One thing that we don’t often remember when scouring the malls for the last Wii or the prettiest necklace, is that holidays happen in places like Uganda, too.  In Uganda, most people celebrate Christmas, and in Acholi Quarters they are no exception.

Imagine Christmas in Acholi Quarters.  For 20 years these people have been living in fear.  They fled their homes, ended up in a slum, and for years pounded rocks to earn just enough to survive.  On Christmas there are no stockings, no ornaments or lawn santas, no Christmas lights.  Many could not afford a single present.

Now, for the first time, 16 families are overcoming poverty.  They are earning good money each month, and now even saving money for the future.  Imagine the joy with which they will savor a special Christmas meal, and the thanks with which they might give gifts.

It’s moments like these that make Acholi Beads what it is, moments of connection, of sharing in the mutual joy of lives changing.  It’s going to be a merry Christmas indeed.

Acholi Beads is part of what I call The New Luxury.  The New Luxury is our society’s response to consumerism’s inability to add meaning to our lives, while recognizing its power to improve livelihoods.

The New Luxury is smarter than advertising.  It doesn’t seek its values in airbrushed images or phrases engineered to be memes.  The New Luxury abides in story.  It basks in the soft fabric of lives woven together by intention and fate.

The New Luxury transcends the sterile front of retail shelves.  It peers into the true history of products, joining hands with the many people behind the supply chain, on the far side of the world, who brought the products into existence.

The New Luxury doesn’t rely on the weight of a price tag, but knows the glory of connection to stories larger than any dollar figure, more important than any bragging rights.

The New Luxury acknowledges that value cannot be bought, but that we can buy based on values.  It asserts that meaning is broader than a slogan, more attractive than a photo, and deeper than any pockets.  It assures us that beauty created in a studio pales when compared to the faintest reflection of real love.  And The New Luxury insists that we will not be blinded by advertisements or manipulated by marketing; we are too smart and passionate to allow our dollars to be tempted away by false promises of happiness.

The New Luxury chooses joy, truth, hope, and love.

When we walk into one of our favorite stores (for me, the Apple store) and look at a shiny new product, we miss one of the most fundamental aspects of what that product is.  We might think about what it does, how it will make our lives easier or more fun, how we will feel cooler once we own it.  We refer in our minds to the advertisements or the pop culture references or to what our friends have said about the product.  But we forget where it comes from.  In fact, we forget that it comes from anywhere at all.

It seems unnecessary to say ‘things come from somewhere,’ but I think that we as a society are quickly forgetting this.  We fail to realize when standing before our next purchase that it was made somewhere, by a person, or even many people, and that often it was shipped thousands of miles to be there in front of us.

Products have a history.  And I believe that this history is more important than what the TV ads say about a product.  Shouldn’t we be more connected to the real person whose hands assembled the product in our hands than to a character on a screen who is paid to sell it to us?  Aren’t our lives directly connected to theirs through these products?

Acholi Beads is completely transparent about the history of our products.  Our jewelry is made by 16 women from the Acholi tribe who live in a slum near their country’s capital.  They work from their homes, rolling strips of recycled paper into beautiful beaded necklaces, bracelets and earrings.

I hope that your understanding of this history enhances your appreciation for Acholi Beads.  Know that each piece began its life on another continent, in the hands of a woman whose life is better because you now own her creation.

Next time you go out shopping, think about the history of the products that you see.  And think about how much the world would change if we all cared about these little histories.

Many of you have noticed that acholibeads.com recently got an overhaul.  Thanks for all the compliments on the new site!

But I have to give credit where credit is due, and a huge truckload of credit goes to my good friend Aaron and his web development firm Xavisys.  They were totally professional, gave exceptional personal service, and were able to deliver a world class site on an aggressive timeline.

So, would I recommend Xavisys?  I can’t imagine Acholi Beads working with any other company, and I fully recommend them to anyone who wants a custom web presence to compete with the big boys.  To read more about my experience working with Xavisys, hit my personal blog here.

The blog is making a comeback, starting today!  I’m in Uganda right now, have been for over a month.  I came with one goal in mind — to make Acholi Beads a model of Socially Proactive Business.  This means making it hugely beneficial for the women of Acholi Quarters, and making it as successful a business as possible.

Tomorrow George and the beadmakers will officially register a co-operative that we’ve been working on building for the last four weeks.  This co-op will provide a sturdy foundation on which they can build a host of other life-improving projects.  Already they have started a savings program that is helping them meet the bigger needs of life - school fees, medical expenses, etc.

This past weekend, all members of the co-op were invited to start training in personal financial management, including budgeting and saving to meet the needs of their families.  I contracted the best trainer I’ve ever met to teach a curriculum that we designed together in northern Uganda.  The women loved it.  After just the first session they were talking about how much better their lives would be.  And the trainer, after two days with the bead makers, said, “These women are so committed!  They are going to do something great.”

And that’s not all.  My sister Robin came to Uganda with me to consult on style and materials.  Thanks to her fashionable eye we have some fantastic new products and great changes to our current line to offer in the near future.  Keep your eyes peeled.  The new products will launch at about the same time as our new website, currently being slaved over by a few great friends of mine.

