One last effort to ask our wonderful and amazing supporters to please vote for The Leakey Collection in the World Challenge 08 Competition before Saturday, November 22.  For those who have voted- we thank you for your support!  Receiving this grant will allow us to put $20,000 towards a hydro-electric dam in Kenya reducing our dependency on fuel oil and helping the Maasai thrive for generations to come.  Click here to vote now and see our new video produced by the wonderful team at BBC.  

       This is the story of how an unlikely friend found us in the Rift Valley Kenya and made her way into our hearts. 

The very fat and lovable Miss Tiggywinkle came to live with us in the bush about 2 weeks ago.  Rescued by our daughter and her family as a tiny baby Miss Tiggywinkle, a prickly but cute hedgehog, flourished a little too much under their generous care.  By the time she came to us she weighed 213 grams, so over weight that she had difficulty walking so it was up to us to put her on a diet.  I was told that so common is this with pet hedgehogs that there are many websites dedicated to hedgehog weight loss programs. We found this funny but took it seriously for Miss Tiggy’s sake and set about to get her some exercise.  

One website suggested swimming.  I didn’t know that hedgehogs swam but our Miss Tiggs certainly loved her first foray in the bird bath, doing several quick laps with ease.  When she gets a big older I’ll take her to the river and swim with her, documenting her progress in a future blog update.

Hedgehogs are nocturnal animals so exercising her meant a 4 hour night time vigil outside our tent to make sure she didn’t get lost.  Now that I know she likes swimming during the day she’ll be in great shape soon, something I wish I could say for myself.

 Miss Tiggy weighed in at 195 grams yesterday, a net loss of 18 grams, pretty good for the intrepid little girl.  I’ll keep you posted of Miss Tiggywinkle’s progress with updated photos and stories until she is ready to make it on her own in the bush. 

Sometimes my husband and I think we must have gone mad to start such a business, but we see the hardships brought to the Maasai by the relentless flow of urbanization and know that without a bridge to join the modern economy, these people will not be able to afford their lifestyle as times change.  Children are now schooled in government or missionary schools and this costs money.  Modern health care costs money, and transportation for provisions for a once nomadic society now comes at a price.  We have seen a future where the children will have to move to the city to find work, and the customs and culture of the once proud Maasai will fade quickly into history. 

Imagine employing 900 people working without electricity for light or equipment, roads to transport goods and buildings in which to assemble your products.  Imagine building a business where centuries long customs bumps against modern work ethics, where traditional values clash with western values, and where long-term vision is lost to a subsistence-only view.  Every day an interesting new difference between our worlds emerge.  In order to provide opportunity without inflicting change, we have worked hard to carefully structure our business for the people with whom we live.  We employ twice as many we need because the women must be free to come and go as life dictates: the leopard killed a goat so a few women must go with the young to watch the herd for the day; or an important celebration has called many women to build a manyata; a temporary ceremonial village, and spend several weeks preparing for the feast of change. 

 Now that we have expanded to reach more than 900 women across the Rift Valley, we often become embroiled in local politics and we always run into problems unimaginable to the city business owner.  Our first payday, we carried 125 envelopes, a woman’s name of each envelope, to one of our work stations in the bush.  After calling all the names, there were many women left who had not stepped forward to collect their pay.  We discovered that for every day that they came to work, the women had given a new name.  After several weeks, they could not recall the aliases given.  Each person in Maasai society holds a unique spot in the clan and in Maasai history, which dates back to the 15^th century.  A selection of names paints a picture not only of who you are, but where you fit in terms of territory and clan as told through 600 years of history.  It took three weeks to deliver the 125 envelopes. 

 The women walk miles to a workstation each day, sometimes taking two hours each way.  They come with babies tied to their backs and sit on the ground- their preference- under the acacia trees beading until lunchtime. A long Christian prayer is led in their native dialect, “Maa, ” by someone they elect each day; then they enjoy a light lunch of cooked maize meal and milk brought in a calabash, a lovely beaded gourd.  Many put in a seven-hour day even through they have  a long walk home- they want to earn the much needed income.  We emply all who want the work: the blind, the elderly, the destitute, teacher out of work, and shopkeepers who have no business of their own in hard times. 

