of everyday life in Uganda.  Songs help you through the day. When BeadforLife began, songs poured forth like water. The women sing of AIDS and war, of feeding their children, of gratitude and joy. The songs are full of life and hope. We knew that we wanted to share them with the wider circle of friends in North America.

In March BeadforLife's webmaster and accomplished musician, Michael Waters, and sound technician, Anton Maki,( both Canadians) traveled to Uganda to record the songs. We rented the National Theater to make the recording as it was one of the few buildings where we were guaranteed electricity and relative soundproofing. The day was a buzz of excitement. Never had the beaders seen so many microphones, amplifiers, and earphones. Accompanied by drums they sang all day, twenty songs in all. Their voices are clear and courageous, richly conveying their hope for a better life - one they are slowly creating through their hard work, resilient spirits, and partnership with BeadforLife.

Starting in September our CD "Songs from the Heart of BeadforLife" will be sent to all Bead Parties. It will also be available for purchase at our online store. We just can't get these catchy tunes out of our heads..

Shopping is Giving

It's the height of summer, a time for colors and flair. Beads are bright and sunny and come in a range of hot colors.lemon yellows, lime green, and hot pink.  They look wonderful with sundresses and pedal pushers. The anklets highlight the feet in sandals for a very snappy look. Please treat yourself to something from our BeadforLife store to compliment your summer outfits or delight someone with a gift.

Remember every time you purchase something from BeadforLife you make it possible for us to further our work with women lifting themselves and their families out of poverty.  Thanks for shopping..and giving! Shop here

Birth Announcement: 

We are happy to share with you the arrival of the newest member to our Bead Circle.  He is Nile Cassim Tumakunde, the son of BeadforLife Co-founder Devin Hibbard and her husband Mark Jordahl.  A beader gave him the name "Tumakunde" which means "Let us love him."  Welcome Nile!  

Thanks to all!