The Open Center bookstore is now offering a fabulous new product that makes the perfect meaningful holiday gift!

Mala beads are made by a widows and orphans in the western district of Uganda. These women, young and old, have suffered abuse, armed conflict, poverty, and HIV/AIDS. The crafting of these beads is not only therapeutic, it also provides and livelihood and the dignity of financial independence.  Each bead is made from recycled paper and other indigenous items. The beads are then imported to the U.S. by Mushana, a collaborative design firm, where women  jewelry designers produce the necklaces.

Mushana’s Global Mala beads were the official necklaces of the Global Mala Yoga Peace Project, a program that united the yoga community in support of the United Nations International Day of Peace.

You’ll find these very special crafts in our lobby bookstore, open 10 a.m. until closing seven days a week. We’d love to show them to you now.

Frances Sorensen, Bookstore