December 15 2009
Feel good gifts….
Buying something and feeling good about what you are supporting is the ultimate way to get the shopping high. As we (almost!) finish up our theme of gifts this December, we bring you a couple organizations you might not know about– but that we wanted to ensure you did– as each one supports women trying to escape the clutch of poverty.
Mekong Blue: 12 beautiful scarves, 1 worthy cause. “Out of the embattled Stung Treng region of Cambodia comes Mekong Blue, a collection of hand-woven scarves by women artisans who are determined to uplift their families from a life of poverty. Using time-honored talents passed down from generation to generation, the women of Stung Treng fashion beautiful creations for a better tomorrow. Each woman who creates a scarf provides for her family and her future. Each woman who owns a scarf wears a magnificent symbol of tradition and hope.”
Each scarf takes up to 3 weeks to complete and is made using hand pulled silk. The scarves are of such high quality that they have received the UNESCO award from the U.N. which recognizes “superior quality, creativity and originality.”
Amazingly, these 17.5″x74″ scarves are all priced b/t $45-$60. So, feel good by ordering some scraves for your last minutes gifts with a click to Mekong Blue. The US side of this organization was recently launched by Nashvillian Anne Wallingand her family, so the scarf will get to you quickly! If you need one super quick, stop by St David’s Episcopal Church in West Meade as they are sold there.
And here is the community you are helping out:
KEZA:
I love this organization because Keza develops woman owned businesses in Africa. This is an organization set up to duplicate a true success story: Buranga is an organization set up in Rwanda to give a business to women desiring a pathway out of poverty. This ambitious goal was successful and provides well paying jobs to 37 mothers. Now, this model is being duplicated, under the umbrella organization, KEZA, all over Eastern Africa. 2009 collections were designed by Rhode Island School of Design & hand crafted by Rwandan women.
From the website KEZA:
“They are proud entrepreneurs, fully capable of achieving sustainable growth. Through the proliferation of their products, and progressive industry model, they play a significant role in rebranding their country with beauty and excellence.
In order to replicate the template we created through BURANGA, we formed a luxury fashion label and business development firm called KEZA, meaning “beautiful” in Rwanda’s native tongue. Now we’re replicating the BURANGA model all over East Africa.
KEZA provides women with a sustainable income, but equally as important, it allows them to experience DIGNITY. That’s something a donation or handout can’t buy. It’s something experienced only through a process of achievement. It cannot be purchased or given to you.
Our partners own and operate their business. They create products that others desire because they are exclusive, quality and unique. People want what they create. Something beautiful and powerful happens when we create something others desire. It gives us purpose, importance and worth.
KEZA is not about pity; it’s about dignity.”
Ashblue, one of our favorite stores, carries the KEZA line of jewelry. Stop by Ashblue and be amazed at these creations.
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FYi, you may also become a fan of "Kazuri jewelry", which is a company in Nairobi, created by Lady Susan Wood, (the "Out of Africa" plantation owner) to provide Fair Trade employment for disadvantaged women of Kenya. Now highly successful in the UK and in the US (for the past 15 years), it is new to the South.
"www.kazuriunlimited.com". Although the company is not owned by the women of Kenya, they are vital to the creativity and growth of the company, and provided excellent and free benefits including free onsite daycare and health care, plus wages that are 2 to 3 times higher than Fair Trade.