 It has not been easy to build a business that is beholden to the western values of delivering orders on time, within strict specifications, in a world belonging to the nomadic herdsman where time is told by the seasons and priorities are set by the immediate need.  As I sit on my rock watching the beautifully adorned women who sparkle like jewels as they walk home across the Rift Valley, bathed in the low peach light of dusk, babies asleep on their backs and calabashs swinging at their hips, I think of them bridging their traditional past with the necessities of modern life to keep their culture, as well as their families, alive, and I don’t feel so crazy after all.  

Doing something from “nothing” is the most exciting aspect of creativity for my husband, Philip, while designing with elegant lines and rich colors, using materials that radiate light, is my passion.  Our visions were joined together by an unexpected event:  a devastating drought during the late 1990s in Kenya where we live. 

 Our home is in the bush several hours south of Nairobi, and our neighbors in the Great Rift Valley are the elegant, tall Massai, who still maintain their pastoral way of life.  During the drought, as the grasses died off and the earth became parched, over a hundred Maasai mothers were coming to our house for money to buy food for their children. 

 Traditionally, the Maasai men who trade in livestock to provide for their families handle financial matters.  When their cattle began dying, bleached bones were a signal that the men must drive their remaining herds to greener pastures for survival- sometimes hundreds of miles.  Families were left behind to fend for themselves and, in the absence of men, a need grew into what would later become an opportunity for the women.  My husband knew he could not take care of all these families for very long, so he sought a way to create something out of ‘nothing’ that could be made by the women- a product that could be sold. 

 Inspiration came to Philip as he studied some stands of tall golden grass.  He envisioned jewelry that could be made from a sustainable natural resource, utilizing the Maasai women’s skills as master beaders.  Soon the women were harvesting the grass-already dried by the hot African sun-one blade at a time, and then the blades were cut into tiny “beads.”  As the system has evolved, only three or four blades are selected to be cut from a stand, leaving most of the grass behind.  After it is collected and cleaned, it is weighed and packed into bundles for sorting, cutting, dying and drying. 

 As we dyed the grass rich hues of every color imaginable- reds, blues, pinks, greens, yellows, purples, burgundies, browns and earth tones- we discovered that it turned into an element with an amazing beauty of its own.  The grass beads have a depth and luster not found in other materials, and because the dye penetrates the waxy grass unevenly, lovely variations in tone occur in every color.  We were thrilled.  We had a product.  We had made something from ‘nothing’.

Friends,

Please vote for The Leakey Collection in the World Challenge 08 Competition.  We are so very proud of this nomination and need your support!  Winning this competition will allow us to put $20,000 towards a hydro-electric dam in Kenya reducing our dependency on fuel oil and helping the Maasai thrive for generations to come. Please ask your friends to also vote- simply copy and paste this url in an email and ask your friends to support the Maasai women in Kenya.  Every vote counts.  

http://www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/html/project08_leakey.html 

Today, my thoughts are on the fast approaching Season of Giving- also known as “the holidays” in Western culture.  For many, the season of giving is preceded with a season of healing.  In the Maasai culture, healers are known as the Laibon.  The Laibon apply their healing practices through herbal remedies and sacred rituals. Meanwhile, thousands of Westerners across the globe are participating in numerous healing rituals of their own to raise awareness and fight one of the top killers of women- Breast Cancer. 

Some alarming facts I found about Breast Cancer from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Not counting some kinds of skin cancer, breast cancer in the United States is the most common cancer in women, no matter your race or ethnicity; the most common cause of death from cancer among Hispanic women and the second most common cause of death from cancer among white, black, Asian/Pacific Islander, and American Indian/Alaska Native women.  In 2004 (the most recent year numbers are available): 186,772 women and 1,815 men developed breast cancer.40,954 women and 362 men died from breast cancer. 

