As a junior in college, Ali Carroll took a trip to Kenya with her family, and she was overwhelmed by the poverty she witnessed. Looking for a way to respond, she bought some handmade beads from Kenyan artisans and took them home to experiment. She studied her own jewelry and began creating earrings and necklaces using the Kenyan-made beads. She sold the pieces and gave 100% of her profits back to Kenya through an organization called African Leadership. Adia Beading, which means “valuable gift” in Swahili, began to take shape.

Together with Eleanor Campbell, her best friend from childhood, Ali returned the next summer to Ndathi, Kenya. In order to impact more of the women they met in the rural village, they trained and employed several local women to make the jewelry themselves, ultimately producing a greater economic and social impact on the area. Upon graduation in 2008, Ali and Eleanor began working on the project full-time. Adia Beading now employs six women in Ndathi, and as the demand for jewelry grows, they will be able to hire more women from the area.

That's where you come in. You have an opportunity to partner with Adia Beading in providing Kenyan women with “valuable gifts”—jobs and reliable incomes through which they can support their households, pay for their children's education, and provide health care for their families. All you have to do is purchase one of these beautiful pieces of jewelry, and you are giving the gift of dignified employment to women in Ndathi, Kenya. So please, browse and enjoy the valuable gifts these women have created for you, and remember, you can be a part of the gift-giving too.