Lovetta Conto is a sixteen year old who fled her home country of Liberia to Ghana to escape civil war. While growing up in a refugee camp Lovetta met Cori Stern, the founder of Strongheart Fellowship, which is a "social-entrepreneurship program designed to help bright, resilient young people from extremely challenging circumstances around the globe develop into compassionate, innovative problem-solvers and leaders that can affect significant social change".
With the help of Strongheart Lovetta was able to follow her dream of escaping the refugee camp and become a jewelry designer for Akawelle. Using shell casings from the thousands of bullets that were fired in Liberia, Lovetta creates necklaces. She melts the bullet shells down and pours them into a mold shaped like a leaf pendant with the word 'life' inscribe on it to remind that 'that new life can begin after hardship'. The bottom of the bullet shell is also used as a pendent and is left in its original state 'to remember what is was like before'.
100% of the profits go to the Strongheart House which is located in Liberia and is 'a home and center of healing, learning, and excellence for gifted and talented young people from the developing world either displaced or orphaned by war or other circumstance'. It will open in 2010.
Photo: Carolyn Cole, LA Times, 2003
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