The following write-up is courtesy of Mr Philip R Dail,
Director of Advising and Admissions for the College of Textiles at NC State University.

Mr Dail is a former Advisor for David Caudle at NCSU. He and his wife are close friends of Abby and David. Phillip is the person responsible for importing the "Fair Trade" jewelry being sold at Gabby's. Beleza, "beautiful" in Portuguese, is the shop the Dail's own and operate at Cameron Village in Raleigh, NC.



 

Paper Bead Jewelry

How They Are Made

Each bead is carefully rolled by hand from cut strips of colorful magazine paper, secured with glue, then varnished for shine and durability and assembled into necklaces and bracelets. The results are striking (a frequent comment is, "You'd never know they were paper!"). We are working with a group of women through our friend, Eddie Bbira, who lives in Kampala where so much of this is centered. NO PAINT or DYE is added to any of the beads. The color comes from whatever color the paper had that they use.

 

 

Children in a Camp

History

Northern Uganda is a region of rich soil and a mild, semi-tropical climate. Traditionally, it has been heart of agricultural production for the country. Now, however, its distinguishing feature are the hundreds of internal refugee camps, known as IDP or Internally Displaced Persons camps that nearly two million people are forced to call "home". Where once they farmed and herded livestock, Uganda's displaced have been forced into camps for their own safety. Against this backdrop, several international relief efforts have been established to help the people to earn income through the production and sale of bead jewelry made from recycled paper

 

Rolling a bead

Two decades of insurgent activity by the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) has resulted in burned towns and villages, abducted children and brutally destroyed lives and livelihoods. Farming within the vicinity of the camps is often not feasible, since the LRA rebels are known to attack farmers and steal their crops. Conditions in the cramped and squalid camps are a humanitarian crisis; malnourishment and disease are common and families in the camps must rely on international assistance in order to survive. This is extremely harsh on these once proud and independent people.

 

Women making beads

Our goal is to help bring attention to the people's plight and to demonstrate that in the span between humanitarian aid and redevelopment assistance, there is place where the people themselves — when offered a hand — can improve their lives. We stress that being born in a situation like this is no indication of the ability of the person to be productive. We just need to help them as they struggle to help themselves.