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This score is a ranking based on how natural,
eco-friendly, and non-toxic a product is, and is rated out of a possible total 5 stars.

STARS: 4 out of 5 stars for eco-friendliness
COMMENTS: The unique loose beads that we purchase to use in this necklace are handmade by the women in the Kakwanzi Power Beaders Group of the bead for Life organization. By utilizing these beads, we are supporting an incredible cause, and by purchasing our necklaces, you are helping us to support them even further!

Meet the Beaders and the Tailors
We are happy to introduce the beaders and tailors to you. Their stories, while full of loss and difficulty, show determination, beauty, and indomitable spirit. They are resilient and hardworking without self-pity. They enthusiastically roll beads and make jewelry bags with the hope of sending their children to school, feeding their families three meals a day or buying medicines.

The three sorrows of Uganda are poverty, illness, and war. All three impact our beaders. Beaders are invited to join BeadforLife if they are living on less than two dollars a day. Most of the beaders are mothers, taking care of their own children as well as AIDS orphans. Many have been widowed by the war and HIV/AIDS.

Women with HIV/AIDS
More than two-thirds of our members are women living with HIV/AIDS. HIV/AIDS has wreaked havoc in Uganda and throughout Africa. In Uganda alone, over 1 million people are living with HIV/AIDS. More than 1 million children have been orphaned. Every family has been affected. Many of our beaders suffer other challenges as well, including TB, malnutrition, illiteracy, unemployment, and no access to safe water.

Refugees from the War in Northern Uganda
Many of the women in BeadforLife are from the Acholi tribe and have been driven from their homes in Northern Uganda by a brutal warlord bringing terror and death to their villages. They left their agricultural way of life to avoid the violence and to protect their children from kidnappings. Over 1 million Acholi are now living in refugee camps. The Acholi in Kampala have built a mud village on the outskirts of town.

Earning a Living
Before BeadforLife, the beaders and tailors had few alternatives for supporting themselves and their families. They are mostly without marketable skills or adequate education. In Uganda unemployment is very high. For the Acholi women, the primary means of earning a living is at the rock quarry next to the Acholi Quarter. Sitting in the blistering sun, workers break rocks by hand to make gravel. For this bone-breaking work, they receive about a dollar a day or $25 per month. For our other beaders, many earned a few shillings washing clothes or selling vegetables. With BeadforLife, many of the beaders have become entrepreneurs: they now hire others to help them cut paper and roll beads. We estimate that besides the 150 beaders and 15 tailors working with BeadforLife, another 300 people are earning a living from the beads.

How Members of BeadforLife Spend Their Money
Our average member makes approximately $100 a month. Their first expenditure is for food. They want to provide three meals a day for their extended family. Both the quantity and the quality of the food they consume have improved since they joined BeadforLife. They joke amongst themselves at how they have become "round."

Living Conditions
The members of BeadforLife live in rented mud rooms without electricity, windows, or running water. Most of the rooms are small, measuring 10 by 15 feet. Our members have large families; normally six or more people live in the one small room. Often, one household includes several generations of siblings, grandparents, and cousins living together. Their few possessions might be a handful of clothes, cooking pots and utensils, water jugs, and perhaps a piece of furnitureor a sleeping mat. They cook outside over charcoal.

Gifts and Wisdom of the Beaders and Tailors
The women in BeadforLife have much to teach us. Through trying times their extended families remain intact and involved with one another in love and commitment. Their tribal ties provide a sustaining community. Although they have few possessions, they are rich in traditions, values, and belief in a spiritual presence. They are grateful for even the smallest gifts or happy occasions. They readily adopt children whose parents have died though they can barely feed their own. No one is left out. Their generosity, in the grip of poverty, is profoundly moving. They work hard and have hope living with dignity and determination. They sing and dance to celebrate BeadforLife and other joyful events.