Waist beads are cultural jewelry. There are from West Africa. Waist beads are only worn by females. In some West African countries, it's a cultural and traditional thing to wear waist beads because it means a female has grown, gone through puberty, and matured. It can also mean a female is transitioning into womanhood. In my culture we wear waist beads. In my culture, which is Malian culture, we also wear it for the purpose of just looking nice. The waist beads are important to my family, but specifically to my mom. It's important to her because when she came to America from Mali 18 years ago, she brought it with her. Her family had given it to her to wear when she was coming here because it's a cultural thing. The waist beads also remind her of her family back home. Now that one of my sisters and I are older, she gave some to us to wear and now I sometimes wear it.

– Hata Konte

Relationship:  Child of im/migrant Child of im/migrant