Trade-Link

New Year wishes...

First of all want to thank everyone who bought beads and supported the Ugandan bead community over Christmas, I am about to send off a cheque for about £800 which will ensure that the group of 15 children remain in school this coming year.

This August I took my mother to Uganda and one thing we did was spent time in the community brainstorming ideas, making beads and singing and dancing.

The woman made up a song for us about how they no longer have to crush so many rocks in the quarry but can sit around with their babies and friends making beautiful coloured beads. 

The trip filled me up with inspiration and hope once more and upon returning to Edinburgh (where I am now based) all kinds of bead selling opportunities fell into place in a magical way. I did a market stall at my old school Christmas fayre, went to visit enthusiastic parents at a toddler group and sold some in my new work place just from talking to customers.

Beads are selling well at the 'bead shop/gallery' in Tollcross in Edinburgh and continue to sell at 'the galleri' in Betws-y-coed North Wales.

Another amazing opportunity has arrisen too, A friend of my mother is off an a sponsored climb of the Matterhorn and has offered to use our charity to sponsor. This may greatly help the bead community or  another 'Uganda Link' project,  such as the building of a maternity hospital near Kampala. The land has been purchased and is waiting for the funds ready for the building.

      Whilst in Uganda I was touched greatly by the story of a boy named Mukasa David. I have known this boy since my first trip to Uganda in 2005. He is 13 years old and attends the school 'Katwe United'. For the last few years 'Link' has been helping him to raise his own school fees by selling crafts that he and his classmates have made.
   He has excelled in class, coming top in most subjects and also becoming a prefect. This coming term is his last at Katwe United Primary school as he will then be ready for secondary school. We will no longer be able to support this boy in the same way as secondary school fees are much higher. Mukasa's mother is a widow and is looking after 8 children. She will not be able pay for his fees and she can barely feed her family.
      Mukasa's dream is to become a doctor and to help his own people in the slum where he grew up, he also likes the idea of working in 'Link' maternity Hospital. He is a wonderful strong-hearted boy and I think his dreams are attainable, with financial support.
      If anyone has any idea's for this boy or would like to contribute to his education please get in touch.

I also have lots of lovely beads in stock, so please contact me if you are interested.

This year is already very exciting and I am sure There will be a lot more surprises to come....

early morning plans...

This cold farmhouse morning i was woken up the the baby i am looking after an so decided to do some writing while while the house is still empty.

Sorry to everyone who has been looking at my site and never finding anything new, my life has been so full of different adventures including a spoonful of university at the wrong time, an outdoor instructors course for fun and a job in ireland.

Meanwhile I have steadily been selling beads in Betwys-y-coed Galeri
( http://www.galeribetwsycoed.co.uk )
and as loose beads in a bead shop around the corner from the kings theatre in Edinburgh.
Although I have done lots of other things as well as selling beads, it is by no means forgotten and I am off to Uganda again on the 23rd of October....

The plan is to take my mother this time run some workshops with the craftspeople who make the paper beads and some school teachers.
The idea is to do fun, self esteem building and idea exchanging workshops.

We will also be going to John (link director) and Sophie's wedding which i am very excited about.

Well from now on you can expect more blog entries including more about the workshops and the trip.
Thank you all,
Happy Friday

A blue paper bead necklace

New Developments and Lots of Paper Bead Jewellery on sale...

Sorry for the lack of blog entries recently but having just begun a degree at Sussex University in Anthropology and Development Studies, I have been very busy. Its all exciting with a whirlwind of things happening. Planting seeds in the university garden with friends to feed ourselves through the winter, joining endless societies and meeting hundreds of amazing people including Katie my new business partner: )

Now I am back from my travels I am about to get my online shop up and running. I have a good flow of stock now so if any one wants to order some recycled paper bead jewellery just send me an email stating colours and types. These are as follows:

Short necklaces £8.00

Long necklaces £12

Multi strand necklaces £12

Bracelets £5

(I will add on postage and packaging costs and for now it will depend on the quantity but it should cost roughly £3)

I have almost every colour and combination of colour so just let me know.
I will formalise all this soon with an online catalogue of products and a pay pal link, but for now just email me:
amelia@trade-link.org.uk

Thanks

Amelia

My Mum's Book

A slightly different post this time to let you know about Judy Barber(my mum) 's book, which is Good Question! The Art of Asking Questions to Bring About Positive Change. I've learned a lot from it. I've met some of the contributors and they are seriously interesting people. You can find out more by visiting Judy's blog, www.thinkingblossoms.com

Please buy it to support her in saving up to run workshops with me in Uganda (we have lively plans!) for my friends in the Beadworkers community :-) :-) :-)

and.....

