Check out our glowing review on Tiny Green Bubble.

Do you wear multiple strands so you can share with others?

We at the Leakey Collection treasure  all of our partnerships that we have built over the years.  We know that when you tell our story and sell Zulugrass you are changing lives here in rural Kenya.

During the recent Gift Show in Atlanta, we did something different. We wanted to hear your stories and experiences so we brought our flip camera and captured some very touching moments.

Meet Janifer, the Zulugrass queen of Kimmans , a beautiful gift boutique in York, PA.

You can connect with Kimmans and The Leakey Collection on Facebook.

Thank you Kimmans!

This winter has seen its share of snow. We hear it has snowed in 49 states including Hawaii.

So if your feeling blue check out our beautiful burgandy Zulugrass to give you a lift.

Now if the snow would only melt…

At The Leakey Collection, we truly value the relationships we have with our partners.   We cherish getting to know store owners and buyers on a personal level, and learn some of their stories that inspire us.

Meet Stacey Horowitz, founder of Shopping for a Change ™, a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization. We recently caught up with Stacey when she submitted an incredible video in our Zulugrass Holiday Contest, demonstrating how she accessorizes hats.  After checking out her website, her story was one that had some similarities to our mission at The Leakey Collection and we knew we wanted to talk with her more. Here is our interview with Stacey Horowitz:

TLC: Tell us about your “Aha moment”?

Stacey: I was about to turn 50 and I began taking stock of how I would leave this world a better place than the day I entered it; and realized I was not satisfied with the results I saw, so I began contemplating ways to give more of myself to others. What I quickly recognized was that I wanted to make a significant impact and touch as many lives as possible.

TLC: What inspired your decision to do something?

The first time was when my son’s seventh-grade class was engaged in a philanthropy project, which became interwoven throughout their entire curriculum that year. An elaborate process aided the students in focusing their interest on just one particular nonprofit organization of their choosing. I learned a great deal watching my son and his classmates go through this entire process. I also experienced their struggle during their days of raising funds.

The second time was after a vacation with my family over the winter break that truly changed my life.  We traveled to Galapagos Islands and Peru for a relaxing vacation time with my family.

After witnessing the plight of hunger and poverty first-hand in many of these emerging nations, contrasted against all of the spectacular sights, I began to wonder: how is it we are born where we are in the world, and under the conditions in which we are raised. Is it a roll of the dice? Karma? Luck—good or bad? Any of those people I met during my travels could have been me in another time or place.

When I returned from this vacation, I was feeling blue and couldn’t quite figure out why.  After much soul searching, I discovered that my calling was right in front of me.  Immediately I started reading about various approaches to poverty alleviation, and thinking about ways I could utilize my creative talents coupled with my professional experience to combat this widespread crisis of poverty.

I decided to create a shopping network called Shopping for a Change ™.  The mission is to help artisans abroad while providing a way to help charities here in the USA.

TLC: How did you find “The Leakey Collection”?

Stacey: I was looking for artisans to add to the website and a friend of mine suggested that I check out The Leakey Collection. After reading the story of Katy & Philip Leakey and how they were helping local artisans in rural Kenya by designing a beautiful jewelry line called Zulugrass, I knew it was an artisan line I wanted to add to our collection.

We are glad that Stacey chose to include us in her selection.  Her creative style and techniques in showing how Zulugrass can be mixed with many other lines she carries shows how versatile The Leakey Collection is.

Photos by Stacey Horowitz

Not only is Stacey helping the Maasai women, she is helping local charities as well.  She is truly making the world a better place.!

I still remember vividly the orders we had collected from our first trade show and the response when we told everyone the news.

Excerpt from a letter to family

“We had called Sabit with the good news, and word quickly reached everyone here in the valley that we were returning from America with many orders taken at our first trade show.  As we drove up our steep, rocky rive this afternoon, we were greeted by lines of people, beginning with our core staff - Sabit, Tobico, Kawia, Motisia, Ludo, Kasinga and Mr. Sang - followed by several hundred women.  All were singing and clapping as we drove through the crowd.  As each one lined up, most had tears in their eyes, to shake our hands and to personally thank us for the work we brought.

We invited everyone to the veranda and showed them pictures. I could feel the warmth, and I couldn’t wait to pass it along to all of you, our dear family and friends, who worked so hard and gave so much in so many ways. I wished I could paint a picture to capture the joy and warmth that comes from seeing such pure expressions of appreciation, having their efforts rewarded.”

Much has changed since that first order, and over the years you have helped to:

Build classrooms and hire more teachers, improving the quality of education for over 700 children.

Improve the overall health of over 6,000 people, saving many women’s and children’s lives through immunizations, paying for necessary operations, training thirty midwives and health care workers and bringing a stop to malnutrition.

And because we harvest the grass used to make  Zulugrass Jewelry, replacing the action of burning it to assist cattle in reaching the tender grass,  you have helped us save the wetlands and restore natural habitats.

From a need, we planted a seed that has grown over these years and has spread because of your generosity, commitment and partnership to make a difference in the world. So, if you ask yourself if you are making a difference, you can proudly say I AM .

Asante!