Paper Beads Give Hope to Women in Uganda

During a trip to Uganda, Torkin Wakefield, Ginny Jordan, and Devin Hibbard met Millie, a local woman who was rolling paper beads near her home. Though the beads were beautiful, there was no market for them, so instead Millie earned her living by hand-crushing stones in a rock quarry for one dollar a day. Wakefield, Jordan, and Hibbard bought some of the beads and returned home to the US, where friends admired Millie's creations. The three realized that there might be a market for paper bead jewelry after all, and in September 2004, they launched BeadforLife to help Millie and other Ugandan women build a better life for themselves and their families.

Since its founding, BeadforLife has trained more than 850 people to make beads and earn a steady income. The organization has also inspired a cottage industry in Kampala, Uganda, where paper beads are now widespread. Prior to BeadforLife's establishment, there was not a single local vendor selling paper beads in the city.

In 2010, BeadforLife introduced its second income generating program, the Shea Project. Over 700 women in Northern Uganda gather and process shea nuts to make beauty products, which are sold on the BeadforLife website alongside the handcrafted paper bead jewelry.

With a belief in a holistic approach to eradicating poverty, BeadforLife runs four community programs that focus on entrepreneurial development, vocational training, affordable housing, and health care. Furthermore, BeadforLife supports other causes by providing grants to like-minded non-profit groups. In the past, it has given scholarships to schools in Mbale, Uganda through Educate!; purchased supplies for programs run by One School at a Time; and funded flood relief through the Sungi Development Foundation in Pakistan.

BeadforLife also follows an environmental policy and has launched initiatives to reduce its carbon emissions, waste, and consumption of energy and materials.