It's always feels good to purchase something beautiful that can help someone else in the process. This is part of what makes Bead for Life such a great idea. It's a program that connects U.S. consumers with a group of women beaders in Uganda who are working at escaping poverty. Check out their site and be sure to read the "meet the beaders" section of the site to get to know those multifaceted hard working beaders.

Before the Bead for Life program, many of the beaders were unemployed or worked for very low wages in rock quarries -- living on less than a dollar a day. This program provides a way for them to make a living and afford things we take for granted like a home and uniforms to send their children to school in. These women undergo training to learn how to make paper beads as well as how to run a small business. Bead for Life is a Fair Trade Federation member working toward equitable and sustainable trading partnerships and creating opportunities to alleviate poverty.

Check out this how-to-roll-paper-beads tutorial on their site - learn to recycle magazines and out of date calendars into beads.

posted by: Alicia of Alicia Colina-Ashby