Since 2004, BeadForLife has created sustainable opportunities for women to lift their families out of extreme poverty. The most successful aspect of their fair trade community in Uganda is a bead-making collective where women roll recycled paper into beads, then paint and string them into jewelry. One such craftswoman is Jamila Nakaziba, from Iganga, Uganda.

Married at age 15, Jamila is a mother of eight children who she has reared by herself since her husband left to job hunt in South Africa and never returned. Her fifth child, Rukia, was diagnosed with heart disease at age two. Unable to afford Rukia's medications with the income she derived cultivating a small plot of land, she put her whole heart into making sure her daughter got better.

Thanks to BeadforLife, Jamila began beading with the Tusobola Beader Group (Tusobola means "yes we can") and with her earnings opened a restaurant. Nowadays, Rukia is a sweet, bright-eyed pre-teen enrolled in a school close to home. BeadforLife is helping provide treatment for her heart condition through its Compassion Fund Program. She cannot play very long with her friends, as she gets breathless, but her prospects and outlook are positive and sunny.

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