Meet Amony Pamela, Life Beads Director at Abaana's Hope

In the bead room at Abaana’s Hope, 36 Acholi women spend their day handcrafting unique pieces of jewelry. These Ugandan artists take paper and transform it into necklaces, bracelets, earrings, and ornaments. Through this process, they cut the paper into strips, roll it up to form a bead, and dip it in a gluelike substance to make it shine.

This vocational training program, called Life Beads, was created in 2012 at Abaana’s Hope to empower women, provide jobs in the community, and share the message of the gospel. A woman who knew how to make the Ugandan jewelry was willing to teach a group of six women at Abaana’s Hope. They learned to handcraft the pieces and string them together.

Within a month, Life Beads doubled in size. Six additional ladies were hired, and a waiting list was created for other Acholi women who wanted to join the program. Every woman who crafts Life Beads earns a consistent monthly income, helping them to send their children to school, provide food and a home for their families, and pay for healthcare when necessary. With the help of missionaries, the jewelry is transported back to the United States and is sold in select stores and online through the Life Beads website. 

Today there are 36 women employed through Life Beads, one being Amony Pamela who is the Life Beads Director at Abaana’s Hope.  Pam was born in Gulu, Uganda, in 1988. She was the third born in her family with three brothers and one sister. Her parents brought them up in church, and when Pam was 12 years old, she gave her life to Jesus. At the age of 14, she lost her mother, and the following year, her father also passed away. Pam and her siblings then went to live with their grandmother.

“After I lost my parents and started staying with my grandma, things were not that easy for us. It became hard to pay school fees… Food at home was also an issue, which made our life very difficult,” she said. “I think that’s the time I realized that I really need God in my life to help me go through everything.”

Because Pam’s grandmother couldn’t afford to send her to school, they went to different NGO offices (non-governmental organizations) to find sponsors so she could attend school and learn English. 

“Life being hard is not what led me to confess to Christ. I realized that I am a sinner, and I needed Christ in my life to walk with me. Surrendering my life to his leadership, that was something I needed the most so I could go through the trials,” Pam said.

Once Pam finished school, she started working as an office assistant to help provide for her family. In 2011, she got married and later had two children – Gordon, 12, and Elena, 9. Her husband, Aaron, started working at Abaana’s Hope and led the construction department until 2016. Pam joined Life Beads in 2015, which is when she first learned the process of making paper beads and creating jewelry designs.

“When I started the work, everything was new. That’s when I started learning how to roll, how to string, and how to do other designs. It’s a process,” she said. 

After the beads are dipped in the glue, they string them up to dry. The drying process varies depending on the size of the bead. The small sizes dry fast while the larger beads take longer. Once the beads are dry, Pam and the other ladies remove them from the string and start crafting them into a design.

“It’s been a great experience! It has helped me build relationships and make more friends around the community,” Pam said.

As the director of Life Beads, Pam handles the business side of the program and has started doing sales in Uganda with teams. With the help of the table leaders, she checks, finishes, and tags each piece. The sticker on the tag of the jewelry has the name of the woman who made it along with her picture. Once everything is ready, Pam packs the finished products to be shipped Stateside ready for sale. 

In the early years, during missionary-led devotions, Pam would translate for the other Life Beads ladies. Now, she leads the devotions and sits with the ladies listening to their stories, praying alongside them, and encouraging them in the Word of God. She and her team of ladies do home visits in the community when someone is sick, has lost a loved one, or is giving birth. Pam is also in the Women’s Discipleship Class at Abaana’s Hope where she is being discipled and equipped to make disciples. 

“I thank God that all the missionaries were able to encourage us in the Word of God, share with us, listen to us, and build relationships,” Pam said.

Last week, during the devotional, they discussed trials and tribulations, shared their experiences, and encouraged one another.

“We are so grateful to Four Corners, Abaana’s Hope, and the Life Beads ministry because we have all the opportunity to listen to the gospel, share the gospel with others, have great encouragement in the word, and many people around the community have come to know Christ through Life Beads,” Pam said. “Many of the ladies who are working in Life Beads have confessed Christ through the devotions that we have. We are also so grateful to all the donors, all the partners, and even the buyers because they keep us here and they are the source that is enabling the spread of the gospel all over. It makes us string life together.”