The Bead Makers
Lucy
LUCY lives in Masese 3, a permanent camp on the outskirts of Jinja, Uganda that houses refugees from Karamoja.
This area of eastern Uganda is chronically poor. Lucy’s necklace team includes her teenage children and members of her extended family, frequently the case when income earning opportunities are few. The beautiful paper bead necklaces they make are a stark contrast to the squalor of the camp they live in. Lucy is determined to educate her children and give them a chance for a better future.
Vincent and Peace
VINCENT AND PEACE are both confined to wheelchairs, yet with the help of their children, they scour the streets of Jinja searching for discarded bits of coloured paper. They find the paper mainly at the end of the annual local fair, as they reside just outside the fair grounds. Inside their tiny home they transform the litter into lovely eco-jewelry and financial independence.
Mary
MARY lives in Kampala with her 9 year old daughter Ahdia. Like many African single mothers, she became a victim of human trafficking and nearly lost her life working in the Middle East in 2023.
She survived but never wants to live apart from her daughter again. Naturally talented at jewelry making, she uses the income from making Beads for Joy necklaces and bracelets to pay Ahdia's school fees.
Clare
CLARE has been making necklaces for Beads for Joy for over ten years, one of several things she does to support her family. During those years she also raised chickens, sold clothes, worked as a bookkeeper, and started a small society that supports young single moms that have been victims of domestic violence as she has.
She initially used her necklace earnings to help her brother complete college. Now a mother of three, she puts them towards her children's school fees. Clare is an extremely resourceful woman in finding ways to make ends meet and ensuring that her children have an education.
Betty and Salima
BETTY and her 18 year old daughter SALIMA have lived behind an abandoned institution in the staff quarters, which consist of a row of tiny rooms, since Salima was a baby. Crippled by polio as a child, Betty walks with a pronounced limp but keeps pace with everyone.
Income has always been a problem, but Salima has grown into a leader amongst the youth in her neighborhood, finding funds to help children needing medical attention and organizing homework groups with adequate lighting to aid them in their grades at school
The necklaces they make together pay Salima’s school fees, provide for most of their basic needs as well as contribute to Salima’s college education fund. They are proud to be sustaining their simple but harsh life on their own. Betty and Salima’s long term goal is to buy themselves a piece of land to farm and further their ability to provide for themselves.