So many of you have been asking about the women and if the downturn in the economy has affected them in any way.  The downturn slowed our business so the work opportunity was reduced.  This alone was difficult but coupled with the terrible ongoing DROUGHT in Kenya, times have been the toughest in years for the women.  Because the cattle are so thin, they aren’t worth selling, so many rural families without other sources of income have few ways of raising the money necessary to feed their families and educate their children.  It has become more important than ever to create work where ever and how ever we can.  To meet that need, we have created two new lines of Zulugrass - ZuluSport and Friendship Bracelets - a new line of Fallen Acacia Hardwood table top products, and our first in a line of skin care products, TLC Marula Oil.  We’re excited about these new products and will have more information to follow about them later. 

All the Maasai women are optimistic and eager for the economic upturn and for the drought to end, the latter not expected until November this year.  I have seldom met and had the privilege to know such buoyant, confident people.  The women still sing at the work sites, the young toddlers still play with their friends, and the jewelry is still being assembled by groups of women who love what they do! They are ever grateful for this work opportunity and give thanks every day that it may continue so that they can plan for their family’s future.  The entire team at The Leakey Collection is grateful, as always, that YOU are partners with us in providing this work opportunity to such an inspiring group of people such as the Maasai!

As summer travel season “heats up,” I’m reminded why I think Zulugrass Single Strand jewelry is the ultimate travel jewelry.  According to The Girls’ Guide to Packing at LifeScript.com: “It’s a cliché, but packing multi-use separates is the best way to give yourself the most outfits.”  Double Duty Outfits?  That describes Zulugrass to a T!  Here are my Top Eight reasons why Zulugrass Single Strands should be in every woman’s suitcase this year!

8. The fabulous color combinations mean that it can be matched to any outfit.
7. So versatile, it can be worn a variety of ways. Wear it cascaded around your neck with evening attire, wrapped as a bracelet for tennis, around your ankle with your swimsuit, or to pull up your hair in a ponytail. Try it as a belt! Watch our Ways to Wear video.

6. It’s waterproof and colorfast. Great for poolside or the beach.
5. It’s lightweight and packs easily.
4. The attention to detail in its handcrafted quality makes it eye-catching and unique.
3. It’s eco-friendly since Zulugrass is made of sustainable, natural grasses, dyed with low-impact, colorfast dyes.
2. It also gives back to make a better world: women helping women. Your purchase of Zulugrass jewelry offers work opportunity to hundreds of Maasai women in Kenya who make it, providing education fees for their children and medical needs for families with no other income.

But the NUMBER ONE reason, I always pack extra strands: inevitably, I end up giving away several strands right off my wrist.  Nothing shows your gratitude for good service at a restaurant, to a hostess who puts you up, or to a newfound friend than a gift of the heart!

 Father’s Day is fast approaching.  As we each reflect on our own fathers and the influence they have had on our lives, we wanted to share some personal thoughts with you as well as what is important to a Maasai father.
 
PHILIP LEAKEY -“By example, my father showed me the importance of being independent, being a doer, and to be passionate about life.  I always tell young people to be a “player,” not a spectator.  If you want to live a full life, you must be down on the field, not sitting in the stands.  Be independent! Carve out your own way of thinking and doing things.  Passion not only creates drive, it creates curiosity.  These three traits are fundamental for creating a life filled with purpose.”

KATY LEAKEY - “My father always said, “Do what you love, and you will do it well.  Because you do it well, you will be well rewarded.”  With his constant moral support, I carved out my life as an artist against the advice of my contemporaries who said I could never make a living at it.  My father was right, and they were wrong.  I will always be grateful to him for encouraging me to follow my passions.”

Over the past several years, I have asked many rural Maasai women what their father taught them and invariably the answer was, “How to take care of cattle.”  This is one of the most important lessons for Maasai children because cattle are a family’s livelihood.

GUEST BLOGGER: Teresa Grove of INK, Inc. 

After months of planning and anticipation, we finally arrived in Nairobi for our very first African adventure.  My husband and I have been working with The Leakey Collection for over a year now, sharing their story of inspiration to the world thru our PR firm, INK, Inc.  and were now finally going to experience life in the Great Rift Valley ourselves.

The following morning, we flew to Kampala, Uganda where we spent the evening at a 5-Star Resort that was as much of an African experience as a resort facility “anywhere in the world.” We soon learned to “be careful what you wish for” as we embarked upon one of the longest and toughest 12 hour drives via land cruiser.  Our guide referred to it as the “African Massage.”   If this is what you get in Africa for a massage . . . thank you, I’ll gladly pass.

