Story from the magazine "The Ruby"
RETURN HOME

Many of us know Marilyn Berg as the collector and dealer of the bead finery available at MB Imports, the wholesale bead business she founded in 1994. Mb Imports is based in Seattle, WA and she will be exhibiting at all the upcoming fall/winter Whole Bead Shows. Marilyn has been a beadwork designer since 1980. A history of her business can be read on her website at http://www.mbbeads.com and once you are there check out her exquisite selection of stone beads, shell beads, glass beads and so much more that can be ordered online. Sounds great, doesn't it? But Marilyn’s beads need no introduction. See for yourself. 

What many of us don't know is what is new with Marilyn. Aside from running her wholesale bead business she has recently been involved in a teaching project overseas. In January of 2002 Marilyn went to Cuba with a delegate of 40 women from the University of Washington's Center for Women in Democracy (CWD). along with Sen. Maria Kentwell. Marilyn didn’t have any specific thing in mind as she set out, but she did have some beads and beading supplies in tow. They visited schools and orphanages where Marilyn was able to give workshops in beaded bracelets. The delegates met with some of the higher official women of Cuba, and Marilyn gave as gifts some of her necklaces. Next they met with the US Ambassador to Cuba, Vickie Huddleston, and soon they found themselves with Fidel Castro, himself. Fidel spent hours with them, talking to each one of the delegates about their individual goals. Among those from the US CWD present were doctors, lawyers and workers in the shipping industry. On that trip Marilyn was asked by the US intersection to Cuba and also the Cuban intersection/Cuban Women’s Federation to return to Cuba to teach beading to Cubans with art backgrounds. Marilyn realized that she had been given an incredible gift her love of beads and her amazing talent for designing have always been her hope and her guidance through tough times. After the death of her husband some years back, Marilyn was on her own to raise their children. Thanks to revenue from beads she was able to keep her home and support her family. In April of this year she started Cuentas de Esperanza ( beads of Hope), a non-profit with the motto, "creating hope for women worldwide" So she accepted the invitation to return to Cuba and planned to go in May. Leaving May 10th, Marilyn arrived in Cuba to teach at the Ludwig Foundation, which she is on the neutral ground of the US Intersection. She taught 10 men and 2 women for that first week, most of them silversmiths whose work had a primitive look. They had never used beads made of anything other than native seeds, and their only stringing material consisted of old telephone wires, which they would strip down past the colored plastic coating to the bare metal at the core. The students were very excited and appreciative of the new found materials and techniques, quickly adapting and improvising. The students had no access to computers, and what few computers there are in Cuba have no internet access - thanks to a governmental mandate which forbids it. The currency used most is US dollars and what most families live on comes from the help of relatives living in Florida. After the first week, Marilyn stayed at the home of Vicki Huddleston, the US Ambassador. There she met with Jimmy and Rosalyn Carter and told them about her work.