It’s official. We’re headed back to South Africa on January FEBRUARY 23rd to do the work of Beaded Hope!

For this trip we hope to spend lots of time building into our relationships with the artists while holding daily design workshops (although what actually happens on a trip is always unpredictable).

You can follow all of our adventures, musings and photos over on Facebook where we will share daily updates with you. We may even take a few pictures of designs that are in progress and ask for your feedback so be sure to check back often!

Not currently following Beaded Hope on Facebook? Just head over to our page (www.facebook.com/BeadedHope), click on the Like button, and you’ll be all set to read the latest news from our trip.

On my last trip to South Africa I stumbled across a book entitled Wisdom from Africa, a collection of proverbs by Dianne Stewart. Right up my alley. I grabbed the book with barely a second look and packed it safely in my suitcase to bring home and savor later.

Last night, with thoughts of South Africa filling my head, I opened the book. Words of wisdom from all over Africa brought a smile to my face and made me feel like I was dipping my toes back in the sea of the continent of my soul.

Thumbing through the pages of the book I found this pearl from the Zulu tribe:

African Proverb: Umuzi ngumuzi ngokuphanjukelwa.

Translation: A home is a home if it is visited.

Interpretation: People will not visit a home where hospitality is not offered. This proverb encourages kindness even to strangers, so that one’s home will be visited often.

May your heart and home always be welcoming to all who visit.

Elina, Beaded Hope’s first seamstress, literally walked to our door one sunny day in January of 2010…

While delivering food parcels to people living in the informal settlements on the outskirts of the Mamelodi (South Africa) township, we met a woman who was walking home from the store with a box of baby diapers balanced on her head. Mighty, recognizing the woman as the one we were to deliver our next parcel to, called out and the woman came over to our car.

Elina, living in one of the poorest areas of town, was caring for her two daughters and infant grand-daughter in her tiny one room home. They had been without food for the last two days and Elaina had spent her last few Rand on baby diapers. Our parcel of food could not have arrived at a better moment for Elina and her family.

The next day I was surprised to find that Elina had walked five miles from her home to find me and show me her work.  An incredible seamstress, Elina brought a custom bedspread and curtains with hand-sewn darting that was perfect. The rest of the story, as they say, is history. Elina now works for Beaded Hope and has made beautiful aprons that are influenced by the tribes of her country.

Right now

you can get one

of Elina’s aprons

at 25% off.*

Then when you are cooking in your own kitchen you can be reminded of the story of one woman who, through perseverance and determination, walked her way into a job that put food on her own family’s table.

*Sale ends Sunday, February 17th.

UPDATE.

We have an update for you…the generous folks over at Global Goods Partners have invited us to be one of their partners in the first annual Fair Tuesday and we couldn’t be more excited! So head on over here, check out all the great organizations and consider making just one purchase of a fair trade item on Fair Tuesday (no, we still aren’t asking you to buy at Beaded Hope, just check it all out ).

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Too Much Hype.

Black Friday. Cyber Monday. It’s all a bit much, don’t you think? Personally I completely avoided the shopping scene on Friday and deleted any and all Black Friday and Cyber Monday emails that arrived in my in-box. Maybe I’m an extremist but I don’t love the hype, I don’t need a one-day sale to move me to shop, and I don’t want to buy anything “extra” just because it’s on sale.

However…

That being said, I am actually excited about this event — Fair Tuesday.

Fair Tuesday is Pretty Exciting.

The folks over at the Fair Trade Resource Network and Global Goods Partners have started this thing called “Fair Tuesday” as a response to Black Friday and Cyber Monday. They hope to show people how an everyday purchase can change lives in a community. By being conscious about shopping and purchasing just one Fair Trade item on Tuesday, November 27th the Fair Trade Resource Network hopes to help organizations, and individuals, take steps towards becoming self-sustaining. Now that’s something I can get excited about!

So Get Started Doing Good.

So, go on over here and here to learn more about the initiative.

Then, if you’re like me and want to do a little bit of good in the world, then jump over here, check out all the cool Fair Tuesday partners and shop for an item (or maybe two).

After that, if you want to do even more, then you can blog about it, talk about it on Facebook or tweet about using the hashtag #FairTuesday.

P.S.

No, this is NOT a plug to shop at Beaded Hope. We just happen to think it’s cool when others are doing good things in the world!

For the first time ever we are releasing a small number of  items in our 2012 Limited Edition Holiday Collection. These items have been hand-made by the Beaded Hope artists especially for gift-giving this Christmas.

The 2012 Christmas Ball, meticulously made by Nelly and Betty, is a perfect Christmas gift for teachers, bible study groups, or perhaps even your book club (along with the Beaded Hope novel by Cathy Liggett).

Made by Mma Tshabalala, the Holiday Bangle Bracelets are available in Holiday Red, Christmas Green, or Snowflake (white). And remember, Our 2012 Limited Edition Holiday Collection is only available in limited release this holiday season and, once sold out, will no longer be available.

It’s always amazing to look back and see how dots are connected in ways that, at the time, appeared to be completely random. It’s in moments like these that great things can happen and I have a story to share with you of one such moment.

One day while in South Africa in March of 2008 we looked over samples of beadwork from women who wanted to work for Beaded Hope. One of the ladies who came to meet us, Alarice, brought jewelry that was completely different, very creative and beautiful so of course we hired her.

