DATE: February 21, 2008

Balmer Commons at the UW Foster School of Business turned into a marketplace for hand-crafted African necklaces, bracelets other beaded items February 20. Undergraduate students from the Association of Black Business Students and the Retail Management Program sold beaded jewelry made by impoverished Ugandan women, raising $3,300 for Bead for Life.

Bead for Life co-founder Devin Hibbard (UW Evans School of Public Affairs alumna) spoke about the "business of eradicating global poverty" at a Foster School event after the bead sale. "Business is a huge part of the solution to ending poverty," said Hibbard.

The Bead for Life non-profit started when she and the two other co-founders traveled to Uganda and bought beads on their trip. Compliments they received on the hand-made jewelry spawned an idea to help create a marketplace for the beads that would ultimately help the Ugandan women lift themselves out of poverty. Bead for Life has helped women improve their economic circumstance for the past three years.

"People love the necklaces, but they really love the story," said Hibbard at a Foster School event to raise awareness of global poverty. "The story is about helping impoverished women find markets so they can lift themselves out of poverty. Bead for Life is really this bridge of understanding. People feel a great sense of connection."

Professor Vandra Huber, who teaches human resource management at the Foster School, traveled to Uganda to volunteer, helping build a community stage in a Ugandan village, and returned to continue her social justice work by helping students organize a Bead for Life bead sale and event on campus.

"The women who roll beads come from extreme poverty, and were living on less than $1 per day before enrolling in Bead for Life. Now they earn between $5 and $7 per day. Even though the odds are against them, there is a very resilient spirit that exists. They are rich in many, many ways. There is a richness in generosity, a richness in community, a richness in culture, and a richness in family life."

In addition to providing markets for beaded jewelry, Bead for Life created programs that help women attain a sustainable life such as offering health care services, vocational training, entrepreneurial skills training, helping the women set up savings accounts and learn about money management, assisting with affordable housing by partnering with Habitat for Humanity.

Success is tangible and growing for the Ugandan beaders. "These women sell beads to Bead for Life kind of like independent contractors. Today, there are 54 women who have built their own homes."

Beads are made from recycled paper and no two beads are alike. They are as unique as the stories of their makers. Each piece of jewelry is made by a woman working to end the cycle of poverty in Uganda: women providing food and shelter for their families, widows caring for their own kids and AIDS orphans, Uganda civil war refugees and women living with HIV/AIDS. All profits from the bead sale will go to Bead for Life Ugandan beaders and are invested in Ugandan community development projects.