How is the situation in Kenya affecting the Ladies who make the Kazuri Beads?

Several of you have expressed concern about the ladies who make the Kazuri beads. If you haven’t yet seen the beads or read the story, click the link:

See the beads and read the story!

We received the following update:

Kenya Update

I’m sure you have been wondering how the situation in Kenya has been affecting the women of Kazuri. Fortunately, at the moment, the location of the factory is not in the area where the violence has been the most intense. They continue to carry on as best they can. When things heat up, transportation stops and the women cannot get to the factory. Unfortunately, the stores and other essential services have been shutting down sporadically as well, creating shortages of food and other necessary supplies.

Here is a quote from a woman that is involved with the New Life Orphanage in Kenya:

“Conversations with our friends and partners in Kenya make it clear that there is much more peace than violence throughout Kenya, and the arrival of Kofi Annan and the fact that the leaders are meeting brings the hope of some sort of closure. But they also agree that tribal relations have been set back decades. And the long term impact on the hundreds of thousands of women and children who have been left homeless, fearful and vulnerable is immeasurable.”

Our hopes and prayers are with the Kazuri women.

For people who have asked how they can help, this is the word that we’re getting from our supplier: We are telling our customers that the best thing they can really do is buy beads. By buying beads, we have to order more, which keeps the women employed or allows Kazuri to hire more women, which with their salary they are able to support 10-15 other people, which is much better for them than having to rely on the relief agencies. The factory is in one of the nicer suburbs of Nairobi, it has security and is surrounded by a wall. Unfortunately, the women have to leave the factory to go home.

Welcome to our Blog!

Welcome to our new Satin Cord Store blog! Stay tuned for tips and information as we get time to add it. Please bookmark us, stop by occasionally and say hi! We’ve met a few of you in person and become friends with lots of you by phone. There are others with whom we have not had the pleasure of chatting, but your name is starting to look familiar when we see it on our order slips. We’d love to hear from you!

First, we will take a little time to introduce some of our team members.

Robin	Bob	April	Guy
Cathy	Thelma	Reilly	Lucy

Here are some interesting tidbits about some of our team members. A few people didn’t want to toot their own horn, so we’re posting some of this information over their protests. We won’t tell you who is who just yet – see if you can match them up!

One of us:

- Just had a heart transplant (August 21, 2007)!
- Was a TV news anchor, a governor’s press secretary and was the first host of Morning Edition on MPR
- Grew up in an area that produced most of the iron used for weapons, vehicles, tanks and ships for World Wars I, II and Korea.

One of us:

- Won awards for outstanding bandsman and outstanding musician in high school and plays a mean Dixieland clarinet!
- Has a degree in graphic arts and has worked as a graphic artist and art teacher.
- When a would-be robber stuck a gun in the car window and demanded money, grabbed his hand with the gun and banged it against the window till he turned and ran.

One of us:

- Can rip a magazine to shreds in 6 seconds flat
- Learned to ‘shake’ (hands) on the very first try
- Fiercely growls and barks at dogs at least 4 times her size (if they’re behind a fence).

One of us:

- Worked as a floral designer for 22 years
- Is a cancer survivor
- Was born and raised on a farm that grew tobacco, corn and potatos

One of us:

- Played viola in a local symphony’s three-night, one matinee summer production of South Pacific using the original handwritten musical scores that were used on Broadway.
- Has rescued and kept as pets countless animals over the years ranging from cats and dogs to chickens and alligators
- Is a Level 2 Reiki Master, which is a Japanese-developed method of natural healing and energy work.

One of us:

- Will guard a rawhide chewy bone with her life
- Was rescued from the shoulder of a very busy highway with a serious wound on her leg
- Can sniff out a lizard or a frog from any clump of grass.

One of us:

- Plays folk harp, recorder, accordion, and could at one time play The Stars and Strips Forever in its entirety on a chromatic harmonica (till the harmonica disappeared – we suspect the neighbors).
- Built a 6-string electric bass guitar from scratch (among other instruments)
- Won Award of Excellence among 80 juried artists at a recent art show

One of us:

- Is a master woodworker who builds gorgeous furniture and cabinets
- Subdued an armed disgruntaled former employee who smuggled a gun into the building (at former job – not this one).
- Over the space of several years of working in an office cublcle, accumulated dozens of pencils embedded into the ceiling above the desk.

Thanks for reading our first blog entry. If you actually read to the end of the blog, here is a little treat for you – enter the code BLOG10 at checkout throughout the remainder of February and get 10% off your order!!