Cathy, who later went on to pen the Beaded Hope novel, was one of the six people who traveled to South Africa that year. Like the rest of the American women, Cathy loved Alarice’s jewelry and wanted purchase some gifts to take home. Out of all of the pieces that were spread before her, Cathy favored one simple but beautiful bracelet made out of four strands of wire and a collection of eclectic beads. Cathy bought two bracelets, one for her daughter and one for herself.

Later the same day Cathy overheard the South African ladies talking. One lady complimented Alarice on her bracelet and commented that she wished she could make a similar one but she wasn’t able to find the materials. In the spirit of giving that we would later discover is quite common in South Africa, Alarice quickly offered to share her own supplies so that the other woman could make bracelets.

 Three months after returning home, while looking at pictures from her trip, Cathy happened upon a picture of Alarice. Recalling the conversation that she overheard in South Africa, Cathy marveled at the generosity of Alarice. In a time and a place when possessions are precious Alarice had willingly given her things to someone else. And in that moment, holding the picture of Alarice in her hand, Cathy was inspired to write what would later become the Beaded Hope novel…in a seemingly random moment.

read more about Alarice here.

visit Cathy’s website to find out what she’s writing now.

The Original Karakatana Necklace

It’s a simple strand of beads, karakatana to be specific, that stretches for over 50 continuous inches and has become our number one, most favorite, gotta have it necklace….and it’s back in stock!

Stylish Ways to Wear Your Necklace

Already have one of the original karakatana necklaces but wishing you could do more than simply drape it around your neck? Well since this is our favorite necklace too we’ve come up with a few fun and stylish ways to wear it. Whether you choose to KNOT it, LAYER it, LOOP it, WRAP it or PAIR it with your favorite pieces from your own jewelry collection the karakatana necklace is an original piece that you’ll wear for years to come.

And don’t forget, you can add to your personal collection with anything from the karakatana line of jewelry.

Need to catch up on this whole karakatana trend? Don’t worry, just read the karakatana story.

On Saturday November 3rd a team of Beaded Hope leaders joined over 3000 men, women, and children who rose early in the morning, ignored the brisk fall cold, and walked in the Fighting Hunger 5K benefiting Matthew 25: Ministries.

The Mission of Matthew 25 Ministries

If you aren’t already familier with this great organization let me fill you in. Matthew 25: Ministries is an international humanitarian aid and disaster relief organization that just happens to be headquartered in Cincinnati, OH. Matthew 25: Ministries provides humanitarian aid and disaster relief to the poor throughout the US and around the world by collecting excess products from corporations and manufacturers as well as the general public and ships these donations to those in need.

The Beginning

Matthew 25: Ministries began as the result of a trip Founder and President Reverend Wendell Mettey made with a group of doctors and nurses to Nicaragua in 1990. Seeing the poverty there, Pastor Mettey knew he needed to find a way to help the people of Nicaragua. Upon his return, he was able to develop a system to collect and redistribute food, clothing, personal care, cleaning, medical and educational supplies which were no longer useful by US standards.

What began as one man loading the trunk of his car with unwanted supplies has grown into an international organization that, in 2012 alone, shipped over 528 containers of aid around the world.

The Prasco Food Processing Center

You can read more about the history, mission and accomplishments of Matthew 25: Ministries on their website: www.m25m.org. But I have to tell you that when I stopped by M25M to pickup our race packets I learned something that I didn’t know. Matthew 25, in partnership with Prasco, has developed a food processing center that produces a shelf-stable, nutritionally enhanced rice/soy blend for $.10 a meal. And, to top it off, on July 16th of this year Matthew 25 processed their 5 Millionth meal. Now that is something to celebrate.

During every trip to South Africa the Beaded Hope team spends a day delivering food parcels to people in the community. Over the years we have visited a blind granny raising her grandchildren, a handicapped man confined to a bed, a burn victim living in the remains of her home, an elderly man crippled with arthritis, a woman dying of AIDS but calling it TB, widows raising orphans, orphans raising themselves, and many others.

But there is one constant among all of the people that we visit; every one of them is hungry. Every one of them has spent dayS (yes, dayS with a capital S) without food at some point in their life. And every time we deliver food parcels we accidentally stumble into the home of someone who, at that very moment, is suffering from dayS without food. It is in that moment that my heart breaks and I wish for, pray for, the ability make hunger a thing of the past.

I am just one person and I cannot make hunger a thing of the past but what I can do is walk. And so that is exactly what I am doing along with a team of Beaded Hope leaders and volunteers. We are walking in the annual Fighting Hunger 5K held by Mathew 25: Ministries on November 3rd in Cincinnati, Ohio.

We know we won’t make hunger a thing of the past but we do know that we will be making stepS in the right direction.

To learn more about Matthew 25: Ministries visit their website.
You can also register to walk here.
To learn more about world hunger check out these astounding facts from World Vision.

To the women of the Ndebele (pronounced in-da-bey-lee) tribe beadwork is not only an art form; it is an essential part of their cultural. Beadwork is used to mark important events in family life, from the birth of a child, to initiation into adulthood, to marriage, to burial. Passed from one generation of women to the next, the skill required to create traditional beaded adornment is quite difficult to imagine.

For the month of February we offer you the chance to connect with the generations of women of the Ndebele tribe in South Africa. Just this month, all Ndebele bracelets and necklaces are offered at a 30% discount. So, between now and February 29th, shop for your favorite piece and then try to image just how many beads it took make that piece of art.