Suk-Sukna, meaning Our Beads, is both a cultural and an economic practice. While rooted in traditional South Sudanese bead-making, Suk-Sukna has evolved into a broader women-led production and livelihoods initiative that centers culture and creativity across generations. Through Suk-Sukna, we design, produce, and sell a range of cultural and creative products, including beadwork, apparel, children’s cultural attire, tote bags, notebooks, and other souvenirs. These products carry social meaning, aesthetic value, and economic worth, and are intentionally created to keep South Sudanese culture visible, valued, and accessible both locally and internationally.
The inclusion of children’s cultural attire is a deliberate feminist and cultural intervention. Suk-Sukna seeks to promote cultural continuity by ensuring that South Sudanese children, especially those growing up in displacement or across borders, remain connected to their heritage. This work is grounded in the belief that women’s cultural and creative labor is expertise. For many South Sudanese women, particularly those in the informal sector, livelihoods are shaped by precarity, limited market access, and the devaluation of women’s work.
The program remains deeply intergenerational. Traditional bead-making and cultural design practices are preserved and passed on through mentorship, skill-sharing, and collective production, while newer products allow women to adapt these skills to contemporary markets and audiences. Culture, in this practice, is living and evolving, sustained through women’s hands, creativity, and choices. As a feminist social enterprise, Suk-Sukna contributes directly to the long-term sustainability of Ma’Mara Sakit Village. Income generated through this work supports our broader programming, including community-building and healing justice efforts, reinforcing the Village’s commitment to autonomy beyond short funding cycles.
Suk-Sukna products are crafted and designed by South Sudanese women as part of a feminist social enterprise that upholds culture and creativity. From beadwork and apparel to children’s cultural attire, tote bags, notebooks, and other souvenirs, each piece is made with the intention of honoring women’s labor, preserving cultural knowledge, and keeping heritage visible across generations and borders. Every purchase supports women’s livelihoods, contributes to community-based healing, and affirms culture as something to be lived, worn, and passed on. If you’d like to see more, shop now or later; visit the Suk-Suna website.