Beads for life: Students sell beads to help eradicate poverty in Uganda

Beads may not mean much to many people, but for some women in impoverished countries, selling beads is a way to survive.

The Association of Black Business Students (ABBS) and the Retail Management Program (RPM) are having a bead sale from 11 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. today in Balmer Commons, as well as an informative bead event from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m.

Junior Patricia Dixon, president of ABBS, said the focus is to raise money from the bead sales.

“All the beads are made from women in Uganda and all profits will be sent to them,” she said.

The women who will benefit from the sale are all members of BeadforLife, a nonprofit organization dedicated to eradicating poverty in Uganda. The program provides the women of Kampala, Uganda the necessary skills to create beads out of recycled paper and sell them to help them support their families, Dixon said.

Vandra Huber, a professor of human resources and management who serves the faculty coordinator of Global Study Tours for the business school, is helping students host the bead event. She traveled to Uganda during autumn quarter and met the bead-making women.

“They worked 10 or more hours daily making beads and turning them into beautiful jewelry so they and their families, and the families or their relatives who have been displaced from war, can have a life,” she said. “So the children’s school fees are paid [and] so they can buy their own house via Habitat for Humanity and plot of land to grow their own food on.”

The organization began when three Ugandan women met another woman who lived off a meager amount of money and did not have a market at which to sell her beads. The three founders bought beads from her.

People began admiring the beaded jewelry, so the women decided to open a market for other women to sell their beads.

“The program enables them to make $1,200 a year rather then a dollar a day crushing rocks in the hot sun,” she said.

According to the Web site, BeadforLife creates “sustainable opportunities for women to lift their families out of extreme poverty by connecting people worldwide in a circle of exchange that enriches everyone.”

Not only does the organization help the women sell their jewelry, but it also offers programs in areas such as healthcare, vocational training and affordable housing.

The Ugandan women range in age, but they all have one thing in common: They are living on fewer than $2 a day. Many of them are raising children, have been widowed by war, and are struggling with HIV/AIDS.

Following the actual bead sale is an event that will raise more awareness about the organization.

“[The] event talks about the issues — the women,” Huber said. “In our case, one of our founders is coming and speaking on the business of eradicating poverty and how the program started.”

In addition to speeches, there will also be music and dancing. All proceeds from the events will go to the Ugandan women.

Huber said that people should come to the event because poverty is a worldwide phenomenon affecting all ages.

“They should come because we all have more in common than we have different,” she said. “We care about one another, about raising families, sending children to school [and] fairness. … Beadforlife gives women in Uganda a leg up and a chance to turn things around. The women have to take the initiative and they do. We can do our part in ensuring the supply change works and continues.”

[Reach reporter Shannon O’Hara at news@thedaily.washington.edu.]