About us

Mama Pendo, meaning The Mother of Love in Kiswahili, is the jewelry brand of the "Umoja" women empowerment group from Namuwongo slum, Kampala, Uganda. The initiative comes to improve the life status of these women, some of which are refugees from the war ridden territories of Uganda, some single mothers struggling to give their children a proper education. The first and most basic need is to build their financial and social strength and independence.

To achieve this goal "Little Light Uganda" NGO invited the mothers of the children benefiting from the "Little Light" education program and initiated the “Umoja” empowerment group.

The women chose to call this group “Umoja”, meaning “Unity”, from a Swahili proverb – Umoja ndio nguvu which means - unity is strength. The group works in three axis of activity:

  • Cycle of Beads: where women create ecological jewelry from recycled newspaper and market it both in Uganda and abroad.

  • Health care: where women attain treatment and health education including reproductive health, sanitation and raising a healthy child.

  • Micro finance: in which women save and take micro loans for their personal economic development.

This peer group has become, for the women in the community, a place to socialize with the other women, sharing experiences and ideas. It allows them to gain dignity and self-respect and to build a better social status proving that indeed Unity is strength. 

These amazing, strong, inspiring, women manage to uphold, under the harshest of circumstances, a smile and hope in the face of all difficulties. They gather every afternoon, in the space of the "Little Light" kindergarden and create, one by one, the beads that are then strung, with love and care, into these unique jewelry.

Little Light's volunteers are working closely with the women, supporting them in their endeavor, including running this website in order to get the women's work and stories more exposure.

By buying an item you provide Food, Health, Education, and Hope!

Follow our different projects on Facebook:

Mama Pendo - African Hand Made Jewelry

Little Light Children's Center Uganda 

Spoon Youth