Beads Of Hope Africa

Shop Now

admin — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:09:26 +0000

Show now for jewelery.

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 22:13:18 +0000

The Beaders

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 19:00:05 +0000

The beauty behind the beads.

Get Involved

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 18:07:50 +0000

Fair Trade

admin — Tue, 12 May 2009 16:45:06 +0000

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.

Words of Hope Africa

admin — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 18:47:59 +0000

Beadmaking

admin — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:32:38 +0000

Kevin, one of our beaders, demonstrates how the beads begin by using precisely cut triangular strips of colored poster paper

She rolls the strip tightly around a thin metal dowel.
She glues the end of the paper, and slides the bead onto a string.
Once many beads are made, the string of completed beads is dipped into a finisher to create a seal and gloss. The string of beads is hung to dry (which takes several days, depending on weather) The strung beads may go through the dip and dry cycle up to three times to create very shiny beads.
The dry beads are strung with spacer beads in an artistic pattern to create finished necklaces.

Kaden and Michelle

admin — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 15:09:00 +0000

Jan 18th 2009 Blog

Today was an incredibly happy one. I got to see Kaden!
I was slightly worried that she would not remember me at, but I was also thinking that the bond we have would have lasted, even though six months is a long time in the life of a four year old. I shouldn’t have worried.

No one had told the church or Esezra (Kaden’s grandmother) that we were coming. I preferred it that way, because if they knew, literally the whole village would have awaited our arrival.

Interestingly, even though Kaden had no way of knowing we were coming, she told her grandmother that morning that she had had a dream last night and that a mzungu woman was coming to church today. How did she know that? You know, it’s unexplainable, but I think some people can have brief psychic connections that defy logical explanation. My friend Linda Myer and I have this thing where one of us will be thinking of the other, and the other of us will call that instant… . It happened last week too. Linda was replying to a facebook post (which I had posted several days earlier) in regards to the movie/book, Twilight. I happened to be at Target (nowhere near my computer) and decided to call her before I bought the book and ask if she thought I should read the book first or see the movie first. She answered and said “That was fast!” and I said “what do you mean?” She had JUST hit the send button on her computer, telling me that she had said she thought it would be ok to see the movie first…. She was emailing me about the very thing I was calling to ask her about! Unexplainable!

Anyway, Kaden’s premonition came true. The first person I saw when I walked into the church (already in session) was Esezra. I ran over to hug her, and she pointed to where Kaden was. Kaden jumped into my arms, and I hugged her, and held her all during church! She totally remembered. She was so happy to see me! IT doesn’t matter we don’t speak the same language. She talks, I answer. We might be talking about apples or elephants, or maybe the global economy.but it doesn’t matter… we are having a great time.

We took Kaden and Esezra home, and I had Christmas with them. They live in a single room built on to the back of the house of Esezra’s son. I see why Kaden remembers me. My pictures (which I gave to her this summer) are featured prominently in the home, as are the things I gave to them. My presence is in that home, even though I am not there. That makes me happy, because I think about her every day. She loved the toys and clothes… and the shoes and dresses I bought were the absolute perfect size. Kaden wanted to put on the black and red dress immediately, so she did. She looked like a princess.

Arrival!

admin — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 17:15:00 +0000

January 14, 2009
I am safely here in Uganda. When I finally did arrive, I touched down and saw a Tree of Life (the Acacia) and thought… I’m really back in Africa… I am really here!
As soon as I pushed through the Customs exit… There was Jerome! It was good to see him! If one has ever spotted a face of a friend in a sea of strangers, you will know the feeling I am talking of….
Jerome kindly drove me to my guest house. I feel very at home here, and always have. Tonight I am the only one here except John, the guard… no guests, and Harriet is gone for the night. Herb and Ellen are back in Illinois for the time being.

My friend Bosco stopped by to lend me a cell phone – It was so good to see him again too. We visited on the veranda and ate pineapple as the evening sky melted into a soft, blue, purple and gold and finally indigo as the sun set. I can’t help but to think that there is well over a foot of snow on my driveway as I write this, sitting here in the gentle cool of the African evening. The stars will be out soon. And you can see stars here in Africa like nowhere else. There is very little pollution or light interference.

Friday, Jan 16th
I went to the market and spoke with all of the bead ladies. All of them wanted to join the cooperative. I explained that this time, we only have room for 20, but as it grow, maybe more can join. I bought things from each woman there, regardless of coop membership. Harriet, my manager here, is wonderful and smart with these women. She also had me talk to Roselyn, who is one of the ladies who was not on the list of 20 women. Roselyn stepped on a landmine about 20 years ago (1985) and it exploded against her head. Shrapnel is still embedded and doctors cannot remove it all, because it is inside her brain. She has one false eye, and she suffers from pain continually. She is a widow, as her husband was killed by rebels in 1986. Beadmaking is her only income, and most days, she leaves the market without selling enough to make food money for the week. I could not bear hearing this, and my list of 20 participants immediately increased to 21 so that I could include her.

Saturday, Jan 17^th… I am using child labor now… JUST KIDDING… Tonight, I was putting together the color charts for the bead ladies meeting (using paint sample cards) and Harriet’s two little boys wanted to join me for what they believed was a fun art project at the dining room table. I cut the paint cards into strips based on ROY G BIV and assigned each color a number. I will distribute these to the ladies, and when I am back in the USA, and I want a certain color, let’s say pink and green, for Delta Zeta, I email Harriet with the color numbers and that determines the correct shades for special orders….

I am so very excited because tomorrow is the day that I have been waiting for ever since I left Africa…. I see my little girl Kaden. I am going to church with her, and take her the Christmas presents I have for her and her cousin and grandmother. She will come to stay with me on Wednesday.

Off to Uganda Again…

admin — Sat, 10 Jan 2009 18:09:00 +0000

Hi- this is Michelle, and welcome to my new blog, which is specifically designed to accompany the Beads of Hope Africa fair trade initiative.
My first and original blog about what led me to Africa can still be found at www.michelle-d-boice.blogspot.com
I leave for Uganda in two days…. so lots to do.
While I am there this time, I have plans to form a fair trade cooperative with the beads ladies and set up a scholarship fund for their children… More on this to come!