Hope in a box
Story and video by Univ. of South Carolina students Megan Everette, Fallon Emmett, Gabi Santos.
When Scott Farrand, a design professor from the University of South Carolina, visited the Ministry of Hope, Malawi in 2013 he met staff member Kondwani Chitekwere and came up with an idea to get his students to think inside, outside and all about the box.
Farrand saw Chitekwere making a paper bead necklace and was awestruck by its beauty and uniqueness. He thought he might be able to connect Chitekwere’s necklaces with his design students by having them design packages for the necklaces that were creative, economical and communicated a message in themselves.
Since 2010, Chitekwere has been raising money for the Ministry of Hope by designing and selling over 700 beaded necklaces that reflect her Christian faith to missionaries, church groups and others who visit MOH.
Chitekwere’s says she incorporates the gospel into her jewelry designs. Each necklace has a specific, spiritual meaning depending on the color embedded in the beads. Chitekwere also plans to write a Bible passage on one bead, located near the clasp of the necklace. She wants to use the beads to “reach out to people with the word of God.”
Farrand was inspired by her story and passion, and he wanted to find a way to help Chitekwere reach a larger audience.
“I wanted to help her sell more necklaces, give greater awareness to the Ministry of Hope’s mission and raise money for the organization,” Farrand said. “This project could also be a great way to showcase my students’ visual communications skills.”
Farrand returned to the states with a project for his visual communications classes: Create a packaging system for the necklaces and include more information about the beads and the Ministry of Hope while using only one sheet of paper. The package had to be inexpensive and easily produced, and reinforce the idea that something very simple, if crafted properly, can be made extraordinary.
Chitekwere crafts each necklace by gathering pieces of paper from recycled magazines and calendars, which she tightly rolls and varnishes to make look like glass beads of various shapes. This allows her to produce the necklaces at an economical cost, and the packaging had to reflect that concept.
The packaging systems the students designed also had to explain the spiritual meaning behind the jewelry.
Chitekwere was thrilled when she heard the idea for developing a package design. “I was very excited because the packaging will add value to the necklaces,” she said.
Throughout the year, Farrand was able to update Chitekwere on the progress of the project. When he returned to Malawi this summer, he shared the best packages from his two visual communications classes with the Ministry of Hope. After seeing the final products, Chitekwere had no doubt that the packaging would work.
“My hope is that wherever my necklaces are sold…they will reach out to people with the gospel of Jesus Christ, so whoever buys the beads will carry the gospel with them.”