The Pearls for Girls Story

My name is Mary Murphy and I am the creator and founder of “Pearls for Girls” along with a few teenagers from a High School in Ottawa, Canada, who helped test the concept in 2006.  How did the idea for Pearls for Girls come about? 

In the Fall of 2006 I decided that I wanted to do something that would make a difference in the lives of others in the world, especially young women.  I am a business and communications coach and in November of 2006 I attended the International Coach Federation (ICF) Conference and heard Lynne Twist, the author of “The Soul of Money”, speak and she inspired me to take my idea for making a difference and make it a reality.  At the same conference, a colleague of mine told me about a Canadian organization and international outreach program called “Help Lesotho” which was started four years ago by Peg Herbert, a University of Ottawa Professor in Educational Psychology.  Help Lesotho works in the mountainous regions of Lesotho, a very small country of 1.8 million people that is surrounded by South Africa.  Lesotho has the third highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the world and approximately one third of all children are orphaned or vulnerable. 

When I returned to Ottawa I spoke with another friend who had just started a pearl business (Pearl Passion) and asked her if she would be interested in donating a portion of her earnings to help the girls of Lesotho.  She liked the idea and so I said, “We could start Peals for Girls”!  Her daughter and friends wanted to make pearl bracelets and sell them at a local Christmas Craft sale to raise money for Help Lesotho. They couldn’t believe that girls their age lived such impoverished lives and yet were courageous and wanted to make life better for others.  They also liked the name “Pearls for Girls”!

In a short period of time the Canadian teenage girls sold enough bracelets to send 14 of the orphaned girls in Lesotho to the annual “Help Lesotho Leadership Camp”. They were thrilled that they could make a difference in the lives of girls their age.  Now more teenagers are making “Pearls for Girls” bracelets and selling them to raise money for the orphans of Lesotho.  The project has now spread to other parts of Canada, Australia and the United States.

The long-term goal for “Pearls for Girls” is for teenage girls in developing and developed countries to become leaders who through creativity, collaboration and contribution make a difference in someone else’s life.

I am passionate about the initiative and have lots of ideas of how to move forward and really grow “Pearls for Girls”, both as a leadership development and fundraising project.  What I need is help from people who also want to make a difference in the lives of teenage girls and young women around the world.  Please feel free to contact me at pearl@pearls4girls.org if you wish to get involved.  

Thank you for your interest in “Pearls for Girls”.     

Mary Murphy (also known as Pearl)