This is recycled materials and fair trade partners. Instead of flashy marketing, Acholi Beads abides in the true story of Ugandan women and their beautiful creations; their decades of fear and their newfound hope. This business is committed to the long-term success of our partners, working jointly to build a foundation for independence and the tools to thrive.

The women we partner with fled a brutal civil war in the north of Uganda. Everyone in their Acholi tribe lost someone. They ended up in a hillside slum just outside of Uganda’s capital, where the only way they could feed their families and the orphans they cared for was working in a dangerous rock quarry, crushing rocks for $1 per day - the international standard for Extreme Poverty.

Now these women earn a professi... (more)

This is recycled materials and fair trade partners. Instead of flashy marketing, Acholi Beads abides in the true story of Ugandan women and their beautiful creations; their decades of fear and their newfound hope. This business is committed to the long-term success of our partners, working jointly to build a foundation for independence and the tools to thrive.

The women we partner with fled a brutal civil war in the north of Uganda. Everyone in their Acholi tribe lost someone. They ended up in a hillside slum just outside of Uganda’s capital, where the only way they could feed their families and the orphans they cared for was working in a dangerous rock quarry, crushing rocks for $1 per day - the international standard for Extreme Poverty.

Now these women earn a professional wage making Acholi Beads. They handcraft each bead from a piece of recycled paper, and creatively string them together into the beautiful pieces you will find on this site. They work from the comfort of their homes, or together in common areas, and have started their own legal cooperative to manage their successful jewelry business. We are proud to partner our business with theirs.

And we don’t stop there. Acholi Beads provides training for woman we partner with on how to manage their personal finances for long-term success, including budgeting, savings, entrepreneurship, and microfinance training. Our goal for our partners is independent success, with or without Acholi Beads, for the rest of their and their families’ lives.

Business is the most powerful force for economic development the world has ever known, and we’re focusing that power for the benefit of those who need it most. We call it Socially Proactive Business, a business whose success is inextricably linked to making the world a better place. This is the New Luxury. (less)