THE JEWELRY: VIEW THE AKAWELLE NECKLACE

The history of each necklace begins in Liberia. In the part of Liberia where I am from, many thousands of bullets were fired during the war. Even though the war ended in 2003, the spent shell casings can still be found, scattered across the land in places.

Handcrafted, the leaf pendant is made from melted bullet shells, the part that is left over after the bullet is fired. The bead is the actual bottom of the bullet shell.

I chose the word “life” to be inscribed into the leaf to remind myself that new life can begin after hardship. It is even possible for new life to arise from something as terrible as war.

Men and women can both wear the bullet and leaf. It’s strong – I hope they remind each person who wears them that no matter what they’ve been through, they can rise.

EXQUISITE JEWELRY, HANDCRAFTED FROM BULLETS

A very hard-working man named Richard Sumo collects the casings for me and splits them open, one at a time, by hand. I buy them from him and he uses the money to send his children to school. Richard’s job before the war (in ‘normal days’ as we say in Liberia) was as a plumber but now there is no running water. I am glad that this money helps his family.

Once I have the empty casings, the bottom is cut away from the top and the metal from the top is melted and poured into a mold for a pendant shaped like a leaf.

I chose the word ‘life’ to be inscribed into the leaf to remind myself that new life can begin after hardship. It is even possible for new life to arise from something as terrible as war.

The rough edges of the bottom of the bullet are smoothed away, then wrapped with gold-filled wire to hang beside the leaf on the necklace. This part is not melted down. I think it’s important to have part of the actual bullet untouched, to remember what it was like before.

The metal we use from the bullets is brass so the leaves themselves sometimes come out as a mix of copper and zinc. They will naturally tarnish. I think it makes them even more beautiful.

WHERE THE MONEY GOES

This incredible photograph was taken in Liberia's capital city of Monrovia by CAROLYN COLE of The LA Times in 2003. When people ask where I get all the bullets from, they can just look at this photo and understand. Our bullets come from another part of the country but this gives you an idea of how many there were during the war. Now I'm using the profits from akawelle to help kids who have been affected by war and to rebuild my country.

When you order a necklace or bracelet, 100% of the profit goes toward The Strongheart Fellowship. Visit The Reason

Akawelle purchases are not tax-deductible. While Akawelle is a project under a nonprofit, my goal is to learn to create a business that “does well by doing good”. I think that it is important to learn how to support yourself in life through your passion. Thank you for your business!

If you want to make a donation directly to Strongheart House, you can do that here:   Online Donations

RETURN POLICY

You may return all undamaged items purchased from Akawelle within 30 day of the original delivery. We will pay the return shipping costs if the product is defective or the return is a result of our error. If the item is returned for any other reason you are responsible for the return shipping amount. No returned merchandise will be accepted without a Return Material Authorization (RMA). Contact Zoë Adams at zoeadams@strongheartfellowship.org for a RMA number and the shipping address. Please include "Akawelle Return Request" in the email subject line. We will issue you a check within 7 days of receiving the returned item.

For questions regarding our return policy please contact us at zoeadams@strongheartfellowship.org or 512.293.7970