Agnes Papatiti practices traditional glass bead work in the Kajiado District, a lightly-populated section of the Rift Valley just south of Nairobi, Kenya, where the Maasai are the dominant population. She grew up in a home made of mud and dung, surrounded by thorn bushes to protect their cattle from predators. Her husband, Patrick, is a leader of Maasai warriors.

She produces the colorful beaded necklaces, cuffs and other items that are part of the Maasai culture. She is sponsored by Beads for Education, a New Jersey based non-profit helping the girls and women of Kenya through education and business development. The organization, founded in 1993, represents three women’s beading cooperatives and sponsors some 300 girls’ educational programs. In 2008, Beads for Education realized its first college graduates, funded through the marketing of their bead work.