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Odumasi, Ghana

Everyone knows Nomoda Ebenezer Djaba as “Cedi.” He lives in Odumasi/Krobo, Ghana, where he runs the family business he has loved since childhood. “By my ninth birthday my beads were becoming popular,” Cedi says. “Three years later I could not keep up with the demand and do my schoolwork. The solution was to teach my family, most of whom were already experienced bead makers, how to create my designs.” The family business is now called Cedi Beads Industry, and Cedi is one of the best known among the famous Krobo bead makers. His highly original creations are worn by tribal chiefs and are sold internationally as well as locally. To make his beads, Cedi funnels crushed glass into clay molds and fires them in a wood-burning kiln—a process he gladly explains to those who visit his workshop to study or buy beads. Cedi has served as Chairman of the Krobo Bead Society and President of the Krobo Bead Producers Association. He hopes to open a school one day to teach young people about the bead trade.