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| Grass-roots enterprise: BeadForLife employees converge on program cofounder Ginny Jordan (c.), who records the value of their
beads on a computer. Jessica Scranton  BeadForLife: Papercraft path out of poverty |
In Africa, a papercraft path out of poverty
Poor Ugandan women turn their lives around by handcrafting for BeadForLife, a small Colorado-based nonprofit group.
By Jessica Scranton | Contributor to The Christian Science Monitorfrom the October 31, 2007 edition
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Kampala, Uganda - Paper beads of all shapes and sizes are helping women lift themselves out of the slums of Uganda.
The women, most of whom live in crowded, one-room shanties on the outskirts of Kampala, have few economic opportunities. Most are displaced from the north. Fleeing civil war, they settled near the capital in hope of a brighter future. Instead, they found HIV/AIDS, hunger, and unaffordable housing.
Ngaio Mary, a mother of four, has been diagnosed with HIV. In 2002, she was living on the streets near Kampala, begging for food. In 2004 she joined BeadForLife, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating poverty.
Founded two years ago by Torkin Wakefield, Ginny Jordan, and Devin Hibbard of Colorado, the group is helping African women work their way out of poverty. The women make paper beads and jewelry, which are then sold in North American homes at BeadForLife parties– a hip version of the Tupperware party, but for beaded jewelry.
The success of BeadForLife has been rapid and continues to exceed forecasts, the founders say. When it was formed in 2004, "my sights were modest," says director Ms. Wakefield by phone. "I was hoping to set up a few stores in Kampala and Boulder to sell the beads, where I could slowly build a market. In September 2004, we decided to go ahead for nonprofit status and create a small business, and we have been chasing it ever since."
BeadForLife sprang to life when Ms. Jordan and Wakefield, then living in Uganda, walked through an impoverished dwelling and came upon a woman named Millie Grace Akena. Ms. Akena was sitting on the ground, rolling beads using old magazines. She said she loved working with her hands, but had no market for her jewelry. For money, she did manual labor in the nearby quarry, crushing rocks for less than $1 a day.
Wakefield bought a few necklaces and within days had given them to friends, who admired the bead design. She thought to herself, "What do you mean, 'There are no markets'? There are plenty of markets." Subsequently, a training class was created to improve the quality of the beadwork. Ugandan women flooded the workshops.
Wakefield, Jordan, and their friend Ms. Hibbard asked one another, "OK, what are we going to do with this? It seems like we can help some very impoverished women in Uganda." BeadforLife was born.
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