IF YOU GO

BeadforLife

1143 Portland Place, Suite 1

Boulder, CO 80304

Hours: M

Tupperware parties? So 1970s. Mary Kay? Way too much pink. Pampered Chef? Fun, but who really needs another garlic press?

The new trend is in-home parties that benefit a worthy cause. Case in point: BeadforLife, which sells beaded jewelry across North America through house parties. The colorful bracelets and necklaces are handmade by women in Uganda, and the revenue generated provides them with skills, income, and the chance to escape a life of extreme poverty.

Throwing a bead party is simple. The host sets a date, and BeadforLife sends a box of beads, along with party instructions, a sample invitation and press release, a CD of African music, biographies of some of the women, and a DVD about the program.

After the party, the host returns the box and proceeds using a prepaid label.

"There is no cost to the host," says Devin Hibbard, the director of North American and international programs.

Hibbard co-founded the organization in 2004 with Torkin Wakefield and Ginny Jordan. The impetus was a chance encounter Wakefield and Jordan had with a female refugee in the Acholi Quarter of Kampala, the capital city of Uganda.

The woman, Milly Grace Akena, was making beads by the roadside. Like many others who had fled civil unrest and violence in the north, Akena was living in slum conditions in a refugee camp.

The only job available to the refugees was crushing rocks by hand, hour after hour under the punishing sun, for approximately 80 cents per day.

Many of the women had learned to make beaded jewelry from discarded paper, but they had no market for their work. Hibbard, Wakefield and Jordan met with some of the women, about 100 in all, and purchased a few items from each. That fall, in September of 2004, they officially launched BeadforLife.

Women are enrolled in the program for 27 months. During that time they learn to make and sell beaded jewelry, along with other business skills. They're given access to healthcare products, and have the opportunity to build a home.

"Really, it's about gaining skills and assets during that time period," Hibbard says, "so that once they graduate from BeadforLife they really can be self-sufficient in the local economy."

The impact on the Ugandan women has been dramatic.

"The women that we're working with were all living on less than a dollar a day before enrolling in the project. They are now able to earn between $5 and $7 a day," says Hibbard.

The money translates to a middle-class income, equal to or higher than salaries for teachers and policemen. The women no longer need to choose between food and medical care, and more of the children are able to attend school.

Despite the difficulties they face, the spirit of the women is irrepressible. One of the striking things about the Ugandan people, Hibbard notes, is their warmth.

"They're just very, very friendly," she says. "They have an expression, 'You are most welcome.' Really, you'll hear that 10 times in a day if you travel in Uganda. 'You are most welcome.' People are really genuinely happy to see you and want to talk to you and connect with you."

From the original group of 100, the program has grown to include over 300 members. The money they earn and the skills they gain resonate throughout the community.

"It's amazing," Hibbard says. "They all support 10 or 12 or 15 other people. So we estimate that the benefit, just from those people selling beads to us, benefits some thousands of people in Uganda. It's incredible to see how the effect ripples out."

Sales have increased every year, and BeadforLife will soon purchase its one-millionth item from the women. Hibbard isn't sure exactly when the momentous transaction will happen, but anticipates it will occur sometime in August.

"It's a very exciting milestone for us."

While BeadforLife has made amazing strides, it's still just a drop in the bucket. Hibbard stresses that 1.2 billion people around the world live in extreme poverty, and that it's critical for developed countries to give them a hand up, not a handout.

"BeadforLife is one program that's been really effective in eradicating poverty by allowing women an opportunity, through their own hard work, to lift their families up."

BeadforLife has offices in Kampala, Uganda; Bainbridge, Washington; and Boulder, Colorado. Jewelry may be purchased directly in those locations, through the Web site, www.beadforlife.org, or via a house party.

"The important thing is for people to know that it can be done," Hibbard says. "We can overcome extreme poverty, and there's lots of ways to get involved."