Akwaaba!

Welcome to the Krobo Beads Ltd blogspot! While we are in the midst of creating our website, this site will provide insight to the background, activities and progress of the company.

Company Background:

The company was established in December 2007 as a continuation of the beads work in the micro- credit project that ran from 2005 to 2007 under the support and guidance of the NGO Krobodan.
The micro-credit project under Krobodan was aimed at providing vulnerable single-mothers in the Yilo Krobo District income generating activities that would help alleviate poverty and promote social empowerment and gender equality.
The beads production had been a remarkable success, and has thus resulted in further development of the beads business from the NGO and is now registered as an independent company with a separate management and executive board. The mission of the company is to help women attain economic independence, taking small steps to reduce dependence in foreign aid and create sustainability.

Description of Activities:

Krobo Beads Ltd currently employs 60 single-mothers in the Yilo Krobo District who produce and manufacture glass beads and glass beads jewelry. The current activities of the company include:

1. Recycling of waste glass into glass beads

2. Production of glass beads jewelry for export

3. Running of workshops on glass work, color work and designing of jewelry

4. Educating the workers on social issues such as HIV/AIDS, Family Planning, Reproductive Health and Waste Management

Mission:

The overall objective of the company is to support the economic and social empowerment and capacity building of single-mothers from the Yilo Krobo district through the improvement of production, management and sales of glass beads jewelry.

The practices of the company are based on a common desire to improve the conditions of the women and their children through long term and sustainable business cooperation. Additionally, the practices are based on the principles of Fair Trade, which serve as guidelines to meet the aforementioned objectives for the business cooperation.

The aims of the cooperation are thus twofold:

1. To develop a sound, sustainable, and professional business partnership, and
2. To ensure social and economic development of the single mothers and their children, by living up to the standards of Fair Trade.

Goal:

The long term strategy for the beads production is to build the business capacity of the producers and their level of organization, and gradually transfer the ownership and management to a cooperative constituted by the producers.

Hard at Work

Rachel, KB's Quality Control Specialist

**For further information or to place an order, please e-mail Jacquie at: vanderslicej@yahoo.com

Clear Glass Collection

The Ashley

Coral-shaped glass ending with clear round beads; Length, 23 in. $12; Bracelet (not shown), $5

Shown in:
-Clear sky blue
-Glacial grass green

Also available in:
-Sea blue (see below)
-Speckled dew green (see below)

The Abbie

Double-stranded "coral" beads starting and ending with a clear tarka bead; Length, 23 in. $12, Bracelet (not shown), $5

Shown in:

-Mediterranean blue

-Stormy green

The Jennifer

Large round or flat glass beads separated by translucent tarka beads; Length, 23 in. $12, Bracelet $5

Shown in:
-Deep sea blue
-Lady pink

The Jessie

Double-stranded round glass beads complemented with three circle discs and clear tarka beads; Length, 24 in. $12, Bracelet, $5

Shown in (round/disc):
-Clear white/Spring yellow
-Dew green/Clear white


Also available in (not shown):
-Clear black/Clear white
-Clear white/Black






The Elizabeth

A melee of medium and small round glass beads intertwined with clear tarka beads; Length, 23 in. $12; Bracelet $5

Shown in:
-Clear black
-Robin egg blue

Also available in (not shown):
-Tulip pink

The Mawghan

Large colored glass beads combined with medium white and clear black tarka beads; Length, 23 in. $10, Bracelet $5

Shown in:

-Deep sea blue

-Tulip pink

The Courtney

Similar to The Jessie, double-stranded colored glass beads complimented with two clear discs situated around "4" and "8 o'clock"; Length, 23 in. $10, Bracelet $5

Shown in:
-Black
-Robin egg blue

The Mandy

Amber disc pendant supported by a single strand of small clear brown beads; Length, 26 in. $8

Shown in:

-Clear brown/Amber

The Blake

Golden bronze small beads decorated with amber, brown, and subtle green glass beads; Length, 55 in. $10
















**For further information or to place an order, please e-mail Jacquie at: vanderslicej@yahoo.com

Waist Beads Collection

The Waist Beads Collection is available in all of the following colors:

Colors shown:
-Baby Bluebell
-Daffodil yellow
-Electric blue
-Sea green
-Paisley purple
-Coral red

Also available in (not shown):
-White
-Black
-Lime green

The Erin

Two strands of colorful waist beads interlocked with a loop of tarka beads; Length, 23 in. $12; Bracelet (Tarka/Tarka or Waist/Tarka), $5