We are determined to do our part and contribute to this season of healing as well by battling this awful disease.   This fall, we are participating in our second annual campaign in the fight against breast cancer.  The Leakey Collection is again donating 10% of all sales from our pink Kuponya (means ‘to heal’) necklaces, bracelets and earrings.  The donation will be divided between our women’s health initiative in rural parts of the Maasai Mara and with a donation to The Breast Cancer Research Foundation.  This annual ritual we participate in maintains the global connectivity of women helping women.  Perhaps the readers will find a healing ritual of their own to share to keep this connection alive and well.  

The Leakey Collection Selected as Finalists in the World Challenge Competition!

I am thrilled to announce to you we have been selected as a finalists in the World Challenge 08, a global competition sponsored by BBC World News and Newsweek, in association with Shell. The competition is aimed at finding projects or small businesses from around the world that have shown enterprise and innovation at a grass roots level. As a result, we will be featured on BBC World News and in Newsweek this fall!

The winner of the competition will be selected by a voting process and will receive a $20 000 grant to put back into their project/business and two runners up will each receive $10 000. This investment would create tremendous opportunities for the Maasai by giving us more resources to expand The Leakey Collection.  In addition, it would benefit the community by allowing us to do more outreach with programs such as the Women’s Health Initiative. The three finalists will be flown to The Hague, The Netherlands to attend the award ceremony in December 2008.  Please visit the site between October 1 and November 21rst to vote!

This is a wonderful affirmation of the work we do with the Maasai and I feel honored to have our organization recognized among such outstanding nominees.  We were nominated for our innovative use of sustainable materials and the entrepreneurial spirit that drives the thousands of workers that make up The Leakey Collection. Thank you to our loyal customers, retailers and supporters who made this wonderful recognition possible!

    The Bead Museum in Glendale Arizona hosted a Leakey Collection trunk show last week where I had the pleasure of being a guest lecturer to a very warm and receptive group. I was happy to discuss Zulugrass, Zuluwood and how it benefits the Maasai.  Founded in 1984, this museum is a cultural treasure that specializes in the study of the universality of beads and how they connect cultures.  The global and ancient traditions of using beads in prayer, meditation, healing, social status, and adornment is carefully studied and that knowledge is made accessible to the public. What better venue is there for me to share our experiences with our beading community and the global connection to this process? 

The exhibitions are magnificent and reminded me of the important historical and artistic meaning of beads to all cultures- past and present.  The museum houses an impressive international collection of over 100,000 beads and beaded pieces.  The permanent collection features “The History of Beads” featuring precious artifacts dating back thousands of years.  This collection left me with a sense of the historical and cultural significance of beading.  I was also amazed with their “Beads from Nature” collection where visitors will learn the oldest beads were made of ostrich eggshell found where else; but the Rift Valley, Kenya nearly 40,000 years ago. 

If you are ever in the Glendale area, I highly recommend a stop to this unique and wonderful place.  I was left with a renewed sense of purpose as we and the Maasai carry on this important tradition. 

Sales Consultant Jan Syvertsen pictured with Attachments NJ store owner Karen Shankoff

Originally uploaded by amypdunn21
Great news coming from our Sales Consultant Jan Syversten! Zulugrass is a top selling item at Attachments NJ this month! Owner Karen Shankoff says they can’t seem to keep enough necklaces in stock! The customers love giving this as a gift; in fact it was the number one gift for teachers this year.

These wonderful customers are also are making donations to raise money to buy shoes for the children of the Maasai. Jan attended an event called “Music on Main” and spoke to about 1000 people about this initiative. She has also distributed donation cans to other businesses throughout the area! We greatly appreciate the generosity of the people in Flemington NJ and what they are doing for the Maasai.

If you are ever in the area, plan to stop in and say hello to sisters Karen and Jodi and ask for Karen’s “Zulu to Go” package.

http://attachmentsnj.com