Real Men Make Jewelry

“What about you?” the new kid said to me, “What’s your deal? What do you do on the weekends?”

I shrugged.

“Are you a mall rat?” he snickered.

“Watch a lot of TV?” he chided.

I haven’t been to the mall since last semester,” I answered. “When I watch TV – it is movies with friends while we make jewelry.”

“Jewelry-making girls. Ha! Knew it.”

“Not just girls. Guys make jewelry too,” I said. “Real men make jewelry.”

He squinted at me. But I knew I had him. “Yeah, guys make jewelry, necklaces, bracelets, key chains. We make jewelry for this non-proft, NETwork Against Malaria. We use paper beads handmade by ladies in Uganda, combine them with recycled beads. Sell what we make. The money we make goes to buying malaria bednets for kids in Uganda.”

“You do what?”

“Yeah. Malaria kills one child in Uganda every five minutes. It is a terrible disease – high fevers, shakes, death. 300-500 million die of malaria every year in the world. A $10 bednet protects kids from the mosquitoes that spread malaria. Yeah, that is why I say, ‘real men make jewelry’. You should come – we have pizza. Last week I made chocolate chips!”

He smiled, “I’ll think about it.”

I nodded, “Sure, you think about it. You show up and I’ll make sure you get the first piece of pizza.”

The next week he was there. And the week after – two years later he is still coming. We got to be good friends. He can make a pretty sweet necklace, too.

Sometimes it just takes an invite to get somebody involved. You never know where that will lead you. For me it led me to a great friendship and a lot laugh.