Somehow we safely arrived at the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest for our hike to see the Mountain Gorillas the following morning.  After a short hike, a Silverback Gorilla and two of its young were directly in front of us.  The next hour we spent watching and photographing some of the last surviving “gentle giants” in the Uganda, Congo and Rwanda area.  (We could actually see the Congo from where we were.)

On the road again for an “African Massage” for another 12 hours!!  The only thing that made this bearable was spotting our first wild elephants and about a million baboons. Upon our return from Ngorongoro Crater, Philip and Katy Leakey were waiting to pick us up so we could head to the Ndutu Lodge on the Serengeti.  This trip just kept getting better! At Ndutu, the lodge and cottages were very rustic – complete with banana leaf roofs.  Guards patrolled the grounds to keep the wildlife at bay, and warning signs discouraged visitors from venturing too far from the area.  The first night, we could hear lion, wildebeest and bats (which sound like dripping water) as we tried to sleep.

The following morning under the 4-wheel driving skills of Philip, we found ourselves on top of their land cruiser in the middle of the wildebeest migration!  Everywhere you looked were wildebeest, zebra and gazelle.  The next couple of days, we continued to explore areas of the Serengeti and encountered giraffe, a very large and full male lion after killing a wildebeest, and hyenas and their cubs fighting over a limb of a wildebeest. We went fossil hunting on the very locations where Philip grew up while his famous parents discovered the skeletal remains of the first humans to walk the earth.

From Ndutu to Katy and Philip’s was another long and dusty 14-hour drive.  Probably the most memorable experience was arriving at the tented camp of Philip and Katy.  Nestled at the top of a 5000 ft. mountain, the view is spectacular!  After daily outings to visit a Boma where we were presented with gifts from the Maasai and meeting the women, men and children at The Leakey Collection workstations, we’d gather at the fire pit in the evenings overlooking Shompole Lodge, Mt. Kenya, Ngorongoro Crater and Mount Kilimanjaro as the sun set.

As we picnicked by their water source, we were told, “If either of us say “tree!” climb a tree as fast as you can!”  (Water buffalo, along with hippo, are capable of doing serious damage to humans).  Over gourmet meals, we were entertained by Katy and Philip with incredible stories of their lives and the trials and tribulations of living in Kenya.

In the early morning hours, zebra would graze just outside our tent.  We were only too happy not to have any encounters with poisonous snakes or a leopard.  However, we did think twice about going to the “long drop” (outhouse) in the wee hours of the morning.

Now as we are back to reality, Africa seems like a distant memory, but Katy, Philip, the Maasai, and the wildlife all hold a special place in our hearts.

What kind of celebration are you planning this summer? How to be eco-friendly is probably NOT the first thing you think about but with just a little planning, you can bring your summer celebration to a new level – one that honors your commitment to the environment but doesn’t compromise on style.

Saying “I do” can still be the elegant event that every little girl dreams of with a few thoughtful adjustments such as these.  Zulugrass Safari Gold Single Strands offer a variety of uses that would serve double duty - napkin holders during the reception, wedding favors afterwards.

Recycled plates like these show that eco-friendly tableware doesn’t have to mean more work to clean up. Children’s birthday parties can rise above the mundane pizza party with these creative ideas. And gift giving, whether it’s for bridesmaids, birthday presents or the GRADUATE, is easy with Zulugrass jewelry that uses sustainable and natural elements such as fallen wood, grass and porcelain.

The Leakey Collection is offering our special Friendship Sets, consisting of a Zulugrass Single Strand with a matching porcelain heart charm, at 25% off through 6/14/09. Show your lucky gift recipients that you’re thinking of them on their special occasion.

This dust storm has blown up from the Rift Valley, 1500 feet below our camp. The valley floor is so barren that the fine earth is swept up over 7000 feet enveloping everything in its path.  It can take us up to three days to clean up after a storm like this because the powdery brown earth gets into cupboards and drawers and coats dishes, clothes, everything.  They are spectacular to watch though, and when they come,  we usually sit on the hilltop relishing the eerie darkness that tumbles over head and blocks out the sun for an hour or more. 

I was just stepping out from under the bucket shower and noticed a baby puff adder on a rock in the shower with me.  It took me a while to figure out how to capture it without getting bitten but eventually got it into my bedside glass water pitcher.  It sat on the kitchen counter while I cooked breakfast, and I’ll wait until Philip returns to let him release it far from camp. 

Babies this small aren’t far from the others, there must be a large clutch somewhere near the bedroom.

