Partners bead for breast cancer

A community project provides mammograms for women in Brazil.

Beaded necklaces and bracelets do not simply have to be made by Grandma as an unwanted stocking stuffer during the holidays. With beaded bracelets and necklaces made by youth, the Partners of the Americas Biojewelry Beading for Breast Cancer workshops at the University of Wyoming prove that beading is not only a hobby for the elderly. 

The Partners of the Americas organization creates beaded accessories with Biojewelry, beads made from plants, to raise money for the impoverished women of Goiás, Brazil. (Photos: Tomasz Bogucki )

The workshops will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. every Monday throughout the spring semester in the Cheney International Center’s basement lobby. The beading workshop is open on a walk-in basis to anyone interested. Experience is not necessary. The workshops have two to three instructors each night to help teach the art of beading. 

Dorly Piske, president of the Wyoming chapter of Partners of the Americas, said the project was started in order to raise money for a travelling mammography program and mammogram machine for the impoverished women in Goiás, Brazil. So far, the organization has raised $15,000 toward the machine’s purchase, Piske said. The cost of the machine is $70,000. 

Volunteer Zoe Brain, left, works on a beading project for Beading for Breast Cancer Monday evening at the Cheney Center.

Partners of the Americas began in the 1960′s after President John F. Kennedy called for citizens of North and South America to join together for support, Piske said. Currently, each participating state is linked to a region in South America that the state helps in various ways. Wyoming’s assigned country is Brazil.

The idea for a beading project started in 2008 when the International Club at Laramie High School decided that beading would be the perfect way to raise money. Piske said the goal was to also involve more youth from the community in the project. 

One of the ways that youth are involved is through groups such as Big Brothers Big Sisters, Piske said. Youth groups will send participants who need community service hours to the beading workshops. The youth will then create beaded pieces that they donate back to Partners of the Americas. 

After the jewelry is donated back, Partners of the Americas sells the pieces at various venues throughout Laramie, including the Farmer’s Market and The Brown ‘n Gold Outlet.

Piske said several UW Registered Student Organizations have also participated in the fundraising by selling the jewelry at places such as the UW Student Union. One RSO generated more than $400 in one week for the fundraiser, she said. 

The beads themselves are made in Brazil from the seeds of the açaì palm tree and other tropical plants, hence the term Biojewelry, Piske said. Crescent moons and various shapes are also made from coconuts for the necklaces, she said. 

The Big Brothers Big Sisters youth work with Dorly Pisky, top and right, to create their jewelry.

The organization also sells pre-made coconut rings from Brazil, Piske said. 

The turnout for the workshops has been very good with up to 20 people showing up to create jewelry, Piske said. She said she hopes more RSOs will sign up to help create and sell the jewelry as well. 

For more information, or for groups or RSOs to sign up for community service, contact Dorly Piske at (307) 760-8279. 

David Knight

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