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These are autobiographies of some of the women who make the beads.

Am an Acholi and was displaced from Gulu by the on going rebel activities in northern Uganda. My husband and I were forced by conditions to leave for Kampala where we settled in the Acholi quarter leaving our three children in the Internally Displaced Peoples camp. In the Acholi quarters Kampala, we managed to rent a house worth 20,000/=. My husband later secured a job in the stone quarry from which he earned living and managed to meet our basic needs and pay rent. Through out that time we didn’t see our children.

Later in 2003 my husband passed away and i was left in the struggle alone. In 2004 I went to gulu to see my children and thank God they were all alive apart from the last born who was also suffering from the epidemic disease AIDS. In the camp where my children live, life isn’t easy too. I left them there because I had no alternative. I really feel the pain in my heart of not living with my children. Besides I really feel my life is weak because am also positive too. The weakness is intensified due to the fact that I don’t have access to drugs, which are very expensive, and my last born too is not fine because she has no one to direct her daily on how to use the medicine. Sometimes she forgets which is very bad to her health.

In the acholi quartes, I make my living through making paper beads. Most times I make for other people who pay me peanuts or give maize flour and beans. When I make my own, still people  buy them cheaply. In a month my total income from paper beads is 15,000/= and other ventures like fetching water and washing clothes for other people earns me 1000/= a day. In a month my total earning add up to 35,000/=. This I use to pay my rent fare, buying my needs and once in a while I visit my children. My dream is having my children by my side and getting a direct market for my paper beads.

I lost my husband during rebel activites in northern Uganda.he was abucted and since then has never returned which gives an impression that he is dead.after two weeks of my husbands abduction,i and my children had to run to kampala looking for a safe place to be.in kampala i found other acholi people who come earlier and they advised me to get a house in the acholi quarter at 20,000/=. since then i have been in the quarter and have never gone back to Gulu.

Later i found  out iam HIV/AIDS positive. i made several effort to get medication but it is very impossible because its so expensive.my children too dont go to school because of limited finances. the only source of income i have is from the paper beads i make. These ialways sell to people who have either got ready market or individuals who want to put them on.this always means low prices for me.for instance my monthly income from the beads is always 10,000/=.And most times am forced to get side income from causual work and i get 1000/= a day.this means my total income a month is 40,000/= .from tis i pay my rent fare and meet our basic needs.

If i could realy get a ready and direct market for my beads or get a job to support my paper bead sales I can be able to support my children to school, be able to buy drugs for myself and open up a savings account.

I came to Kampala due to the insurgency in the northern region. It resulted into lose of many of my relatives. I came with my husband and children in the Acholi quarters where we settled up to now. My husband earned a living from stone quarrying which we used to meet the rent fare. After two years of settlement in the acholi quarter my husband passed away but later we found out that he was suffering from HIV/AIDS.

Since that time it has not been easy for us to make our ends meet.  I joined other women and learnt how to make paper beads. I started up a small business as a hawker around the acholi quarter from my savings of the paper bead. From this I can earn 5000/= per day of
which I use to meet my days necessities and sometimes its not enough. More so am left with nothing to meet my trading license. I even can’t meet my children’s scholastic materials. I have been able to pay for a few, leaving one of the orphans at home.

Since I also tested positive, these days am sickly and can no longer work a lot because my health is really doing badly. Therefore my family needs are sometimes very difficult to meet, because the kind of work I do , requires moving from town to town of which am unable to do that daily because of my health. So when am at home, I make beads which I sell once in a month.

Aloyo Kevin

I am a single mother with three children aged 6, 4, and 2, and all of them are out of school because of finanacial constraits since they are in an IDP camp. The desire for my children to be in school brought me to kampala to make ends meet. Iam occupied with the paper beads' banking on hope that one day market is got to fend for my needs, through thick and thin, luck knocks with hard earned income of 30.000 which partly sustains my ARVs
medication, one of the reasons why i can't stay in the village.
       
I have now been here (kampala) for close to six years and hope to bring my children to stay with me here.

I am a single mother of four children, I’ve lived in the Acholi quarter for more than ten years. I left my home village due to the insurgency that was going on in the region, which left me with totally nothing apart from my children and I. My husband was burnt to death and the only alternative was to run to Kampala where our lives would be out of danger. On reaching Kampala I met a Good Samaritan who is a relative to my late husband. Through this man I managed to find a place in the quarters where am staying up to now. With nothing to start a new life, I was introduced to the stone quarry, here I had no choice because I needed shelter, we agreed with my boss that I would work all day if he provided me with shelter, this at first sounded like a miracle, but as time went on I could no longer work because I had nothing to feed my family. So I introduced my daughter to this same job that helped a bit because she would earn 1000sh per day with which we managed to survive. Throughtout this time we would have one meal a day. 

Of late am experiencing a problem of chest pain and cannot rise money on a daily basis. Sometimes I take a week or a month without working because of too much pain. Besides, among my children one is disabled therefore needs special attention plus my second born
who is in S.3.

Apart from the stone quarry, we also make paper beads but however the market is scarce. From the paper bead sales we earn 15.000/= per month. This means that our monthly income from both the quarry and paper beads sales totals up to 35,000/=. This money however can only meet my rent fare and a few of my basic needs. This leaves me with no savings and no money to support my children at school. Among my children is Christine
Alamu who is 20years and out of school, Abalo Everlin 13 years also out of school, Ojoko Damastin who is disabled and Akello Joanita 3years also out of school.

All I have left in my plans is starting up my own business such that my children can have equal opportunity with other Ugandans of going to school. The only problem is that I luck capital because what I have is not even enough to start anything. Or better still I can start saving when I get a better job or if am able to get a market for my beads.

They all passed away during the war in the northern region of Uganda. My husband and our three children plus i left Gulu and were able to rent a small house in Acholi quarter at 20,000/= per month. We have lived here for over twelve years and don’t know if we shall ever go back. Life started a bit well because my husband managed to get little income from the stone quarry where he worked as a casual laborer but it changed mysteriously when he started falling sick. We thought he would get better after all we all didn’t know what he was suffering from. One day, there was a seminar about HIV/AIDS and free testing my husband and I took the opportunity and found out we were positive. So I had to take over his position since I was at least not sickly. I asked his boss to let me take over his position, which he allowed. After along day work, I found my husband dead
in the house without the kids consent because they were very young. 

Since then my family was to be my soul responsibility and life has not been easy. I have to go to the quarry but sometimes I don’t because am also sickly. I don’t take any medicine because it’s very expensive. Apart from working at the quarry, I also get little income from paper beads, which helps me acquire a few of my necessities i.e. food, clothing’s for me and my children.

However, much as I work am never able to meet all my needs and my children’s because my earning is very low. The beads I make are bought by people who have access to market hence they are bought very cheaply from me because they have to make profit. hen it’s a good day and am feeling fine, I can get 1000/= from the quarry and if am able to sell my beads twice in a month, am able to earn 10,000/= .So approximately in a good month am able to earn 40,000/= of which I have to pay rent and meet my essential needs plus paying fees for my first born aged 10years in p.2, leaving me with no money to buy medicine. In most cases my family and I have one meal in a day. Through all these  problems I have leant to look at what the future holds for me because I can’t believe am still living. My second born who is 6years and was supposed to join school last year couldn’t because am financially poor and have no one to turn to for assistance. My dream has always been to start my own business so that I can look after my children so that they can have an opportunity to have high level of education. Among the children I have are Tinker Robert 10years in p.2, everlin osukuru 6years out of school, and shakira Namadi 3.5years also out of school.