Fair Trade

How We Are Fair Trade: We are committed to elevating those living in poverty with fair wages, educational opportunity, and equal opportunity through self -directed choices.

The majority of our beaders are women displaced by the ongoing civil war in the northern region of Uganda. Prior to beadmaking, many of these women were working at the only job they could find- breaking rocks manually in the quarries for road building. This job paid about $40 a month- or $1.50 a day. By making bead necklaces, the women can instead make five to six times that amount ($200-$300) which is a fair living wage in the local context. This is also a far less physically demanding job for the women.

What is Fair Trade? Fair Trade as defined by the FAIR TRADE FEDERATION is building long term equitable partnerships between organizations in America and developing countries.

Below is a list of the Fair Trade business practices that Beads of Hope Africa embraces:

• We insure fair pay (a living wage) in the local context.
• Sustainable income (long term plans)
• Providing equal opportunities to all people, particularly the most disadvantaged
• We insure safe and healthy working conditions within the local context.
• No forced or child labor. Each participant is an adult, working of free choice.
• Respect for cultural identity
• Providing financial and technical assistance to producers whenever possible. Beads of Hope Africa also provides training opportunities free of charge in order to grow the collective skill set of workers and create a community of collaborative learners.
• Education of consumers on importance of Fair Trade

These Fair Trade criteria were established by The Fair Trade Federation. To read more about Fair Trade, please see Fair Trade Federation (FTF) or the World Fair Trade Organization.