Today’s Daily Inspiration on Girlfriendology.com is entitled Thoughtfully Committed and features Beaded Hope. Be sure to check out the full blog entry and Girlfriendology.

What if Beaded Hope earned a donation every time you searched the Internet? Or how about if a percentage of every purchase you made online went to support our cause? Well, now it can!

GoodSearch.com is a Yahoo-powered search engine that donates half its advertising revenue, about a penny per search, to the charity you designate. Use it just as you would any search engine, get quality search results from Yahoo, and watch your donations add up!

GoodShop.com is an online shopping mall which donates up to 30 percent of each purchase to your favorite cause! Hundreds of great stores including Amazon, Target, Gap, Best Buy, ebay, Apple and iTunes have teamed up with GoodShop and every time you place an order, you’ll be supporting Beaded Hope. (click here for a complete list of online stores.)

To give you a sense of how the money can add up, the ASPCA has already earned more than $30,000!

And if you download the GoodSearch – Beaded Hope toolbar, we will earn money every time you shop and search online – even if you forget to go to GoodShop or GoodSearch first! So, be sure to add the Beaded Hope toolbar http://www.GoodSearch.com/toolbar/Beaded-Hope.

Want to help even more? Then email your friends and tell them how they can raise money for Beaded Hope simply by adding the GoodSearch toolbar today.

It’s official! Beaded Hope, the novel is available for purchase on March 1st. Inspired by the real stories of the real women of Beaded Hope, this novel was written by author Cathy Liggett after traveling to South Africa in March of 2008.

Cathy has done an amazing job of capturing the heart and the spirit of the women of Mamelodi as she tells the story of 3 women whose lives are changed when they travel to South Africa on a mission trip.

In addition, Cathy is generously donating 20% of the proceeds from the book back to the Beaded Hope organization so that we can continue impacting the lives of the women who inspired the novel.

Read more about the novel here.

People who work closely in raising HIV awareness in Africa and other countries, or those who are deeply familiar with the inspiring stories of people living with HIV, need to wake up to a new, unforeseen condition of HIV/AIDS: a dangerous increase in ignorance and complacency regarding all aspects of this worldwide epidemic.

If you’ve gone on a mission trip anywhere on the globe to help repair the devastation wrought by HIV/AIDS, or if you are up-to-date on current information and therefore all too familiar with the heartbreaking statistics‚ that the percentages of women, young people, and African Americans with AIDS keep increasing at a scary rate, and in fact are at an all-time high; and that more than 25 million people have died from AIDS related diseases and currently more than 33 million people are living with the HIV virus‚you may be shocked to discover that many other people are not only unaware of the devastating scope of this epidemic, but also lack awareness of the basic facts about HIV/AIDS.

I recently spoke to an American woman who had been moved by stories of women living with HIV/AIDS and wanted to volunteer at mission organizations such as Beaded Hope. Speaking of Beaded Hope in particular, she suggested that its focus should be shifted from selling jewelry to selling items never to be worn by the customer. She thought jewelry or any other item worn next to the body carried a risk of contracting HIV if it had been made by someone with the virus.
I was stunned that at this point in time, after all the massive efforts to raise HIV/AIDS awareness, a well-meaning, concerned volunteer could be so poorly informed. It is impossible to transmit the HIV virus on an inanimate object‚ the only way to contract it is through infected body fluids.

This woman’s disturbing suggestion confirmed a growing fear of mine: that in spite of a glut of readily available information regarding HIV/AIDS, complacency about and ignorance of the facts are on the rise.

It is crucial that those of us who work to raise HIV awareness in Africa and elsewhere maintain our efforts to educate everyone about those facts. Such as:

HIV can only be transmitted in three ways, through unprotected sex with someone who has the virus, by sharing needles and by an infected mother to her child during delivery or breastfeeding.

HIV/AIDS is a pandemic. In 2008, 33 million people in the world were living with HIV/AIDS. An estimated two million people died from AIDS related causes that year.

The number of people living with HIV has risen every year since the discovery of the virus and continues to grow.

Regarding women and HIV, even though far too many people think this is a man’s disease, fully half of those living with HIV/AIDS are women.

AIDS is the second most common cause of death among 20-24 year olds.

Now more than ever, anyone who has ever been touched by inspiring stories of people living with HIV, or who has seen AIDS awareness falling while widely available knowledge of other diseases such as cancer permeates public discussion, has an important obligation to get the word out. Don’t let complacency and ignorance add to the devastation caused by HIV/AIDS.

I’m back from South Africa and while I haven’t recovered from jet lag yet, I have been thinking a lot about what I learned on this trip. I will give you a list of things that I learned, but in reality it all boils down to what Albert Einstein said perfectly, “A person starts to live when he can live outside himself.” I learned the true meaning of Einstein’s statement.

—I was able to encourage and love on the women of Beaded Hope.

—I witnessed women giving freely and generously when they had little to give.

—I experienced the importance of humbly receiving a gift, and thereby giving at the same time.

—I was reminded of the importance of community and how a single meal can bless many people.

—I renewed my passion when I once again experienced the beadwork artists who diligently worked to perfect their craft so they could bless Beaded Hope.

—I witnessed strangers become engaged and passionate about our cause when they already had a cause of their own.

—I witnessed forgiveness being sought and given.

—I experienced the power of a team that is in unison and working to server others.

—I learned what it means to live.

This trip we showed the ladies of Beaded Hope the website for the first time, and most importantly, their pictures and stories on the About Us page. To be honest, I was taken aback by their responses. A few laughed and shouted, some smiled quietly, and one was overcome with emotion. I am so lucky to be a part of Beaded Hope and I am happy to be able to share this with all of you.

