"Bead for Life" Helps Develop a Community
It's only been running for a month, and it still faces many problems, but the Agoro Community Development Association's (ACDA) bead project already involves fifty-five women in four project groups, and looks like it will continue growing.
The project began when David Monahan, involved with RESPECT pen pals in Canada, contacted Bead for Life in an effort to raise funds for ACDA. Fred Tom, Coordinator of RESPECT in Uganda, and three other members of his team met with Bead for Life in Kampala.
While the project is not officially associated with Bead for Life, the organization has helped RESPECT Ghana get a similar project started. And with the interest of the ACDA Women's Group the project has taken off.
Tom hopes that the beads and jewellery, made from paper, varnish, seeds and tree paper glue, will eventually be sold globally, via the RESPECT ACDA website, and with support from UN online volunteers for RESPECT, although this is all still in the development stage. Tom is also hoping to develop funding sources, as the women are currently raising the money for materials themselves, by carrying water to building sites, and selling vegetables at markets. In particular, Tom encourages other women to lend their support to the project by buying jewellery and beads, which will also help to develop the market.
The project, of course, has not been without its problems. There is, at the moment, a lack of materials, funding and equipment, as well as a lack of shelter for production. A particular problem is the want of painkillers, as the long hours involved in making beads can lead to chest pains.
The women's group is also at risk of falling victim to its own success, as numbers may grow too large for the support available. However, Tom remains positive about the benefits of the project, in that it allows women to share their ideas and 'come out with what can be done as a result of the other difficulties that are facing.'
For more about ACDA and the Northern Ugandan refugees: http://home.comcast.net/~rdmonahan/index.html.