The Acholi Beads Story

For the last 22 years Africa’s longest running war has ravaged the northern regions of Uganda, home to the Acholi people. Over 2 million people fled their homes to seek safety. Some made it as far as Uganda’s capital city, Kampala, where they could only find refuge in a hillside slum, now called Acholi Quarters.

Acholi Beads are made by a group of women living in the Acholi Quarters slum, who were forced to work long hours breaking rocks in a stone quarry for $1 per day to support their families. Now, through the income they earn making Acholi Beads, these women are rebuilding their lives.

Acholi Beads is a Socially Proactive Business, a for-profit enterprise with a humanitarian heart. We believe that business has always been the most powerful means of economic development around the world, and will be for Africa, Uganda, and the Acholi people as well. By partnering with the women of Acholi Quarters and thereby connecting them to the American market, we are empowering them to create a successful future for themselves and their children.  But we also go further than a business partnership, assisting the women in forming their own autonomous cooperative, and providing them with education and training to help them best manage and leverage their newfound success.  As our mutual success grows, we will be able to do more to ensure that our Ugandan partners enjoy lives of prosperity.

The beads themselves are totally unique, hand-rolled from strips of recycled paper collected from local printers.  The finished beads are then creatively and carefully strung together to make beautiful jewelry.  This product is unlike anything you’ve seen - beautiful, fun, recycled, and changing lives.