In America, Independence Day is celebrated on July 4th because that is the day when the Continental Congress adopted the final draft of the Declaration of Independence in 1776.

Every July 4th, Americans have a holiday from work. Communities have day-long picnics with favorite foods like hot dogs, hamburgers, potato salad, baked beans and all the fixings. The afternoon activities would not be complete without lively music, a friendly baseball game, three-legged races and a pie-eating or watermelon-eating contest. Some cities even have parades with participants dressed as the original founding fathers, marching to the patriotic music of high school bands. At dusk, people in towns and cities gather to watch fireworks displays, complete with ooohs and aaahs. Wherever Americans are around the globe, they will get together for a traditional 4th of July celebration, paying tribute to all those who have fought for America’s freedom!

Freedom can take on many forms. Through Fair Trade labor practices, many artisan communities around the world are now able to enjoy financial independence. The gift of opportunity that we are able to provide through your support and our Fair Trade practices has enabled Maasai artisans to achieve that kind of economic freedom, too. Not only have the women been able to use their income for food, education fees, medical expenses, purchases of land and their own herds of goats, entire communities have become more stable financially and politically.

At your summer celebrations, think Hooray for the Red, White and Blue! Our patriotic collection offers 6 strands of various shades of red, white and blue Zulugrass for the price of 5 – normally a fantastic price but now it’s even better! For a limited time, it’s on sale for $49.95.

Happy Fourth of July from the entire TLC Team!

Now that the grass is back, it’s time to make walking sticks.  The traditional sticks are helpful in letting snakes know in advance of your arrival, something that can be useful to both parties.  During the drought, there wasn’t a blade of grass to hide them, but now it’s several feet tall and that can make for some unpleasant encounters.

The preferred wood here is Dombeya, but you can use any pliable stick, providing that it is long and strong.  Cut a piece about six feet in length. Hold it in the hot ash of a recently extinguished fire until the wood heats and become easy to bend which is about 5 minutes.  Move the stick through the ash so all parts of it are equally heated.

Take the stick out and curve it to straighten out any kinks and reheat the same way.  Continue with this until the stick is straight.

To remove the outer bark, heat the stick again and immediately peel away the thin outer cover.  Let the stick cool and rub with oil to seal the wood. Even corn oil will do if you don’t have wood finishing oil.  Here the Maasai use cooking fat or oil from their faces and hands.
Enjoy the walk!

With the rain, comes opportunity to grow.   This grasshopper is taking advantage and expanding his suit to the next size up.

See the old one clutched in his legs?   For him or her, going up a size is something to celebrate!

Grasshoppers go through many stages in their course of their life. And the third stage that Philip and I observe, the most colorful one, is why we named our Zulugrass strand GRASSHOPPER 189. Available at your local store.

We have World Cup fever here! Who are you rooting for? Read on to see how you can win Zulugrass in your favorite team’s colors.

For some, watching the 2010 World Cup  held in South Africa (June 11-July 11) will provide a month’s worth of exciting soccer games. And for others, watching the World Cup could save their lives.

Soccer – or football as it is called elsewhere – is the world’s game. It links people of all races, socio-economic backgrounds, and cultures together in a common interest. Children in the US play the same game, same rules as children in Kenya. Our own Kristan Fazio and Kathy Westergaard, who play on a soccer team in California, share a bond with some of our Maasai artisans who play football every day after work.

In a previous post, we applauded the efforts of school children in California who raised money by selling our Friendship Bracelets. They were able to purchase six indestructible soccer balls that couldn’t be punctured by the thorns in the bush for the Maasai children who are our neighbors. We are proud that this is one more way that we are building bridges between our cultures.

And we are also proud that Philip’s daughter, Tiana, is involved with a very important cause – Africa Goal: World Cup. “Driving from Nairobi, Kenya down to Johannesburg South Africa, projecting live World Cup football games on a retractable screen along the journey, the Africa Goal team will encounter a diverse range of audiences and peoples along a route that encompasses key localities in the region with the highest HIV prevalence in the World.”  Because the largest sector of the football audience is people aged between 15 and 49, correlating with the age sector most severely affected by HIV and AIDS, they have the opportunity to educate this group of passionate soccer supporters by screening HIV and AIDS awareness videos before every game.  Check their website for further details.

Here’s how to win 3 Zulugrass strands. Connect with us on Facebook, and become a fan, if you’re not already, by clicking the LIKE button at the top middle of our page. Then be the FIRST to choose a team you hope will win the World Cup. If that team wins, then YOU win 3 strands in their team colors. There are only 32 teams, so act fast! You need to be the FIRST to choose that team!  Click this link to find out which teams are competing. You can also show your support for the United States team with our Hooray for the Red, White and Blue Zulugrass set for the special World Cup price of $49.95.

The votes are in.  Drum roll, please…………………………

Congratulations to the winners of our Name That Strand contest – Alicia Lallier and Alicia Lallier! Yes, believe it or not, both of Alicia’s submissions had the most votes, and no, she is NOT related to the Leakeys! She will receive 5 strands of each of the newest additions to our gorgeous array of colors.

LEAFY-LEAKEY

NATURE’S PATH

Again, thanks for all the great ideas and the follow-up votes. There are some really creative minds out there. And don’t worry, these beautiful new Zulugrass colors will be in your local stores this summer.