....ps, and because there's £1,000+ worth of gifts related to the subject of wealth for you when you buy it on Good Question Day October 10th - which is a subject I want to know a lot more about as a student and fledgling business woman ;-)

Anena beatrice with two of her children outside her house made of sacking...

This woman survived so many difficulties, now she lives in a community of refugees in Kampala. she makes beads and works in a dangerous quarry to try and earn a living.

The story of Anena Beatrice, a refugee from the north of Uganda. As i sat in her hut, she told me her story.

Anena Beatrice

I was brought up in a poor family.
My father died when I was young, he was shot during the war and died in hospital as they tried to treat him. Soon after my three brothers were killed, all by the LRA (lords resistance army) rebels. My two sisters died of Aids after being raped by these rebels, so I grew up with only my mother. When I had finished primary school, my mother could no longer afford my fees for secondary school leaving me with no choice but to find a husband. I married age 14. By then the war was very bad so I moved to Kampala with my family. Soon I became sick and went to be tested for HIV, the test came out positive so I began getting treatment.
Now my problem is feeding my three children aged 12, 10 and 5 and paying for my rented accommodation because there is no well paid work for me. I make paper beads but here in Uganda there is no market for them.
My dream is to be able to earn a living through my beads.

A night in the bead community slum

My friend Harriet invited me to stay with her in her home in the community of refugees for a night. This was my experience:

The 'bodas', moped-rickshaws, bumped up the dusty alley between the market stalls that sell rope, baskets, pyramids of tomatos, onions, coloured mats and charcoal cooking stoves. We almost knock over a child as he wheels his home-made toy wire truck along the ground.

Upon arriving we visit Harriet's aunty. She has many children and her house is decorated with coloured cloth and lace. A crinkled poster of the president has pride of place on the wall above the chair. Aunty holds Gloria, the chubby twin baby from next door. Twins are lucky here and I am told that there are three pairs in the community. We are offered sodas but we decline. My usual knack with babies seems not to apply here because Gloria is terrified of me. This is possibly her first encounter with a white person.

Screeches of laughter sound in the alleyway outside aunty's house so I step outside. Shyly a girl tells me she can sing and she sings me a song with words I can’t make out.

After this it is time to leave. We walk back through the tiny alleyways where hundreds of strings of beads hang drying between the houses.

When we arrive at the room Harriet rents I am greeted by a beautiful big-eyed girl in a torn satin purple dress. She looks about four years old. Her hair is in braids that zigzag around her face. When we go inside Harriet proudly shows me photos of her in a pink dress. For the next few hours we thread beads onto fishing line until I am cross-eyed and have a headache. While we are threading Harriet tells me about her life...

Short Video of the Beadmakers Community

This video footage is of our last visit to the Ugandan refugee community who we are helping establish their arts and crafts business.  The hope is that as the business grows, the women and children will be released from the gruelling 'hand quarrying' work.

Until we have our shopping cart and delivery system in place, please show your support by clicking on the Make A Donation button - over there to the left.

Important Technical Heads Up...

Hi there - Trade-Link.org.uk's BlogMistress (get me?) here, with a quick note about adding either of those Trade-Link.org.uk images to your blogs, social network profiles and websites...

I managed to make a teeny tiny typo in the code that appears in both of those scrolling boxes in the left hand margin. As a result, the links will not have worked for you. The mistake is now corrected and the links will work just fine.

So now there's no excuse not to support Amelia's amazing initiative by displaying one of those banners on your site(s). :o)