Acholi Beads is about to hit a whole new level of marketability, just as it reaches a new peak of life-change for the beadmakers.  This is Socially Proactive Business.

IFAT prescribes 10 standards that Fair Trade organizations must follow in their day-to-day work and carries out continuous monitoring to ensure these standards are upheld:

• Creating opportunities for economically disadvantaged producers
  Fair Trade is a strategy for poverty alleviation and sustainable development. Its purpose is to create opportunities for producers who have been economically disadvantaged or marginalized by the conventional trading system.
• Transparency and accountability
  Fair Trade involves transparent management and commercial relations to deal fairly and respectfully with trading partners.
• Capacity building
  Fair Trade is a means to develop producers’ independence. Fair Trade relationships provide continuity, during which producers and their marketing organizations can improve their management skills and their access to new markets.
• Promoting Fair Trade
  Fair Trade Organizations raise awareness of Fair Trade and the possibility of greater justice in world trade. They provide their customers with information about the organization, the products, and in what conditions they are made. They use honest advertising and marketing techniques and aim for the highest standards in product quality and packing.
• Payment of a fair price
  A fair price in the regional or local context is one that has been agreed through dialogue and participation. It covers not only the costs of production but enables production which is socially just and environmentally sound. It provides fair pay to the producers and takes into account the principle of equal pay for equal work by women and men. Fair Traders ensure prompt payment to their partners and, whenever possible, help producers with access to pre-harvest or pre-production financing.
• Gender Equity
  Fair Trade means that women’s work is properly valued and rewarded. Women are always paid for their contribution to the production process and are empowered in their organizations.
• Working conditions
  Fair Trade means a safe and healthy working environment for producers. The participation of children (if any) does not adversely affect their well-being, security, educational requirements and need for play and conforms to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child as well as the law and norms in the local context.
• Child Labour
  Fair Trade Organizations respect the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as local laws and social norms in order to ensure that the participation of children in production processes of fairly traded articles (if any) does not adversely affect their well-being, security, educational requirements and need for play. Organizations working directly with informally organised producers disclose the involvement of children in production.
• The environment
  Fair Trade actively encourages better environmental practices and the application of responsible methods of production.
• Trade Relations
  Fair Trade Organizations trade with concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers and do not maximise profit at their expense. They maintain long-term relationships based on solidarity, trust and mutual respect that contribute to the promotion and growth of Fair Trade. An interest free pre payment of at least 50% is made if requested.

Here’s a link to a great article about divisions in Ugandan society.  The writer points out the geopolitical rivalries between north and south, and touches upon the tumultuous history of regime change that has led to the current situation in northern Uganda.  She does not, however, trace these forces back to their roots, most of which can be found in the policies that the British colonial government used.

It’s important to remember that “tribal tensions” are not some sort of endemic disease of African culture.  Imagine what might happen if you were to erase all the borders in Europe and let those countries figure out how to govern themselves as a whole.  It would not be pretty.  This is what it was like for Uganda in the early 1900s, when many tribes were grouped together under one flag and then employed according to stereotype.

The process of unification and reconciliation will be a historical one, just as the unity between the Union and the Confederates has taken time, and cultural differences remain to this day.  But Uganda must unify if it is to thrive.

An AP writer recently related a story about the rock quarry in Acholi Quarters.  This dangerous quarry is the same one in which Acholi Beads bead makers used to work.  The article chronicles a woman who died when a rock ledge collapsed one her.  As chance goes, I happened to be there that day, and heard this story firsthand.  I even saw the rocks that killed her.

For us at Acholi Beads, this underscores our mission to give Acholi women a safe and profitable means of supporting their families and rebuilding their lives.

The article can be found on Yahoo! news here.

Last week the peace talks between the Ugandan government and the Lord’s Resistance Army began again in Juba, Southern Sudan. These talks are the closest the Acholi people have been in over 20 years to finding peace, and last week marks a significant renewal of commitment to their positive conclusion, and to peace for a hurting people.

A friend of mine was recently in Juba to observe the talks. He brings good news. He says that rhetoric between the two negotiating sides has softened considerably since the talks began last year. And whereas they once required separate tables for meals, they now eat and talk together.

Most importantly, both sides are confident that a comprehensive peace agreement will be signed within the next month!

There is a faint but brightening glow of peace on the horizon. We’ll keep you updated.

The secretive leader of the Lord’s Resistance Army, Joseph Kony, said yesterday on a northern Uganda radio station that he is ready and waiting to sign a final peace agreement. This is a very positive step. Kony had been silent since the LRA’s second in command and chief communicator, Vincent Otti, was executed by Kony last November.

By calling for a peace agreement now, Kony may be trying to avoid a military offensive threatened by the Ugandan government in conjunction with the Democratic Republic of Congo. The two governments agreed earlier this month that if progress was not made on the peace talks by January 31, they would coordinate to flush the LRA out of their secluded base in the jungles of Congo.

To ensure that all parties involved refrain from dangerous military action that could further devastate northern Uganda and the Acholi people, please go to the Resolve Uganda site and send an email to your Congressperson.