Charitable Hawkeye beads make a difference in Uganda

Upper left corner of the Hawk Shop kiosk. Those aren't just “football beads.” They're a way to help people.

The beads - made of recycled paper carefully cut into long strips, rolled around a needle and secured with glue - are ChildVoice beads, made in northern Uganda. That is where this story begins.

ChildVoice International, a Christian organization, is “seeking to restore the voices of children silenced by war.” Its only program, so far, is in northern Uganda, where rebel battles have ravaged communities for years.

“Maybe it's not unique, maybe it's happening in other parts of the world, too,” said Dr. Neil Mandsager, a Des Moines physician and member of the ChildVoice board of directors, “but this war had a profound effect on children.”

Children were abducted and forced to fight as child soldiers. Women were forced into sex slavery and to marry rebel commanders.

“They were forced as kids to do some unimaginable things,” Mandsager said. “They were forced to kill other kids escaping and sometimes were forced to even go back and kill other family members.”

ChildVoice takes up the cause of these women and children. In 2007, ChildVoice opened a medical clinic near the community of Lukodi in nothern Uganda. It also opened a maternity center.

In 2008, the ChildVoice Centre of Lukodi opened in a renovated school building that had been abandoned during the war. The center provides a safe haven for young girls who were abducted by rebels, a place where they catch up on education, receive counseling and learn a job skill. More than 60 girls have gone through the program.

ChildVoice also has built a primary school and drilled a new well for the community.

In 2009, ChildVoice started an income-generating project for all the women in the area. This is where the beads come in. The beads project provides a wage for the Lukodi women and funding for ChildVoice.

ChildVoice is an organization rooted in Iowa. Mandsager and his brother, Conrad, were raised in Marshalltown. They are children of medical missionaries. Mandsager was born in Cameroon and spent eight years there. He's gone to Uganda each of the last four years.

How did the ChildVoice beads end up in Iowa City at the Hawk Shop and the University Book Store?

Last year, when the Hawkeyes were on the cover of Sports Illustrated, Mandsager took a few copies overseas and had the “bead ladies” make the Hawkeye SI cover into necklaces.

He contacted Mary Ferentz, wife of Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz. She was flattered and thought it was wonderful. (Of course, she won't wear the SI necklace on gamedays. You know, the SI cover jinx, which did get the Hawkeyes in '09. They lost to Northwestern that week.)

They brainstormed and came up with the black and gold beads.

“You make anything in black and gold, they'll sell in Iowa City,” she said.

Mandsager works with print shops on paper donations and takes the black and gold paper to Uganda for the beads production. Yes, the ChildVoice beads have gone through the official UI licensing process.

The Hawk Shop and University Book Store are the only places the ChildVoice beads are available now.

More than 90 percent of money donated, including bead sales, covers ChildVoice expenses. Future projects include a new center that would accommodate 300 children/young adults. The goal to build is 12 to 18 months.