top of page
.png)
.png)
The Bead Project was one of the first programs started by The Women of Pader Uganda. In 2013, Holly worked with a small group of women to bring forth opportunity, employment, and community. As one of our largest programs, The Bead Project is an easy way for new members to get involved with our ministry. Additionally, hundreds of women participate every year in the 'Bead Buying Program,' where we pay for every individual bead that is used to make our unique, handcrafted designs. Through The Bead Project, many women have gone on to open their own businesses and create their own success stories. One-hundred percent of profits of The Bead Project help to further our other programs, which our artisans also participate in. Below are some of the stories of our amazing artisans.
There are so many more stories like theirs amongst the 800 women who participate in The Women of Pader Uganda.
Fiona's Story
Fiona left school at 14 years old and came to Pader to attend a trade school where she learned to be a tailor. In 2015, she joined The Bead Project and was able to buy a sewing machine after doing bead work. It allowed her to own a tailoring shop and expand her business to include baskets. She is now the leader of The Bead Project's sewing team and helps make our various fabric designs. Through the profit made from this, she has been able to make a good home for her mother and her son. She says she is so thankful for this program and for all the work she has been able to do!
Sarah
Sarah is a hard working and creative woman with a past of serious illness, abuse, and much hardship. Today she is married to a "lovely and peaceful man" with whom she is raising 6 children. She was a leader in The Bead Project, but her true passion was cooking. Noticing her talent, TWOPU hired Sarah to be the lead cook for our staff of 89+. She has found much joy in her new role, and uses earnings to run a shop with her husband, pay school fees, and invest in livestock.
Miriam
Miriam moved to Pader for a job, but experienced difficulty because she didn't know their language and couldn't speak to anyone. She became homeless after being let go from her job, but then came across Pader Community Church. They connected her with The Women of Pader Uganda, and she began working in The Bead Project. Even though her eyesight is poor, she found friends there who cared for her and helped her make the jewelry. Even after the many challenges she's had in her life, Miriam has a great attitude and counts her blessings and gives thanks to God. She has even adopted two children from a child-led family that was a part of TWOPU's Mercy Program. She is now raising them with her granddaughter and they are all thankful for the blessing of family.
Agnes
"God has been taking care of me up to this moment," says Agnes. Her life in Pader began in a war camp, and she was one of three women chosen from the camp to be trained in tailoring. She now uses that skill as a part of The Bead Project's small tailoring team and helps make our various fabric designs. From the money she has earned, she's bought a pig, has been able to pay school fees for her children, as well as purchase new clothes for them. She says she now feels at peace and has community because of the opportunities God has provided through TWOPU and The Bead Project.
Scovia
Scovia is a talented seamstress, who learned to sew when she attended tech school. After Scovia was connected to The Bead Project, she saved enough money to purchase her own sewing machine. She is now a part of our talented tailoring team. She has a son named Omarwot, which means "I love God." The money she earns from sewing allows her to pay for Omarwot's school fees and provide food for her family. She says that her job with The Bead Project opens more and more doors for her and her family.
Paska
Paska says she is a former witch doctor and was using her money to buy alcohol. She says she struggled a lot, but when she heard about Pader Community Church, she became curious about the "Great God" they spoke of. She began attending the church and put her faith in Jesus Christ. She was so overwhelmed by her life change that she began leading her own small group and uses her testimony to lead others to Jesus. After being connected to The Bead Project, she saved her money to plant a garden for food and bought a cow. Today, Paska says she believes "these beads are made with the love of God" and is full of joy.
Santa
Santa had the heartbreak of losing three children, and her husband rejected her. Amidst her resulting depression, she moved to Pader. Shortly after, she began attending Pader Community Church. When she started attending a women's prayer group, she was introduced to The Bead Project, she turned a new course. She put away money from the beads into a savings group, and the group would divide it up at the end of the year. People once looked at Santa as "the woman with no children," but now she sees all children as her spiritual children. She has even adopted 8 children of her own! You can see Santa's joy as she is always ushering people in Church with a wonderful celebratory dance!
