Lovetta Conto and Akawelle: “Also Known As Love”

At 8 months of age, Lovetta Conto (pictured above) fled her native Liberia for a Ghana refugee camp, one of 47,000 men, women and children escaping civil war.  At age 14, she left the camp for America through the help of the Strongheart Fellowship program, an organization that helps children in need become leaders in social change.

Lovetta is the designer of Akawelle, a jewelry line made entirely out of spent bullet casings taken from the Liberian civil war.  Her jewelry has received rave reviews from Elle.com, O Magazine, and the Huffington Post, to name a few—and is worn by celebrities like Angelina Jolie, who calls Lovetta “an inspiration.”

The name Akawelle is a combination of two words:  ‘aka’, the English acronym for ‘also known as’, and ‘welle’ the word for ‘love’ in Lovetta’s native language.  Each necklace is made from the melted top of the bullet casing and refashioned into a leaf pendant, which is then engraved with the word ‘Life’; a symbol of the promise of new life arising from even the worst hardships.

The money from Akawelle goes toward Lovetta’s future and the creation of the first Strongheart House, a safe house in Liberia that will offer comfort, security, and eco-friendly education to orphans around the world.  “We’ll have a global family,” states Lovetta.  “My brothers and sisters will have different color skin but all one strong heart.”

You can support Lovetta Conto’s mission by visiting Akawelle’s website! For more information on the Strongheart Fellowship, you can click here for their homepage.

With Love,

The PeaceKeeper Team

(Writer:  Renee Estey.  Editors:  Jessica Smith and Eva Kuhn.  All pictures courtesyAkawelle and elle.com.)