One Bead is a non-profit organization that’s goal is to elevate education in East Africa through the sale of recycled glass beads. One Bead currently receives shipments of 200-300 beads biweekly, which it then redistributes to representatives at College Campuses worldwide. These representatives sell bracelets at their respective schools and the profits are used to fund expensive, yet necessary, projects at the Oloosirkon Government Primary School in Kenya. One Bead has long-term goals to set up teaching programs in Kenya and motivate primary school students through the arts, music, and athletics.
Founder Sara about the Sailing Conductors
“In 2010, my cousin Max spent a year in Australia where he met the Sailing Conductors. Max came home and told us all about their mission and our whole family was hooked! As I started working on One Bead I kept thinking about how cool it would be to somehow involve these guys and their amazing project. On a whim I decided to e-mail Benni about One Bead and see if there was anything we could do. His response was as follows: “… From there the plan is to sail to Madagascar and then further south to Cape Town. But this doesn’t mean we couldn’t catch a bus, buy a motorcycle or hitchhike to come to Kenya. That’s a place I’ve wanted to see my whole life. So, yeah! We’ll be there!” I got that e-mail in March and ever since the excitement has been building as we develop plans for the Sailing Conductors to visit Kenya. If everything goes according to plan, they will arrive sometime in November and spend a few days rehearsing at the Oloosirkon school with any students and members of the community that play an instrument. They will then have a concert featuring everything that has been rehearsed.
This will be an amazing opportunity for the students and an equally entertaining experience for everyone to watch via the video. It is crazy to think about all of the connections occurring WORLDWIDE that are going to make this possible. From Australia to the US to Germany and then Nairobi….it’s a small world.
So a special thank you to Benni and Hannes for being a part of our first of many projects involving the arts. Without them this would not at all be possible!”
From their website
1. Current Goal: We want to raise $6,000 to build a fence around the Oloosirkon Government Primary School in Nairobi, Kenya. The school was previously given books, but these were stolen due to a lack of security. The fence was decided on after sitting down with the president of the school and members of the community and asking them what they actually needed.
2. Short Term Goal: After the fence is built, One Bead would like to install a library that would be accessible to both students and community members.
3. Long Term Goal: As our mission statement suggests, One Bead is founded on the idea that the arts, music, and athletics all play an integral role in motivating and inspiring students. In the long run, One Bead would like to set up programs aimed at introducing the arts, music, and athletics to primary school students worldwide.
So get yourself a bead at onbead.org and start supporting what we support!