The Jules

Twisted double-strands of colorful waist beads locking in a clear disc sitting around "4 o'clock"; Length, 22 in. $10

The Jessica

Three strands of interwoven waist beads with small and medium round clear beads sprinkled throughout; Length, 25 in. $12; Bracelet (not shown), $5

The Taylor

Brightly colored waist beads surrounding black and white tarka beads and small clear round beads; Length, 56 in. $10

The Lauren

Two strands of small waist beads along side clear 'shelley' beads to complement the centerpiece large round clear bead; Length, 23 in. $12, Bracelet $5

The Emily

Medium round glass beads mixed two strands of waist beads; Length, 24 in. $10, Bracelet $5

Round beads available in clear, coral splash (shown), and clear black

The Liz

Colorful waist beads embracing small clear white glass beads; Length: Necklace, 25 in., Earrings, 1.5 in. $10, Set

The Carolyn

Colorful glass waist beads coupled with black tarka beads; Length, 56 in. $8

**For further information or to place an order, please e-mail Jacquie at: vanderslicej@yahoo.com

Classic Earring Collection

The Katherine

Large drop earrings adorned with a round glass bead at the base; Length 2.5in. $6

Available colors:
-Robin egg blue (shown)
-Grass green
-Clear white
-Clear black





The Laura

Colorful sheer glass drop earrings adorned with a clear small round bead at the closure; Length, 2.5 in. $6

Available colors:
-Ash (shown)
-Black
-Deep sea blue
-Clear white

The Lindsey

Coral-shaped glass beads supported by small clear waist beads; Length 2.5 in $6

Available colors:
-Clear sky blue (shown)
-Glacial grass green
-Sea blue
-Speckled dew green

The Kristin

Tiny beads looped to a small round bead closure; Length, 2.5 in. $6

Available in:
-Sea green (shown)
-Coral red
-Baby Bluebell

The Christina

Classic 'Mother of Pearl' clusters; Length, 2 in. $10

The Elizabeth earring

Clear tarkas mixed with small round glass beads-a complementary piece to The Elizabeth necklace; Length, 1.5 in. $6

Available in:
-Clear black (shown)
-Robin egg blue

The Caitlin

Straight, drop earring of small and medium round glass beads; Length, 1.75 in. $6

Available in:

-Clear black (shown)

-Robin egg blue

-Tulip pink

The Jenna

Similar to The Kristin earrings; tiny waist beads looped to a close and accented with a silver ring; Length, 2.75 in. $6
Available in:
-Sea green
-Coral red (shown)
-Baby Bluebell

The Ashley earring

A piece to complete The Ashley necklace, coral-shaped glass beads stacked between two tiny clear waist beads; Length, 1.5 in. $6

Available in:
-Clear sky blue
-Glacial grass green
-Sea blue
-Speckled dew green (shown)


The Abbie earring

Small coral-shaped glass beads complemented with two clear waist beads to accent The Abbie necklace; Length, 1.25 in. $5

Available in:
-Mediterranean blue (shown)
-Stormy green





**For further information or to place an order, please e-mail Jacquie at: vanderslicej@yahoo.com

The Bead Market

Koforidua Bead Market

Koforidua plays host to one of the best bead markets in West Africa. It occurs every Thursday in Jackson Park, just a few blocks from the main market in Kof-town.

The market is sprawling with beads sellers mostly from Ghana (and majority being from the Yilo Krobo District), but also a handful of nomadic traders who travel all over West Africa. There are stalls after stalls of brightly colored beads strewn on long raffia strands for purchase as well as piles of loose individual beads atop of local cloth, laid out on the ground for you to dig through.
On the periphery of the market, traders sell crushed glass and colored glass powder to supply the bead makers within the region, as well as packaged beads to buy in bulk.

Typically three types of beadwork can be found here. The two most common, locally made, are:

1. Colored glass beads sold in bunches or individual strands, and
2. Patterned glass beads, with unique individual designs, that are sold loosely or on smaller strands.

The third type of beads that are found here are:

3. "Old" beads. These are typically more expensive than the locally made ones; unless you were privy to the origin of them beforehand, it is very difficult to distinguish the old ones from the new ones. The old ones were made in Ghana mostly during the time of the Portuguese and British occupation in Ghana, or were brought in through the Indo-Arab sea trade.

In addition, there are plenty of traders selling finished jewelry products eager for you to buy...or at look at for "no charge!"