Paying it forward

The children and their mothers learning how to string beads using our “seconds”.

Not every bead that we make is perfect! Some of the women who are making beads at Samunnat have been making them for over a decade but some are just learning. The beads they make may not be good enough to use for the jewellery they sell. Sometimes beads crack slightly in the oven. Sometimes the beads look lovely but lack the consistency in colour or size required by our buyers. What do the Samunnat women do with these beads? Well nothing is wasted! Recently, a wonderful opportunity opportunity arose where they could help some local children with special needs. Kopila had visited the school when they were selling the sex education books and had met the teacher who coordinated the special needs kids’ classes. She was keen to do some activities using our beads. Pramila and Kopila took a big bag of our not quite perfect beads along and the kids and their mothers had wonderful time stringing them on cords and making their own beautiful jewellery. It is just another way that the women of Samunnat Nepal give back to their community.

The children are learning how to measure the cords to string their beads on.