Ball State's Social Justice League and the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies teamed up this week to recognize Wednesday as the International Day of Peace and to promote fair trade through jewelry sales.
Today and Friday the organizations will have a table set up across from the Tally in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center where students can purchase Bead for Life products.
Bead for Life is a nonprofit organization and a division of the Fair Trade Association. It employs women in Uganda to make jewelry beads from recycled paper. When the jewelry is sold, the women use the profits to get an education or start their own business. The program's goal is for the women it employs to be self-sufficient after 18 months.
"I think it's really important when you're looking at giving aid to countries that you're not just throwing money out there, but that you're empowering them and actually giving them a means of making their lives better," Emily Mastroianni, Social Justice League president, said.
Mastroianni is a second year graduate student seeking a degree in counseling and is a graduate assistant at the peace center. She said supporting a fair trade organization seemed to be a practical way to promote peace and raise awareness.
"If they're getting fair wages and getting treated fairly and in a dignified manner, then hopefully there's not as much room for rebellion and hunger and the things that would usually lead to war and violence," Mastroianni said. "We don't think of people suffering possibly to make our clothes and cars and food. We want students to be aware of the fair trade symbol and think about where their products are coming from."
Junior drawing major Almira Cantu stopped by the organizations' table when it was set up outside the Ball State Bookstore on Wednesday because she was drawn to the colorful jewelry. She said she'd never heard of Bead for Life before.
"The idea that these women make it out of paper is amazing," Cantu said. "I could only buy some lip balm, but I thought even a little amount would help the women who make these."
Bracelets, necklaces, earrings and jewelry bags are available from $5-$25. Lip balm and soap are $4, and students who make a purchase have the option of entering a drawing to win additional jewelry.
Anyone is welcome to stop by the table and learn about free trade or use a marker to write on the booth's tablecloth what actions they take to promote peace.
Junior Lacey Lord, public relations intern for the Peace Center, said she volunteered for several shifts at the table this week. She sold Bead for Life products on her own last year.
"These women go from back-breaking jobs and living on less than a dollar a day to Bead for Life, where they can be creative and have fun while they're working and have the money to change their lives, essentially," Lord said.
Those wishing to get involved with Bead for Life can click here.
Social Justice League meetings are held at 7 p.m. Mondays in the Center for Peace and Conflict Studies. Interested students may also email spj@bsu.edu.
Mastroianni said the peace center doesn't have regular meetings but that interested students should email peacecenter@bsu.edu to be put on the mailing list. They'll receive a weekly newsletter and notices of volunteer opportunities.
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