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We began with a simple idea: to connect people on opposite ends of the world by offering a product that creates jobs in Uganda, while educating and inspiring those who receive it. The Bracelet Campaign is that dream realized, attempting to mend the disconnect between the African continent and the rest of the world’s ignorance towards it.
How It Works
Millions of people in northern Uganda have been forced into camps where they suffer more than their share. Farmers by trade, they once relied on family land and seasonal crops to provide for themselves and their loved ones. But their relocation to IDP camps means that they must now rely on the insufficient rations of the international aid community.The Bracelet Campaign combines the power of market-driven development with the lifelong benefits of education to create a peaceful tomorrow.
The bracelets are handmade from reed and recycled wire, and then packaged with a short film that tells the story of a child affected by the war. Our goal isn’t to simply offer a product, but a new perspective. A better understanding of the impact the war has had on millions of lives.
Who It Helps
1. The ICBC Bracelet Makers
Invisible Children staff work together with community leaders to identify the most vulnerable people in a chosen camp, assessing their personal condition and history, and their family and home situation. Those chosen are trained in bracelet making and supplied weekly with the necessary materials. Current beneficiaries of the program include widows, formerly abducted persons, child mothers, people living with HIV/AIDS, disabled persons and other vulnerable groups among the internally displaced.On average, each bracelet maker creates between 50 and 60 bracelets per week, earning a generous salary from each bracelet they make. Additionally, bank accounts are opened in the name of each beneficiary and money is deposited into these accounts each month in addition to cash payments made to the bracelet makers.
Current Numbers
Koro: 65 Awer: 29 Heals: 23
Atanga: 28 Kica Ber: 7 Kampala: 27
Total: 179 Beneficiaries*
*As of April 2008
2. Children in Northern Uganda
Packaged in every bracelet is a story of a child affected by the two decades of conflict. So far, five bracelets and films have been released. Each of these is a part of Invisible Children’s Visible Child Scholarship Program and working toward their dreams. Want to know more about them? Click below for updates on each since the release of their bracelet.Innocent
Grace
Emmy
Sunday
Saving and Investment Training Initiative (SITI)
The power of the Bracelet Campaign lies in Invisible Children’s powerful Savings and Investment Training Initiative (SITI) curriculum. Through weekly sessions held by a professional trainer, our bracelet makers are taught and encouraged to create regular budgets, savings plans, and invest their savings in sustainable income-generating activities. Each of them is given individual consultation on their financial and business decisions in order to make their investments as beneficial as possible. The SITI curriculum includes three large sections:
1. An ideological discussion of poverty and the fact that it can be overcome
2. Lessons in personal financial management, including budgeting, savings, and loans
3. A guide to identifying, starting, and running successful small businesses
The program encourages beneficiaries to start their own small business with the money set aside in their savings accounts. Though this training is a recent development, people have already begun a number of successful businesses including cattle reselling, pig rearing, and even selling tickets to watch movies and football (soccer) matches on DirecTV. This opportunity allows a sustainable source of income for beneficiaries, enabling them to care for themselves and their families long after the Bracelet Campaign has ended.
Find out more about the SITI graduates and their entrepreneurial endeavors
To learn more about the SITI program, read an interview with Ocan Christopher, Invisible Children’s Savings and Investment Operations Officer.
