Meet the widows group who went from being stonebreakers to businesswomen with the help of the Rafiki Foundation.
In 1986, several South Sudanese women and their children were displaced as a result of a war which ravaged the country and created lasting instability. After much struggle, they arrived at a refugee camp in Kiryandongo in western Uganda. Life in the refugee camp proved to be difficult and resources were scarce. However, they did not lose hope. Focusing on God’s promises, they prayed for a brighter future.
By God’s grace, the women found safety in Kampala, Uganda, but they still struggled to provide for themselves. The only work they could find was breaking stones at quarries for construction work. They received very little pay for this hard labor—a week of working from morning until evening earned them less that 1.50 US dollars.
The women made friends in the community who taught them to make paper bead products as another source of income. However, the women sadly fell victim to the exploitation of unethical buyers, and they still struggled to make enough money on which to live and pay for their children’s education.
After years of surviving on very little without much hope, the Sudanese refugee women met another woman named Margaret Ajju, a trained biblical counselor. Margaret began a Bible study for the refugees and other women in the community.
Though encouraged and engaged, the group soon faced the same challenge that impacts many African Christians—a lack of Bibles. Only a couple of the women had their own old, tattered copy. Through God’s gracious provision, Margaret obtained more Bibles for the group. To this day, the women continue to meet regularly to study God’s Word eagerly as they embrace the richness of God’s promises.
As the Bible study continued, the refugee women showed Margaret their paper bead products, and she wished to help them. The women prayed for an opportunity to make a reliable income selling their handcrafts.
When Margaret met Rafiki missionary Patti Lafage and introduced her to the women, Patti was impressed by their artisan crafts made of paper. This was the opportunity for which these women had waited and prayed for so long, and the future began to brighten for the budding businesswomen.
After they began selling their products to Rafiki, the women’s lives radically changed:
- They no longer need to break stones for a meager living or have small-scale businesses,
selling food and charcoal.
- They can now afford more than one meal a day, medical attention, and other needed resources.
- They have the funds to send their children to school.
- They added Rafiki Bible Study lessons to their group study and rejoice in all they are learning about their Heavenly Father and His gracious provision.
This is the kind of women Rafiki partners with, and this is the impact each and every purchase you make has! Rafiki is blessed to know these women, and we praise the Lord that He connected them with us.
Cascadia Necklace
Strips of paper are carefully rolled up, dyed, dried, and then strung together to create this beautiful Cascadia Necklace.
Patti, our Widows Program Coordinator in Uganda, tells us that in order to get the bright pigmented color onto the paper beads, the widows must dip the beads into the dye and let it dry seven individual times. The women string up clothing lines all around their villages and hang up the paper beads to dry.
What a detailed process for these incredible necklaces!
The last time we got these in, they sold out in two days! Hurry and get one while they last!
Uganda Paper Wrapped Bowl
Created with strips of paper in Uganda are these colorful Ugandan Paper Wrapped Bowls. What better way to reuse paper than to turn into a handy container for knick knacks?
Due to the way these bowls are made, we do not recommend storing food or consumables inside.
Each bowl is unique and different since they are made out of paper. The pictures show the general color theme of the bowls. We tried to group them as close to the pictures as we could, but each bowl varies from the one another.
These small bowls measure about 5.5 inches across the top X 2.5 inches tall and 3.0 inches across the bottom.