Hallo, caring viewers, and welcome to Good People, Good Works. On today's program we feature Paper to Pearls,a project in which over １２５ women from Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps in northern Uganda make colorful necklaces and other jewelry out of recycled paper. The items are then sold to a thriving market in the USA and other developed countries.
The buyers are both delighted by the beautiful necklaces and honored to support a worthy cause. Paper to Pearls was started by Ms. Barbara Moller, a vegetarian and president of Voices for Global Change, a non-profit organization based in Washington, DC, USA that seeks to uplift socially, economically, and politically disadvantaged people around the world through mentoring and training.
In ２００５, Ms. Moller took her first trip to Uganda, where she visited two Internally Displaced Persons camps created by the Ugandan government to address the instability in the region.
Approximately ８０ percent of the residents of Northern Uganda have moved to these sites. Ms. Moller was deeply touched by the difficult living conditions at the camps, and by the fact that approximately １.８ million people live at these sites.
Barbara (f): The women that we met had lived in the camp, most of them, for about ten years. And they lived, as anyone can imagine, a very marginalized life. There was not much for them to do.
So they live there with their families, their entire families,and all of their children. These camps ranged in size from just a few hundred people to up to ６０,０００. Some of the larger camps were like small cities.
The people were totally dependent upon humanitarian aid organizations for their support, for their living opportunities. So the World Food Program, for example, Doctors Without Borders, many of those kinds of organizations were essential to keeping the people alive.
For informatio on Paper to Pearls and to view available jewelry, please visit:
www.papertopearls.org
