Scandinavian Jewelry Made Social-Impact in Ghana

Pernille Bülow is an inspiring woman, who lives on my birth Islands, Bornholm in Denmark. That's where I met Pernille 7 years ago. We became fast friends, and I was smitten with Pernille's micro-loan and do good jewelry design business. As you all know, this is my kind of thing - doing business as a force for good. 

Pernille is a highly celebrated glass blower in Denmark, and everything glass is her big passion. It is also a big part of Pernille's heart and energy to run her jewelry design business as a social impact, micro loan business model in Ghana. There is more about the project below, but first, I wanted to share Agnes' story. She is one of the women, who work with Pernille Bülow Jewelry.


The project was already well under way when I was hired to support both internally on the production management side, as well as externally with communication, marketing & sales. I had the incredible opportunity to travel to Ghana with Pernille in 2008 to support the business, train the women, and keep the communication and organizational aspects of the business running as smooth as possible. This is no easy task, when you are dealing with illiteracy, lack of technical training, not to mention corruption, and lack of wifi and phone access - my learnings would be great fodder and inspiration for another blog post. The contrast between that, and building a suave Scandinavian jewelry brand, which a savvy fashion-forward Nordic woman would want to buy. It was a great learning experience. It is a beautiful business.

The reason for my post today, is an update on the project. The project is still going strong. That is truly something to celebrate! - especially when you zoom in on the individuals participating in the business, and how their lives have been positively altered in a huge way.

A portrait of one of the skilled women in Ghana: Agnes Padi

Agnes Padi is born in 1971 and has three children: Patti Olivia, Liticiah and Desmond. Besides producing jewellery, Agnes is also a skilled bead maker. Before Agnes started to produce Pernille Bülow jewellery, she made a living by selling beads at the local market every Thursday and she also farmed and sold tomatoes.

Agnes went to school for 11 years and she is a beautiful, strong and intelligent woman. But without continued education it is difficult to land a well-paying job in Ghana. Unfortunately, it is expensive to pay for university tuition, something not many non-educated people can afford.

By producing jewelery and farming corn Agnes now has saved enough money up to send Patti Olivia to the University as the first in the family to receive a higher education.

A unique blend of Scandinavian design and African soul

Bülow Jewellery is a unique blend of Pernille Bülows beautiful design and the traditional production of glass beads by 60 women in Ghana. The women in Ghana make the pearls from local recycled glass from old bottles, car windows and other glass which has been discarded. The glass is melted and shaped into the most gorgeous rustic beads, see how in the video below. The cooperation results in jewellery with character and beauty as well as a really good story about making a difference.

The women who participate in our Fair Trade project are all selected on the basis of their low living standards and the fact that they are all single mothers. Unfortunately this makes them one of the most exposed groups in Ghanian society. Before, the women made very little money by making and selling beads and jewellery at the local weekly market.

The engagement in this fair trade project has now given the women completely new living conditions. The jewellery project is a cooperation between the Ghanian women, Pernille Bülow A/S and Danida (Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark). With a daily income 4-5 times higher than before, the women can now afford to send their children to school and to generally improve the living conditions of their families, thus creating a new future for all.

From the beginning it has been an important part of the project to provide the women with skills so they can manage on their own in business life without this particular fair trade project. Should that ever become necessary. That is why the jewellery project began by giving the women small micro-loans to buy tools for the jewellery production, so that each woman has actually begun her own small independent business.

The women have developed greatly through the years. They have grown with the work and have gained a whole new self confidence. They have begun running the project locally, and the pride and joy of being able to provide for their families is a fantastic motivation for us all.

Pernille Bülow has a fair trade cooperation with a group of single mothers from the Krobo District in Ghana. Single mothers are one of Ghana's poorest and most exposed groups. Fair Trade is about making a difference and giving these women and their children the possibility of making a better future for themselves. Read more here.

Video is in Danish only, Sorry English speakers, but you can still see the beautiful bead making process, and 
get a feel for the Danish designer Pernille Bülow, whom I had a pleasure of working with on this project.

I have the deepest gratitude for people like Pernille, who despite a highly challenging context choose to do business in a social impact manner, because they have a larger vision for our humanity and world. A dream of a better life for everyone. Big kudos to all of you out there, who do social-impact and micro loan business! The world needs you.

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