Thank you for your continued support of Beaded Hope.

One does not love if one does not accept from others. – African proverb

I’ve been contemplating the concept of “giving” recently, wondering out loud what it truly means to give. I’ve researched the wisdom of men and women of history and found sage advice. One of my favorite wise men, Albert Einstein, states that “the value of a man resides in what he gives and not in what he is capable of receiving.” Winston Churchill was quoted as saying, “we make a living by what we get. We make a life by what we give.” And Anne Frank noted that “no one has ever become poor by giving.”

But what I am really looking for is a contemporary model of what it truly looks like to “give”. At the end of my search I’ve found myself examining a humble granny from South Africa named Mrs. Tshabalala (pronounced Cha ba la la) who has been diligently working for Beaded Hope for over 3 years. The fact that she creates beautiful beadwork and is always a joy to work with (despite the fact that we don’t speak the same language) is not what makes her a model of giving. It is what Mrs. Tshabalala does quietly behind the scene that is truly amazing.

You see, Mrs. Tshabalala lives in a typical poor neighborhood and has worked her entire life to provide for herself and her family by making and selling beadwork at an open air market at the Pretoria Zoo. Traveling from her home to her booth, selling her work at the booth and creating new beadwork made for long, tedious days for Mrs. Tshabalala.

But when she began to notice young children roaming the streets, orphaned by a virus, she took action. Mrs. Tshabalala opened her home to children who had nowhere to go. She gave them food. She even began to teach them beadworking skills so that one day they can take care of themselves.

Mrs. Tshabalala would never tell you that she gives so generously to these orphaned children. Instead she quietly, humbly continues doing her beadwork and giving the best way she can.

Thank you, Mrs. Tshabalala, for modeling giving for me.

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You can check out Mrs. Tshabalala’s beadwork here.

The October 4th fundraising concert for the Bophelong Hospice was a huge success and we, at Beaded Hope, just want to say ngiyabonga kakhula.

Or, translated from Zulu,
thank you very much,
thank you greatly,
thank you loudly,
thank you a hundred times.

No matter how you translate it the sentiment is the same. Thank you for being a part of Beaded Hope and helping us bless the community of Mamelodi, South Africa.

Fighting AIDS Through Fashion
LINDA PALACIOS | CINCY CHIC
Wednesday, August 19, 2009

When it comes to this local company, the way to look good is to help others. Learn how your fashion purchases can support African artists who are affected by HIV and AIDS.

Most have heard the “Lean on Me” lyrics: “Lean on me, when you’re not strong/ And I’ll be your friend/ I’ll help you carry on.” But what if every other person around is fighting the same battle? This is the reality for the women and men in Mamelodi, South Africa.

“The thing with South Africa is that if you’re not infected, you’re affected [with HIV],” says Jennifer Davis, founder of Beaded Hope. So while the people of Mamelodi offer what little they have to their neighbors, they need a little help. That’s where Beaded Hope comes in.

Davis founded Beaded Hope in 2005 after fulfilling her lifelong dream that year by visiting Africa. Her company offers the work of women who were raised in the tradition of beadwork. “I look at it as girlfriends connecting across the globe. ‚Ķ How would you treat a girlfriend here and what would you do for them? Here’s a girlfriend in South Africa that you could also reach out to,” Davis says.

Beaded Hope products include headbands, jewelry, T-shirts and seasonal treasures. Davis purchases all of the products for Beaded Hope directly from the artists before the pieces go up for sale, but before the transaction occurs, Davis works with the women and other South African connections to ensure a fair price.

“The ladies that work for us can certainly go out and sell their products in open-air markets throughout South Africa, and our goal is to pay them much more than what they would be paid in that environment just because those environments are not paying nearly what the women are worth,” Davis says.

With the fair prices, every $15 purchase can put two days’ worth of food on the table for the artist. While Davis can keep track of the number of days’ worth of food that Beaded Hope has helped to give these ladies, the number of people who have benefited from Beaded Hope is almost immeasurable, Davis says.

For example, Davis and her husband paid a couple women for their work, and before the end of the transaction, the women started dancing and shouting, but

Davis and her husband didn’t understand the true meaning of the women’s reaction until they discussed the experience with a native South African. “[They were excited because] they’re going to have food on their table. Their children are going to have food on their table. Their families are going to have food on their table. Their neighbors are going to have food on their table because in South Africa when they receive, they share,” he said, and with this sharing culture, the money provided to the women helps many more.

Another example is an artist named Mrs. Tshabalala. She uses the money she makes in working with Beaded Hope to help run an orphanage, which houses many children whose parents’ lives have been claimed by AIDS.

Davis encourages Americans to learn from the South Africans and share what they have. “You don’t have to be a multimillionaire or anybody famous to make that change because you’re making that change one-on-one in a person’s life,” Davis says.

Check out the online article here.

The Bophelong Community Center in Mamelodi, South Africa recently launched its official website.

Founded in 2000 as a one stop center of excellence dedicated to providing free and easily accessible services to the community of Mamelodi, the Center has grown to offer preschool, hospice, HIV/AIDS counseling and home care, support groups, and much more.

To learn more click here.

Charity and Faith Mission Church in Mamelodi, South Africa recently won the coveted Courageous Leadership Award for front-line work impacting the AIDS pandemic.

We already knew that Pastor Titus Sithole and his entire team were doing amazing things in South Africa, this award just adds to the recognition.

To learn more, click here or check out the video here.