BeadforLife Affordable Housing Program

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Our Work in Uganda
Entrepreneurial Development

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For Youth

Affordable Housing/
Friendship Village

Read more about Friendship Village

Meet The Families

Health Projects

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When BeadforLife first began in September 2004 our members told us they dreamed of owning their own house and having a bit of land. They were living in abysmal situations, some in shacks cobbled together, some under trees, others in rough mud rooms without windows or water or electricity. Housing became one of our priorities. We encourage members to save money to purchase their own home or to build one in our village project.

In evaluating our first group to graduate we found that 91% said that their housing situation has improved since joining BeadforLife. 80% of respondents have purchased new homes or made home improvements.

A beader tends her garden outside her
house in Friendship Village

Friendship Village:

Where yesterday there was nothing but pasture, today a village of houses for 132 impoverished Ugandan families has been built. Started as a collaboration with Habitat for Humanity, the BeadforLife Friendship Village has risen outside Kampala in Uganda. Shovelful by shovelful, brick by brick, beaders have enthusiastically built their own and each others’ homes. As one beader says: “If you own a home, you are never really poor.”

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Read more about Friendship Village
Meet The Families


	7:00 am: I wake up when the birds are singing. Then I roll in my bed to gain the strength for the day, as I am weak from HIV. 7:30 am: Light the charcoal fire and prepare breakfast tea. Then I take my medicines. 8:00 am: Clean the eating utensils and neighbors help me to fetch water. 10:00 am: After gaining strength I try to clean the floor and do mopping. 10:30 am: I make beads. 12:00 pm: I take a second dose of medications and continue to make beads.
1:00 pm: I take tea again with the balance of yesterday’s food, which my kids have prepared for me. Then I rest. 2:00 pm: I clean the compound and greet villagers while walking through neighborhood. 3:00 pm – 5:00 pm: Work on beads. My last born, Diana, comes back from school to help prepare supper. 4:00 pm: My elder boy comes back from school tired and is loaded down with homework. 5:00 pm: My boy fetches water which should be enough for tonight and the next day. 6:00 pm: My elder son, Emma, organizes a bit of warm water to me to bathe first then the children bathe. 7:00 pm: We eat supper together in our new happy home. 8:00 pm: I go to sleep and the children continue to do their school homework. “As a single mother I always try to associate with my neighbors and attend meetings in my village. When I am not feeling well my sons, Emma and Michael, amaze me by singing for me. This really encourages my heart. I have taught them to share things with other children and how to love. I know that one time they will be blessed.”

Make a donation. Donations to BeadforLife go directly towards eradicating poverty in Uganda. 93 cents of every dollar is invested in community development work fighting extreme poverty, including projects in health care, vocational training for out-of-school youth, affordable housing, and entrepreneurial skills development. BeadforLife is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization (tax ID: 20-1683139). Donations are tax deductible to the full extent of the law.

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BeadforLife Photographer: Charles Steinberg

web design: Ladybird Communications