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.