World On Fire

The world's on fire, it's more than I can handle
...I'll tap into the water try and bring my share
... ...Try to bring more, more than I can handle
... ... ...Bring it to the table
... ... ... ...Bring what I am able.
... ... ... ... ...Sarah McLachlan

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Torkin's message of the New Year

I have always loved the New Year. It represents the shedding of what is past, the joy and exuberance of celebration, and the optimism of new possibilities. This is a moment of freshness, where we look forward with hope, and a feeling that we are permitted to reinvent ourselves.

We live in a troubled world where many of the problems seem so enormous, global, and beyond our ability to influence or make better. It can be discouraging and lonely, where indifference is a skin to protect us from the pain of the real world. In the midst of these challenges lives our huge capacity to love deeply, create beauty, and solve problems. In BeadforLife we try to lead with love and appreciation, as well as effective interventions and partnerships. We are far from perfect in this endeavor. Still setting our intention to create friendships throughout the Bead Circle, we get to nourish each other and strengthen our ability to make a difference. And it gives me great hope that thousands of activated people are in The Bead Circle, with hundreds more coming forward each month.

I have a simple dream ….that every individual, every family, every church, school, government group, civic club, corporation, and small business from the resource abundant world will each participate in one project in a part of the world that suffers from extreme poverty. They will find a way to meet each other as people through stories, music, letters, visits, support, work, and beauty. Millions of points of light across the globe will begin to shine. Everyone who participates will have a life-affirming experience.

May 2007 be a year of opportunities for us to work together in BeadforLife. May each of us "bring what we are able."
Happy New Year from all of us….

Torkin
The Beaders
And the Bead Team

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Meet Bindebba Lillian and her son, Ronald

Looking at Lillian's bright face of just a year ago and at her thin frame now it is apparent that her AIDS and TB have laid her very low in the past months. Rolling beautiful beads, she was the only bread winner in her family of eight, who live together in a two-room mud house with no electricity or water. In an irony for modern medicine Lillian's great success of finding and taking the precious antiretroviral AIDS drugs had caused her immune system to strengthen. This enabled it to fight the TB, which made her very ill. She has been bed ridden, unable to walk, and only weighing 28 kilos (61 pounds). Last week BeadforLife took Lillian to the International Hospital in Kampala where she is getting excellent care and we hope will one day return to her family.

During Lillian's declining health her quiet son Ronald has been by her bedside to assist her. Ronald had to drop out of school at the end of the 8th grade for lack of school fees. He was at home without hope for his own future. Now Ronald and his sister are busy making colorful beads and provide for the family.

Observing this dedicated young man BeadforLife decided to enroll him in Uptech, a computer-training program. A couple in New York City, Paul and Arlene Bannister, are sponsoring Ronald to go to vocational school. We are hopeful that he will be able to find employment at the end of his training and be able to support his family for the rest of his life. A just reward for a devoted son.

Isaac Makes Good

Isaac was six when the Rwandan genocide broke out all around his Tutsi family. His grandmother ran with him and his sister into the swamp to escape the fate of his parents, brothers and sisters. Hiding and traveling by night she made her way to Uganda where she settled into a refugee slum and raised the children as best she could.

Isaac came to our attention as he moved from table to table in an open-air restaurant. Dressed neatly in a school uniform he was asking foreigners if they would consider sponsoring him, as he desperately desired to stay in school. Now three years later ,in partnership with BeadforLife, Isaac has finished Senior 4, (10th grade) and entered computer school where he studies diligently. Best of all he has lined up a job after he finishes his final course later this winter! A life defining accomplishment.

Congratulations Isaac. We are proud of you.

The Edge of Hope; A look at the AIDS epidemic in rural Africa…

The early morning sunlight still had coolness as we set out in a crowded van with six Ugandan friends. Our companions all worked together as home visitors in an AIDS project in Kampala, the capital of Uganda. They had become aware of a place beyond the reach of AIDS care and decided to do something about it themselves. They asked us to come see the HIV testing and education site they set up sponsoring it by paying all of the expenses out of their own impoverished pockets. We were willing to lend a little support to this generous effort. "Let's go see what's happening with this" was our breezy thought, unaware that we were about to see the unabated AIDS epidemic raging, up close and personal. Click here to read more...

Take Action

In addition to giving poor people meaningful employment or business opportunities, infrastructure like schools, roads, and the health system help people get themselves out of poverty. In developing countries, where the one billion people living on less than a dollar a day live, support of this infrastructure still depends on international development assistance.

At BeadforLife, we have seen first hand that US taxpayer funded initiatives have made a difference in the lives of our members. With the recent election bringing a whole new group of senators and representatives into congress, it is critical to let them know that supporting international assistance is important.

The US currently allocates less than 1% of our national budget to foreign assistance. Contact your representative to let them know you want them to support funding for foreign assistance, through the US Global Leadership Campaign, a consortium of businesses, defense experts, humanitarian groups, and others.

 

Shopping is Giving!

Here is a present that always fits: A BeadforLife Gift Certificate. Gift Certificates are now available on our website and available in various denominations. Gift Certificates allow the recipient the joy of discovering BeadforLife, and selecting exactly what they want.

Want to add a little brightness to your January wardrobe? How about matching up several bangle bracelets. Wear one, or buy a few fun colors for a bold look. At just $5 each, you can get several to wear together.

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. Please remember BeadforLife when looking for gifts with meaning!