Paper to Pearls™

Voices' first initiative of 2006 is Paper to Pearls™ (www.papertopearls.org), a project in support of the refugees in the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps of Northern Uganda. During two decades of insurgent activity by the Lord's Resistance Army, the Northern Region of the country has been torn apart: 80% of the population of the area has been displaced from their towns, villages and livelihoods to live in cramped and squalid camps. Where once they were independent farmers and trades people, they now live lives of forced dependence on international relief organizations.

An IDP camp in the Gulu District of Northern Uganda

In the fall of 2005, Voices for Global Change learned about a small number of women in three camps in the Gulu district who had formed cooperatives and were making paper bead necklaces. One month later, we had our project in place. Paper to Pearls™ sponsors the cooperatives by importing and selling the necklaces. The income from the sale of the jewelry is transforming lives, as the money enables the women to buy additional food and medicine and to send their children to school.

The unique jewelry is crafted from strips of colorful magazine paper that are rolled into beads, secured with glue and then varnished for sheen and durability. The beads are then assembled into necklaces, often with matching earrings. The jewelry is remarkable for its striking appearance....and no one imagines the beads are made of paper.

However, although the income from the sale of the jewelry is invaluable, we felt we could do more. The result is Paper to Pearls'™ "New Horizons" Program. Through "New Horizons" the majority of the net revenue from the sale of the necklaces is returned to the camps in the form of education, training and entrepreneurship development. Through our program, for example, women in the camps learn about their rights, child mothers (those abducted and raped by the rebels) learn how to start small businesses, displaced youth receive vocational skills training—just a few of the ways in which we help foster the skills that individuals and families can use to remake their lives while they are in the camps and provide stability and security once they are able to return to their homes. Please visit www.papertopearls.org for program details.