Good Neighbor Podcast: Auburn and Opelika

Ep.#86: Life Beads: From Ugandan Craft to Community Change

• Susannah Hodges at Village Centre Press

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We share how Life Beads turns paper into elegant jewelry and steady income while building a community of worship and study in northern Uganda. Hannah traces her path from a college internship to full-time leadership, and we map clear ways to support the artisans.

• what Life Beads is and how it operates
• how paper becomes durable, beautiful beads
• why steady income funds school and healthcare
• Hannah’s internship story and vocational path
• roles in design, logistics, and partnerships
• daily worship and study as community glue
• where to buy: lifebeadsjewelry.com and local partners
• how partner sellers extend impact at markets and churches

www.lifebeadsjewelry.com


SPEAKER_01:

This is the Good Neighbor Podcast, the place where local businesses and neighbors come together. Here's your host, Susannah Hodges Welcome.

SPEAKER_02:

Uh with me today I have Hannah Henderson. She is with Life Beads, which is a ministry that's under the umbrella of Four Corners here in Opalika. Welcome, Hannah.

SPEAKER_00:

Hey, thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_02:

So tell me a little bit about Life Beads.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. So like you said, Life Beads is a part of Four Corners Ministries. So Four Corners has about 100 acres of land in northern Uganda. And one of the things that they do in that, you know, part as a part of ministry in Uganda is Life Beads. And so Life Beads employs about 35 women to make jewelry. And they make the jewelry from beginning to end. So they actually start by making all of the beads out of paper. And then they use those beads to assemble bracelets and necklaces and earrings and ornaments and all of the things. And so Life Beads provides our women with sustainable income, which allows them to pay for their children to go to school, medical fees, and any other expenses of life. But more importantly, their job at Life Beads provides them the environment to study the word together and to worship together and pray as a community. And so while the income that they receive is really beneficial, we um have seen a lot of life change happen around the tables through prayer and worship together and just learning God's word together. And so yeah, that's that's life beads and um it's it's really special.

SPEAKER_02:

Now I uh purchased uh some life beads recently, and I know people can't see me because this is an audio only podcast, but um, you really can't tell this is made out of paper. It's a gold chain, and the beads uh are just beautiful. It's amazing the uh quality of jewelry uh that that these ladies make in Uganda. It's beautiful.

SPEAKER_00:

Yes, it's that's that's one of the things that I always hear is paper, it's made out of paper. People are always super surprised.

SPEAKER_02:

It really is. Uh really is neat how the process that they do to make this look like beads, you know, and not like paper. Yes. So tell me a little bit about you, Hannah. How did you get involved in Life Beads?

SPEAKER_00:

Yes. Um, so I attended Auburn University, and when I was a student there, I went to church at First Baptist Oblica. And um First Baptist is uh very supportive of our ministry. And so um one college service on a Wednesday night, they were talking about an internship opportunity to go and live in Uganda for a summer. And um, I was sitting there and I was like, I think I'm supposed to go to Uganda. And so I applied for the internship and got it. And so the summer of my going into my senior year, which is 2021 that summer, I moved over to Uganda for the summer. I had no idea really what to expect. Um, I knew that I would be doing ministry. I didn't know where I'd be doing ministry, and so um I just kind of like beboped around the village to see like where I fit in and where I wanted to end up. And um I sure enough spent every day of that summer in the Life Beads room and um loved it, loved the women and came back and really was like, I had, you know, I still had a whole year of college left, but knew that I like wanted to be involved in some capacity. And so I um started like selling the jewelry at festivals at trunk shows and things like that. And then um I got married and after that was looking for a job and this just perfectly landed in my lap. And so I started doing this full-time. I guess that would have been the summer of 2023. That's yeah, that summer is when I started full-time. So, what do you do full-time? What is your role? So I um I feel like I wear a lot of hats. I um I would say my biggest role is distributing inventory. And so um that can look like fulfilling online orders, that could look like fulfilling wholesale orders. Um, we also have about 20 partners who have their own inventory that sell at these like markets and things like that. And so I um make sure they're equipped with, you know, all of the supplies that they need to sell. I also do our social media, so a little bit of like marketing, that kind of thing. Um, and then a lot of my job is also communicating with Pam, who's our Ugandan director, and me and her work really closely to like make the designs and create, you know, figuring out what we want to make for the next season, what colors, what designs. Um it sounds like fun. It is, it's fun. It's it's really fun to like have an idea in your head of like a design and sending it to Pam and her using their you know skills and design to make it come to life. And so me and Pam work really closely together to run everything.

SPEAKER_02:

I love it.

SPEAKER_00:

So outside of life beads, what do you do for fun? Um, let's see, I have a 14-month-old daughter, so I spend a lot of my time chasing her around. Yeah. Starting to kind of toddle around. So we're on the move. So I spend a lot of time with her. We like to be outside, whether that's going on a walk or going to the zoo, we are on the move with her. So that's I feel like takes up most of my free time.

SPEAKER_02:

Absolutely. Toddlers will take up all your time.

unknown:

Yes.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, what's one thing you wish listeners knew about life beads that they may not realize?

SPEAKER_00:

I wish I wish that all of y'all could go and be in the bead room for a day. Um they are so, like I said, there's 35 of them, and they are some of the funniest, silliest group of women. I mean, I have I like I said, I spent a summer there and there was not a day that went by that I was not laughing at what they were doing or saying or all the things. They're hilarious. And most of them don't speak English. So I would have no idea what they were saying, but I knew it was something funny because they are just a fun group of women. Um, and like on a more serious note, to sit in that room too. Like if you could hear the women like obviously through translators, just talk about the value that that community has added to their life, it it just brings so much value to me of like how important Life Beads is and how impactful just sitting with a group of other believers is to those women. Um, and so I do, I wish that all of y'all could know them and hear their stories and um just the life change that's happened since they've been a part of Life Beads. Um, and we try to highlight that a little bit, you know, here and there. But I do, I do wish that everybody could go and see and have their lives changed like mine was when I went there.

SPEAKER_02:

So I know you can get uh Life Beads jewelry in Opalica, but are there other locations where you can get their jewelry?

SPEAKER_00:

Yeah, so I would say we have our storefront in Opalica. We are carried at some boutiques across Alabama. Um, and then we also have some churches who support us and they carry our jewelry at their churches, like at their like welcome centers and things like that. Um, our website is the probably the most like available and um easy way to shop our jewelry. It's lifebeadsjewelry.com. Um, and then at like different events, we have um some of our partners set up there. And so if you're at like a farmer's market, there's a chance that there might be some life beads there. So check us out there if you see us.

SPEAKER_02:

I love it. Tell me the uh website again.

SPEAKER_00:

It's lifebeadsjewelry.com. And uh any other ways to learn more about uh life beads? Um, I mean, those are the biggest ways. On the um website is my email. And so if you have any interest, if you're interested in selling, that's also an option. Like I said, our partners are our we like to call them the heartbeat behind our ministry. We couldn't do life beats without our partners. So if that's something that's interesting to you, selling or that sort of thing, um my contact information should be on the website.

SPEAKER_02:

Well, thank you for joining me, Hannah. It's been a pleasure learning about you and LifeBeats. Yes, thank you.

SPEAKER_01:

Thank you for listening to the Good Neighbor Podcast Auburn. To nominate your favorite local businesses to be featured on the show, go to GNPAuburn.com. That's gnpauburn.com. Or call three three four four two nine seven four two.