Siena Anstis, pictured above on Lake Bunyonyi in Uganda, began the “Women of Kireka” jewelry-making project in 2008 in Kireka near Kampala. Women with a talent for beading were working in the stone quarry there under arduous conditions. They had fled from the northern part of Uganda during a brutal war where their husbands were killed and children abducted.
A strong believer in human rights’ advocacy, Siena joined with Project Diaspora to help 20 women from Kireka turn their beading talents into a profit-making venture through the power of social media and the internet.
Photos on this blog were taken by Siena and Kim Bilmer.
“These women faced almost insurmountable obstacles but they have a tremendous ability to adapt. They are the voice of this business and are making it all possible.” Siena Anstis
Social media in the name of Twitter led me to Siena. I read a tweet by New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof where he wrote he’d bought all his Christmas presents early from the “Women of Kireka.” So I got to wondering just who and where these creative people were. And that search led me to my conversation with Siena in Montreal… Continue reading
The Women's Eye 