Irene
Iree has been with The Bead Project since 2013 and helps make bracelets and clutches. After her first paycheck from making jewelry, she bought a goat. She now enjoys participating in The Bead Project's Bead Buying Program, which pays women directly making the thousands of paper beads we use to create our designs. She said the last time she participated in the program, her earnings were enough to raise her house to a firm foundation and add rooms to it. She feels talented in her craft, and thinks she will continue to add to her home and pay school fees with her earnings.
Florence
Florence has been a part of The Bead Project from the beginning. She has used her earnings to invest in livestock. She was first able to buy a goat, and that goat had babies. Through breeding and selling goats, she has been able to buy a cow, which has also produced. She feels extremely successful in her raising of animals, and plans to continue and expand with her earnings from The Bead Project.
Jackie
Florence has been a part of The Bead Project from the beginning. She has used her earnings to invest in livestock. She was first able to buy a goat, and that goat had babies. Through breeding and selling goats, she has been able to buy a cow, which has also produced. She feels extremely successful in her raising of animals, and plans to continue and expand with her earnings from The Bead Project.
Beatrice
After her mother passed away and her father went to prison, Beatrice was forced to leave school and care for her younger two siblings. She was introduced to The Bead Project and began rolling beads. She then moved to assembling jewelry. Beatrice has been promoted to a Leader in The Bead Project due to her talent and attitude, making her the youngest leader on our team. She says she's able to use her earnings to care for her family, buy food, and buy clothes. Her favorite current designs are The Bar Necklace and Unity Earrings, which she enjoys putting together. TWOPU also helps pay school fees for her siblings through the Education Scholarship program.
Eunice
Eunice is a leader in The Bead Project. She says when she joined the team, she wasn't married and didn't know Jesus yet. However, she began going to Pader Community Church and decided to give her life to Christ. She said after working with The Bead Project, she got married and had children. She was able to buy a goat with her first paycheck, which had twins. Through her work, she now owns 5 cows that have all produced and was able to buy a motorcycle for her family. Next, she wants to save up to add an iron roof to her house. She doesn't read or write, but says "God has blessed me with natural creativity, so I thrive under The Bead Project."
Hellen
Hellen has ailments that prevent her from working in a garden, which is a vital economic necessity for many in Pader. However, instead of working in a garden, she is able to work in The Bead Project instead. She says her earnings help her afford her medicine and school fees for her 8 children. Her favorite thing that she's been able to purchase with her earnings is a goat that has produced.
Concey
Concy has been with The Bead Project for four years. She says The Bead Project's parent non-profit, The Women of Pader Uganda, has been able to give one of her children an education scholarship. She is able to send the rest of her children to school using her earnings from The Bead Project. She has also been able to buy a goat and hens with her earnings. She says "I have saved on my own initiative to secure a future and good investments." Her favorite design of The Bead Project's is the Paper Bead Clutch.
Alice
Alice works in our Glass Beads department. Before The Bead Project, Alice says she didn't have shoes, had only one pair of clothes, couldn't afford to send her children to school, and didn't have any livestock. She says "I didn't even know paper could be a bead." However, Holly (our founder) taught her to make beads on one of her first trips to Pader. She began working with The Bead Project and began earning money. She said she first bought shoes and clothes, and then got her children enrolled in a good school. Her home life has even changed. She says "Also, as a result of the beads, it influenced my husband to change and follow me to church. As a result, he bought me a proper wedding ring." She and her husband care for their 8 children and plan to provide them all with the best education.
Santina
Santina says "We thank Holly [our founder] for the way she has entered Pader. By the time she came and met us women, we were not seen as human beings here in Northern Uganda. But Holly started with us like we were people and picked us up from rubbish. We started with the beads, and The Bead Project has brought many changes in our lives. We are so proud because now we have pigs, children who study, and can afford groceries to eat." She recalled a serious drought and famine, but says TWOPU "brought us food and distributed it. It has all enabled us to survive." Santina even brags about the change in appearance of her peers. "They had nothing, but now they are decked out and look so good." She ended with "If [The Bead Project] wasn't blessed, it would fail."
.png)
bottom of page