BEADS FOR JOY necklaces and bracelets are hand rolled from slivers of recycled paper into delicate jewel-like treasures, one bead at a time.
WHILE LIVING in Jinja, Uganda, Katrine Winter from British Columbia Canada saw the struggles many bead makers were having trying to sell their handiwork. She was inspired to help redevelop their paper jewelry to appeal to a Western market.
In 2015, she met a group of women in Jinja who’d been driven from their homes in eastern Uganda by famine, poverty and war. Determined to help provide these single mothers with the means to survive, she founded the Karamojong Collective. Since then, the women have become highly skilled artisans and are now self-supporting entrepreneurs.
In 2024, the collective welcomed several young Ugandan women rescued from the human trafficking trade. By providing a means to earn an alternative source of income, they are far less likely to again fall victim to the deceptions of human traffickers.
