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Q: Are the beaders paid a fair trade price for their necklaces?
A: Yes. Working with its in-country partner, TAKS (Through Art Keep Smiling), Voices for Global Change has created a trading relationship with the beading cooperatives that emphasizes respect for their work and supports their self-sufficiency. The women themselves set the prices for the jewelry they make and are ensured a living wage for their work.
Q: How do the women use the money?
A: The situation in the camps is dismal, and most inhabitants are dependent on humanitarian relief. The money the beaders earn goes toward more nutritious food and to pay for medicine and school fees and supplies for the their children.
Q: How is the Paper to Pearls initiative unique?
A: The benefits from the sale of necklaces do not end with their purchase by Paper to Pearls. Through the New Horizons™ program we help provide the knowledge and skills individuals and families need to improve their lives while they are in the camps and provide stability and security once they are able to return to their homes.
Q: Will the beaders continue to create the necklaces when peace comes and they go back home?
A: We have asked our beaders this question and all respond in the affirmative. As one put it, "Paper to Pearls is part of our lives. We consider it our second garden." Our training programs, which refine beading skills and provide savings and cash management training, help give the beaders a way to make their necklace "businesses" an income generating activity that will be sustainable over time.
Q: How does Paper to Pearls deal with any health and safety issues that may arise from the fact that wood varnish is the finish used on the beads?
A: The health and well being of our bead makers are of paramount importance to Paper to Pearls. Our contract with TAKS (which has responsibility for working with the beaders on a day-to-day basis) clearly spells out that one of its responsibilities is to ensure that the beaders adhere to a number of health and safety requirements. These include that they: 1) use masks and gloves when applying varnish to the beads, and work in the most ventilated area possible; 2) apply the varnish using brushes, when possible. This further protects their hands and minimizes absorption and subsequent odor emanating from the product; 3) make every effort to store the necklaces outside their living quarters.
In addition, we are making every reasonable effort to identify an eco-friendly, non-toxic varnish to use as a finish for the beads.
Q: As a purchaser of Paper to Pearls necklaces, should I be concerned that the finish on the beads is a varnish?
A: The volatiles from the varnish dispense into the air over time. The necklaces are dried and kept in the open air for at least two weeks before they are sent to us. Once received, we put all newly purchased necklaces into vacuum ovens that draw volatiles out the beads. Finally, all necklaces are stored in a well-ventilated environment until they are purchased or consigned. We have never had a buyer return a necklace because of the varnish, but it is possible to have a skin sensitivity to it.
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