When you purchase a gift you want just the right item. Sometimes we spend hours languishing over “just the right thing” to get that someone special. How about for your next gift, you truly make a difference in someone’s life?

Brett and his wife became involved with Ugandan AIDS orphans in 2003 through a pastor who came to America to tell their story and seek support for their cause. Facing uncertain finances at home theycommitted to a mission trip that would change their and the lives of dozens of families in Kampala forever. You see during this trip God made good on his promise to provide. Not only for Brett and his family but for the winnowers of Uganda.

It is during this trip to Africa that Brett was giving some beads by a teacher named Ricky who mentioned a side project he ran in Kampala, a group of about 70 churchwomen, most of them widows, who made baskets and beads out of varnished recycled paper.

To be polite, I took a look at some colorful and intricate beads he had brought with him from Kampala. Whoa, I thought. These are beautiful! Delicate shell shapes of yellow, turquoise and other bright colors were strung on simple strings. The last thing they looked like was recycled paper.

Soon word spread here in the states about this beautiful jewelry that is changing the lives of those women in Uganda. When you purchase this jewelry you allow women who lived on the streets to maintain a home and feed their children.

Products that change lives

All of our beads are hand made from recycled magazines, posters, and off cut factory paper from Uganda. The art of making the beads is taught to women, by women. The paper is cut, rolled, varnished and assembled through a process that takes three days from start to finish. Once beads are made, they are strung into jewelry. Because our beads are hand made from recycled materials, each piece of jewelry is uniquely different from the other.

These and other great styles are available here.