Bead for Life

Megan Keany
December 9, 2008
Bead for Life

Can poverty really be eradicated one bead at a time? That is the slogan of BeadforLife, an organization dedicated to improving the lives of impoverished Africans in Uganda.
Ugandan women turn colorful recycled paper into beautiful beaded jewelry which is then sold by concerned world citizens. The profits are returned to BeadforLife which invests the money into community development projects in Uganda. The income generated helps people work their way out of poverty by providing them with medicine, housing, sustainable life skills and health services and education.
In the United States, BeadforLife is based out of Boulder, CO. University of Colorado senior, Chelsea Burns, became involved with organization her sophomore year of college. She wanted to be a part of something related to Africa when her professor recommended attending an interest meeting regarding a student group called BeadforLife.
“I went to the interest meeting and right away I knew I wanted to get involved. I spent that semester learning everything I could about the organization, all the ins and outs of how the non-profit was run, where Uganda was, and what political and social events were occurring in the country,” says Chelsea.
BeadforLife began in September of 2004 as a volunteer effort with the goal to support a small group of women in Uganda who were refugees from Northern Uganda’s brutal civil war. The founders decided their first group would include 90 women. The group included women for the Acholi Quarters who had fled their homeland where rebels burned their villages, abducted children for soldiers or sex slaves, and tortured or killed thousands of adults. Each woman told of terror and brutality, but remained optimistic and determined to survive.
In December of 2004 BeadforLife was mentioned in a small article in O – The Oprah Magazine which generated interest across North America. People, like Chelsea, were anxious to partner with women in Uganda to help lift their families from poverty.
Chelsea hosted numerous bead parties and became so involved with the organization that she traveled to Uganda last summer to visit with the workers and learn more about BeadforLife from the other perspective.
“I had seen how the whole administrative process worked on the American end, but it was incredible to see the process from start to finish. I got to meet many of the beaders, hear their personal stories, sit with them in their homes, and even learn how they rolled the beads.”
Each bead in the piece of BeadforLife jewelry is hand cut, rolled and totally unique. The process of taking a recycled poster or magazine page and making it into a beautiful, glossy piece of jewelry is one that takes time, hard work, attention to detail and a great amount of skill.
The organization makes money by sending the beaded jewelry from Uganda to people in the United States who then host bead parties to sell the jewelry and return the profits to BeadforLife. BeadParties are held in homes, churches, schools and at a variety of other venues where guests can purchase BeadforLife jewelry, including, bracelets, necklaces, earrings, as well as loose beads, music CDs and note cards. There is no cost to the party host and the organization sends everything he or she need to have a fun and successful party including: educational materials, Ugandan recipes, biographies of the beaders, African music CD, pricing, pre-paid return label, gift tags and our inspirational DVD.
Since her visit to Uganda, Chelsea has continued to be involved with BeadforLife in Colorado, raising awareness and encouraging others to host parties. My experience with BeadforLife in Colorado has been amazing. It's been great to work with so many wonderful people who care a lot about the empowerment of women and poverty eradication” says Chelsea.
She also loves getting people involved in wanting to alleviate poverty around the world and informing them about the political turmoil that has been happening in Northern Uganda for the past 20 years.
The turmoil began in 1971 when Idi Amin seized power over Uganda ruling the country with military force for the next decade. Amin’s rule cost an estimated 300,000 Ugandans’ lives and devastated the economy. Yoweri Musevini is the current president of the African nation and has been in power since 1986. Since Musevini came into office, respect for human rights in Uganda had advanced significantly, but there is still conflict in the country, especially in the North due to opposing military forces. The number of internally displaced persons is estimated at 1.4 million. Torture and attacks on political freedom are still occurring.
Because of this, organizations such as BeadforLife have come to aid citizens of Uganda. BeadforLife is unique because the organization strives to teach the beaders how to work their way out of poverty forever. They focus on community development as opposed to other charity associations which help Ugandans with clothing, food and other necessities, but doesn’t teach them how to rebuild their lives and survive on their own.
Chelsea’s most memorable day from her trip to Uganda was visiting a village that BeadforLife completed for over 70 of the women. “I met around 10 of the beaders and each one invited me into their home, gave me some sort of a beaded present, and wanted to show all they had achieved because of BeadforLife. Not only were they thankful, but they were proud. I got to meet everyone from a paper cutter to a group leader. Each person has their own job that some how goes into the process of making the beads, and each person's life has become exponentially better since they've joined the team.”
Learning how the organization was making a difference in these women’s lives and seeing the smiles on their faces when they talked about BeadforLife was inspiring to Chelsea to stay committed to the cause.
Her experience with BeadforLife has been incredibly inspiring. Chelsea’s favorite thing is walking around the University of Colorado campus and being able to say "Hey, nice beads" and knowing she’s made a difference.
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