When it comes time for market days, the women put the finishing touches on their necklaces and prepare for a visit from the local P2P staff. Each co-operative gathers on a designated day with their completed products and the printed order that was distributed at the beginning of the month.
Our group of child mothers is particularly enthusiastic; they are always sitting joyfully under a large mango tree with their necklaces displayed when we arrive. When they see us arrive we are greeted with shouts of welcome ‘Apwoyoba!’. We first greet all the women individually, as is custom in Uganda, before settling down on bamboo mats to look through their proudly displayed necklaces. Comparing the products to the order from the United States, we go through the necklaces one by one identifying mistakes that can be corrected on the spot and documenting each necklace that is to be purchased. Each beader is considered a separate ‘seller’, is paid independently and signs off on the purchase. During the last set of market days several of the women in this group were so amazed at their success that they cheered and sang when they added their signature to our books.
One of the women in our Women of Ester co-operative was so excited with the amount she earned that she exclaimed ‘I am going to eat CHICKEN tonight!’ Due to the conflict over the past two decades, there is a lack of livestock in the North and chicken has become a prized meal. Her family was able to eat like kings, with enough to spare for school fees and some medication.
As we gear up for another set of market days, the women assure me at every meeting that P2P will be so pleased with their products. I see them swelling with pride as their work continues to improve and gain attention from the international community.
Meghan Ryan
P2P Project Supervisor
Gulu, Uganda
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( 3 / 441 )Fiona Fitzgerald, our newest Personal Representative, signs her emails, "From the land of the sand." She lives in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates, half a world away from her native Australia. Fiona read about Paper to Pearls in a local magazine and immediately felt a connection to the project. "It sounded like such a wonderful cause, and when I went to the website I was convinced this was something I wanted to do. Many Western women are in the UAE because of husbands who are doing contracting work and we have a lot of free time while our children are in school. Raising money to help the women in northern Uganda is a perfect way to be busy and feel I'm doing something meaningful. And everyone absolutely loves the jewelry and the story."
Although P2P Personal Representatives generally operate as small retail businesses—buying wholesale and then selling retail and retaining the profits—Fiona has generously decided to return the majority of the money she makes to P2P. "The pleasure of this project is knowing the good it is doing for women in poverty, helping them to move from a state of need to one of possibility and opportunity. That's all the payment I need...and besides, this is fun!"
Fiona sent us pictures from one of her events. I particularly love the dancing figures from her sales table; they make me of think of the dancing spirit in all women and how my beaders have reason to dance again because of the open hearts of women like Fiona Fitzgerald.
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( 2.9 / 381 )
Four colorful necklaces draped over a white folded stand, one display among 60 in a handsome exhibit of "Paper Jewellery", a new show at Milan’s Triennale Design Museum. The work of peasant women in northern Uganda thus placed side by side with that of the finest jewelry artists in the world. As I walked the exhibit, I thought yet again of the evolution of our beaders’ work from simple to exceptional and how it came be chosen by the curators of "Paper Jewellery" for inclusion in this amazing show.
During the afternoon press conference, I listened to the Triennale’s Vice-President exhort the “women of Milan” to think about paper in a new way, to consider how this humble medium can be reworked by skilled hands and become fashionable art. “Ladies, will you wear paper jewelry?” he challenged the women in the room and beyond. “Can you accept that it can be stylish, beautiful and fun, and that it creates its own fashion statement?”
From the beginning, the reaction to our beaders’ work has always been, “I can’t believe it’s made of paper.” At the crowded opening of the exhibit, this was a consistent reaction to many of the items on display. Fanciful cutouts, layered cardboard, paper bent, twisted and pleated into dramatic shapes. Our paper beads were not the most creative or stylish in the room, but they fit in perfectly; and among all the stunning, often startling pieces, they are probably the most unique: necklaces that take paper into the realm of fashion while taking women and their families out of poverty. Paper as pearls, paper as beauty, paper transformed and transforming. Northern Uganda―poor and marginalized, torn apart by war and displacement―now has another story to tell.
"Paper Jewellery" will be in Milan until October 25th. It will then travel internationally, returning to Italy in July 2010, where it will be on display at the Paper Museum of Fabriano in Umbria throughout the summer.
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( 2.9 / 391 )
This week is Fashion Week in New York, and I find myself thinking about the fashion aspect of Paper to Pearls. When I started this initiative, I didn't think of this at all. The jewelry, although attractive and interesting was initially too basic, too simple to be a fashion statement. What everyone found compelling was the story...of women in refugee camps beading their way out of poverty and transforming their lives in the process.
Three and a half years later, however, we have a product that is indeed fashionable. The skill of our beaders has increased exponentially both in execution and styling. We have worked hard to teach them what quality means, and the results...well, what better testament to the evolution of their work than its inclusion in the upcoming Milan Paper Jewelry exhibit. (The accompanying photo is one of our necklaces included in the show.) The work of farming women from northern Uganda will be featured side by side with that of some of the major jewelry designers in the world. And in Milan, perhaps the fashion capital of the world!
Our beaders are still beading to improve their lives and the lives of their families. We still are still passionate about supporting them and telling their story as an example of what is possible in one of the most marginalized regions in the world. Meanwhile, we represent a product that is "green" and fair trade and, increasingly, a fashion statement, and that is worth celebrating. It's also interesting to note that the Ethical Fashion Preview will debut this year during New York Fashion Week. This event will spotlight fashion designers who create collections using environmentally friendly materials and processes, and manufacture their collections respecting fair trade and fair wage principles. Clearly, we fit right in!
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( 2.9 / 336 )My friend Ann recently returned from East Africa, full of stories about her adventure: wonderful animal safaris in both Kenya and Tanzania, and fascinating encounters with local people particularly in rural areas. Among the highlights were meeting and interacting with members of the Samburu tribe of Kenya and the Maasai of neighboring Tanzania, both well known for their colorful beaded necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Ann wore her Paper to Pearls necklaces frequently during her trip and in doing so caught the attention of women from both tribes who wanted to know what the beads were and where they were from. "Uganda", Ann repeated several times in response. The women fingered the necklaces and apparently discussed them in their language. Ann and I are certain that whatever they said was complementary! Here's Ann with a Maasai woman, both wearing their unique necklaces.
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