Last day! Order Monday for Holiday Delivery!

Friends! We're still offering free shipping for the holidays, and it's not too late to do your shopping with us. Order by Monday, December 20th, to ensure pre-holiday delivery. We also received our last minute shipment from Uganda, so stock up on scarves in all colors, and our awesome jewelry!

We look forward to wrapping up your gifts with love - just let us know at checkout if this is a gift and we'll include a hand-written note, and make sure that the receipt only comes to you!

An Afternoon with Nagawa Grace

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with Nagawa Grace, one of the women who works for One Mango Tree, and her family. I was able to instantaneously see the positive effects that her work at One Mango Tree was able to bring to the community. Her confidence, and the way she interacts with her children, exudes such a nature of security and strength that I know the entire neighborhood can feel.

Her compound is right near ours so we walked over in the afternoon and stayed until it got dark. Lauranne had taught her Skip-Bo earlier in the day and when we came over she was still playing! We were able to walk around the compound and meet all of her family and neighbors. Some women were pumping water, others washing, others cooking. We went and talked to the men who were resting from harvesting the G-nuts (African peanuts) for a few minutes and they engaged us in a very philosophical talk about America and why it’s extremely important for them to go there.

After a while we settled onto some mats on the grassy highland and began endless rounds of Skip-Bo. More and more people joined each round. Others came and sat near-by with cards and played also. Sitting with us was a family of 5 grown sisters. They were all so beautiful and full of life and hysterical. The Acholi people love to be silly and love it when you are silly too. They love for you to dance and joke and make a fool out of yourself. They call it being “stubborn”.  As the sun went down our night came to a forced end but we were sad to leave. Some of the teenage boys walked us back to our house on their way to watch the football game at a local place. We waved goodbye with promise of spending time together again soon.

Spread the Love! Our December Giveaway is HERE!

Friends! We have a sweet gift for you this holiday season - all you have to do is spread the word about One Mango Tree. One lucky winner will receive an extra special gift from us - one of our Yoga Mat Bags and a matching Eye Pillow (winner chooses the color!) - a $43 value!

Our beautiful Yoga Mat Bag

Our deliciously-scented organic Eye Pillow, filled with Lavender, Lemon Balm and Marjoram goodness - herbs grown on a beautiful organic farm on the shores of Lake Victoria. 30 seconds in the microwave and you'll have instant {warm & cozy} stress relief!

Here's how you can win:

Step ONE: Simply tweet or blog about us! Link this this giveaway.
Step TWO: Just tag us with @OneMangoTree (twitter or facebook)

Do this and you'll be in the running to win a Yoga Mat Bag & Eye Pillow!

(there is no limit to entries, so share the word and spread the love!)

Changes in Gulu: Handing Over the Keys

Hello! Happy Holidays! My name is Martina and I am the new voice for social media here in Gulu, Uganda. I live at the One Mango Tree house where the women come everyday to work. I attended Westmont College in Santa Barbara and earned my degree in English. When I was home for the holidays one year I saw a presentation by Watoto about the work being done in Uganda and the effects of war, poverty, and disease on the country. I loved the vision of cultivating a generation of leaders to lift Uganda out of its crisis and create a sustainable country.

Starting with the dream of coming to work with Watoto, I eventually made it out with no certain organization in mind and was able to find a children’s home to work with. Hearing about possible opportunity opening up at One Mango Tree I applied online. After I arrived in Uganda I was contacted by One Mango Tree and hired to take Lauranne’s place as she continues her journey. Lauranne was here for almost a year and has given me such a wealth of knowledge! She has taught me so much about the Acholi people, the language, and what our organization is serving to do in this city and around the world.

I love living where the women work, visiting them in their homes and seeing the good their work at OMT has done in their lives. They are able to feed their children and provide for the basic needs of clothing, schooling, and shelter. My highest hope for my time at OMT is only that I would get individual time with each of the women who work here and be able to invest deeply into their lives. I want to help them learn to save their money, become even more English literate, and become fully self-sustainable. I'm excited to share this journey with you.

Christmas Blessings,
Martina

Don't miss it: Cleveland Whole Foods Event this Weekend!

I'll be at the Whole Foods on Cedar Road this Sunday afternoon, so come check out the selection of One Mango Tree products and learn more about our efforts in Uganda!

Whole Foods Market
13998 Cedar Road
Cleveland, Ohio

Afterwards, be sure to stop off at Revive for some holiday shopping!

The Making of our Hand-loomed Scarves

One of our absolute favorite new releases this Winter is our One Mango Tree Hand-loomed Scarf!

In a partnership with Wawoto Kacel, a fantastic local cooperative, we were able to collaborate on a collection of uniquely dyed cotton scarves that will surely keep you warm this holiday season! Wawoto has a terrific staff trained with attention to the highest quality. The cooperative was started in 1997 by a group of HIV positive women. Today it provides employment and skills-training for more than 150 vulnerable individuals. Here's a behind the scenes look at the MAKING OF these beautiful, limited edition scarves:


The scarf starts out as cotton yarns, which are bleached, dyed, hung
to dry, and spun into brightly colored rolls.


It takes hours to set each piece of thread on the loom but finally, voila!
The artisans work their magic and the rainbow of beautiful, unique colors is
woven into a wide swath of fabric. This raw fabric is then brought to the One
Mango Tree Workshop to be cut into scarves, with edges sewn into neat seams.


Each one is unique and stunning, especially when you take a closer look! We couldn't be more thrilled with the final product and we're so happy to have partnered with Wawoto Kacel this holiday season. We look forward to collaborating again in the near future to continue empowering the surrounding community of northern Uganda.

SHOP THESE SCARVES HERE.