So how is that possible? The magazine is cut into tapered strips, rolled into beads, varnished and made into jewelry. A freely distributed magazine like The Eye can be transformed into jewelry that could be sold and the funds used for helping the poorest and most vulnerable.

Caring Hands was established as a result of reaching out to the community in Kampala during Christmas 2005. We wanted to make a Christmas meal for 120 families (about 600 people). Organizations and individuals responded to the idea and everything that was needed for the meal was raised locally. The response was so overwhelming that the one planned meal ended up being food for one month. We were then confronted with the challenge: “what happens when the food runs out?” We contemplated various income generating projects but did not have any resources to begin. When we came across someone taking old magazines and making beautiful jewelry, it was an “eureka” moment. The initial investment of old paper, scissors, glue, varnish and string was manageable. We found someone who trained our ladies in the bead making process. We started with a group of 15 ladies that has grown to more than 50 people.

We have specifically targeted people who are the poorest of the poor. The goal we are trying to achieve is to break the cycle of poverty in families in the community. We aim at finding a holistic solution to the problem of poverty and its root causes. Our major concern is to train people living in poverty in the community to reverse their situation and become self–sustained.
 The people making the jewelry work from their homes and sell their products to Caring Hands.  These are in turn distributed to various markets around the world. Caring Hands products have been sold on every continent in the world with the exception of Antarctica. Each person earns according to their own productivity so that they can become self–reliant.
The profits made from the sales of Caring Hands products are used to further help people living in poverty as well as to run the organization. We are working as volunteers and do not receive any salary from Caring Hands.

We received a phone call last year in which we were informed that we have been selected to receive the President’s Export Award. We thought that they must have the wrong number, but when they were convinced that they were speaking to Caring Hands, they assured us that we had been selected to receive the award. In October 2008, the President of the Republic of Uganda, His Excellency Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, gave Caring Hands the President’s Export Award in recognition for the work that we have been doing on behalf of the poor.
Resources are readily available that could be transformed into income. The challenge that we face is to recognize what is on hand and the imagination to see what it could be transformed into. We also use jackfruit leaves, doum palm seeds and elephant dung to raise funds and create employment and satisfy our customers’ desires for these things.
So after reading and using The Eye or any other magazine on the market, recycle (that’s if you don’t want to keep them). Help the poor and make a difference.

For more information, please contact
Caring Hands
Mobile: +256 773 251604 / +256 773 251605
Email: caringhands.uganda@yahoo.ca.
Website: http://caringhands.sauna.org /
http://www.caringhandsuganda.org/
NGO registration number: S. 5914/7525