This week, LUXA came back from break running. Several weeks ago, staff and student leaders decided to order a necklace kit from Light Brings Heat. These necklaces are composed of hand-made paper beads strung together. Women from the African country of Uganda make these necklaces and the company, Light Brings Heat (LBH) buys these necklaces at a fair price to sell in other countries. The women that make these necklaces receive the proceeds as a way to support their families. Each necklace comes in a box with a card. On the front of the card is a picture of the woman who made the necklace and the back gives her name, the Ugandan tribe she is a part of, and the number of children she is supporting, as well as a brief sketch of her life. Many of these women are caring not only for their own children, but also for nieces, nephews, grandchildren, and orphans. Some care for as many as 14 children. The stories that are included on the back are amazing stories of how LBH has brought hope to these families. The mothers can buy food for their families, send the children to school, and one is helping support her husband as he attends college.
We started out the week with 28 necklaces. As of lunch Tuesday, we sold roughly 16 (I don't have the numbers in front of me, so these are rough guesses). 100% of the profit we make from selling these necklaces goes straight back to the women who made them; Chi Alpha is not keeping any of the money. This is a great way for us to give back to someone else this holiday season and to teach the students at Longwood about Uganda and giving to someone else.
We began selling these necklaces on Monday during lunch (from 11-1) and dinner (from 4:30-6:30). We figured it would take us two weeks to sell all of the necklaces, but by the lunch shift on Friday, all 28 had been sold. We raised over $500 to send back to Uganda for these women to provide for their families. Way to go Chi Alpha!!
(If you would like to learn more about Suubi Africa or order any of their products, please visit http://www.suubiafrica.org/)
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