Kenya is still experiencing the worst drought in living memory.  Although the April rains have come to Tanzania and parts of Kenya, they have failed where we are in the Rift Valley.  Most of the Maasai have moved their cattle to Tanzania until December, providing that the November rains come on time.

The remaining wildlife is left to cope as best they can.  We have seen more dead zebra than we can count, and each week, there are corpses scattered across the bottom of the barren Rift.

Educated estimates at the loss of wildlife could be as high as 80 to 90% in our area.  The seed base has been depleted to such a degree that little grass will grow when the rains do come the first couple of seasons.  It could take up to five years for the landscape and wildlife to recover.

Luckily, the rain has come to the Maasai Mara, one of Kenya’s most majestic game reserves far to the west of us, and the animals there will survive the 2009 drought.  For us, it remains a sad and devastating blow to the environment.

We also have been asked how the drought and the economy have affected the Maasai women who work for The Leakey Collection making our Zulugrass jewelry.  On average, we now have between 200 to 300 women working, which is substantially down from the 1400 of past years. However, we feel very fortunate to have such loyal followers as you so we can continue to provide the work opportunity to as many Maasai as we do.  The entire team at The Leakey Collection, including the Maasai women, are very excited about the new products that we are working on here in Kenya that will expand that work opportunity.  We thank you for your continued support.

Kimere (pronounced ki-mer-ee) Nkurruna, 17 years old, loved to pretend to be a mother when she was a young child, often making her own mud dolls to feed, nurse and care for just as we girls have done for centuries. Many of the dolls made here show both genders with fanciful ears and glass beads for eyes. The nose is carefully placed above the eyes and the mouth deliberately below the neck.

These dolls rekindle an old memory of a game my mother played with me, as a baby, when she bathed me in the sink. While drying me, she used to cover my head with the towel and gently pinch my nose and guess that it must be an ear, then pinch my ear and guess that it must be a mouth. Each time she was wrong, I giggled even louder until I finally pulled away the towel so she could see that she had been wrong all along. My mother would love these dolls!

Kimere’s mother taught her how to be a good mother by teaching her how to look after her children, feed them, and get them off to school should they be lucky enough to go some day.

Dreaming of their future, what Kimere wants for her children is not so different from any mother, for them to have a good life and to get a good education. She spends her days stringing Zulugrass jewelry and loves doing so. She says it is her favorite thing to do and that it makes her very happy each day to have work and to string beads.

Kimere loves to celebrate holidays with her family and says that her favorite reason is “it is another day that God blesses me to see.” I wish my mother could have met Kimere because they share the same fanciful, artistic nature and enjoyment of the simple pleasures of life and, at least in the case of my mother, grateful for every single day.

In honor of my mother and mothers across the globe, The Leakey Collection is offering a special gift this Mother’s Day. Use the promo code “Mother09” upon check-out at www.leakeycollection.com to receive a free single strand of Zulugrass as well as 10% off your entire order. This offer is good through Monday, May 11, 2009.

If you’ve read some of our previous blogs about animal stories, you already know that Philip and I consider witnessing the most incredible animals on Earth simply living their daily lives in their natural habitat as wonderful benefit of living in Kenya. We hold animal conservation in high regard, in addition to conservation of other natural resources.

Perhaps you may have seen a recent episode of CBS’s 60 Minutes , reporting the death of some 75 lions that had been linked to Furadan poisoning in the Masai Mara.  You may also have heard an interview with Richard Leakey, Kenyan politician, paleoanthropologist and conservationist. And yes, he is the older brother of Philip.

It’s an age-old man vs animal dilemma.   Furadan, a highly potent pesticide, has been used in recent years by traditional cattle herders as a means to protect their livestock, under threat from predators such as lions and hyenas. It is sprinkled over animal carcasses and left as traps for the big cats. Kenya’s lion population is a fifth of what it was in the 1970s, and across Africa, the numbers are down to 30,000 from highs of 200,000.

According to Richard, chairman of WildlifeDirect, Furudan also “threatens a variety of other species including numerous birds and fish species that are killed with Furadan for human consumption. This practice poses a serious human health threat since the pesticide’s active ingredients, carbofurans, are dangerous to humans.  Ingestion of tiny amounts of these compounds can cause paralysis and even death.”

After the airing of the 60 Minutes episode, FMC Corporation announced the withdrawal of Furadan from Kenya and their commitment to buy back the entire remaining product in Kenya.

We applaud the efforts of Richard and other animal conservationists in their ongoing quest to save our animal population.