MEET Our Ladies: Prisca

Prisca is one of the most phenomenal women I know and I think before you know anything else about her, you have to know that she has the best laugh I’ve ever heard (high pitched, soft, and short if you can imagine it; I promise, it’s great.). She loves Nigerian films and always begs me to stay late and spend the night at her home with her family. She was one of the very first ladies at One Mango Tree and because of her incredible integrity and work ethic, she now manages the office in Gulu on a daily basis. She has a quiet disposition but works incredibly hard from dusk through dawn: in the office, she’s taking care of the women, making sure they have everything they need, that deadlines are met, and things are running smoothly. She has a lot on her plate. At home, she’s taking care of three beautiful babes, cooking, and cleaning… and there’s a particularly remarkable thread of consistency running through all areas of her life – she is consistently sacrificing for those around her.



She and her husband live just outside of Gulutown and because of the economic stability she’s developed through working at One Mango Tree, they’re close to finishing a brand new home… but this time, rather than a circular mud hut, it’s a solid brick and mortar home. It’s beautiful and should be finished in December… don’t worry, we’ll invite you to the house party!



To say her home life is full of laughter might be an understatement… and it’s all thanks to these three. Goretty, at 4, is her youngest and she is always bouncing, smiling, and trying to be helpful. Once, we decided to surprise Prisca by cleaning up the house and after mopping one small area of the floor, Goretty got ambitious and decided to mop the entire house without being asked. Isaac, at 7, is the only boy and definitely takes after his father (who works in construction) as he wanders everywhere with a hammer in hand. He’s incredibly bright, number one in his class to be exact. When he's not studying english and math, he's running around, building things, and climbing trees for mangos. He also has an affinity for pushing Prisca’s buttons which most definitely prepares her for life at the OMT office. Cynthia, at 9, is the oldest and the one thing you’ll notice about her is that she’s always laughing. Prisca confidently describes Cynthia as “stubborn” which really means she's extremely outgoing compared to other girls within the Acholi culture.

For all the conversations I’ve had with Prisca, there’s one statement that continues to return to me: “Without One Mango, I wouldn’t be able to take care of my family. My one hope is that we can keep making our bags and that people will keep enjoying them.”

I say this time and time again but your purchases are changing lives. Halle developed One Mango Tree as a way of using trade to provide a sustainable income and empower the local women of Northern Uganda. We’ve seen exponential growth in the hearts and lives of our women; these stories are rich and full of proof that when you empower a woman, you’re changing the lives of everyone in direct community with her. So, thank you to those of you who love and share the story of One Mango Tree with friends, families, and strangers. It’s because of you that all of this is taking place. Making the conscious choice to value the person who makes what you purchase truly transforms everything.

In the words of Donald Miller (one of my favorite authors), "The stories we hear change the way we see life. Stories teach us what is worth pursuing, what is worth living for, what is worth sacrificing for. If you aren’t telling a good story to the people you love, who is? Is it the television, your kids friends, your wife’s boss, the girl who works at you husbands gym?”

- Lauranne

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To see more photos from my visit with Prisca on our brand new FLICKR.

'THINGS WE LIKE' FRIDAY

Everyday, our women are exerting their creativity in the One Mango Office and I've come to see what a crucial and important aspect of our lives it is to find ways to be creative. There's also something so sweet and personal about DIY (do-it-yourself, in case you haven't got the bug). We, at One Mango Tree, support anything of the sort!

Today, we want to show you something we're so excited to test out ourselves. While perusing one of the best craft-friendly sites in existence, Etsy, I tripped over a woman named Janelle Tompkins (definitely visit her store!) who recycles old thrift-store books and transforms them into journals. Brilliant!



If you'd rather make this yourself than buy it, we found a STELLAR resource for how to bind and create your own recycled, earth-friendly journal.

HOW TO: make a journal from an old book!

Get your thrifting on and show us your creations... I know I'm about to do the same.

'THINGS WE LIKE' FRIDAY

Have you ever had that good friend that digs up all of the most incredible, crafty, interesting bits on the web? We at One Mango Tree have an affinity for amazing blogs and in celebration of handmade, fair trade, and women... we want to share with you some of the things we like EVERY FRIDAY. You're welcome to start looking forward to it, mark your calendars, tell a friend, and share your ideas with us if you'd like to see them featured. Enjoy!



We're big fans of this vintage-inspired way to send your love with a message in a bottle... she'll typewrite your message of choice (hello! amazing.), seal it with wax, stick it inside a glass bottle, and ship it to your best friend, your mother, your dreamy boyfriend...

Available through Miniature Rhino in her ETSY store. Great work, lady!

Sneak Peak: Our Organic Cotton

One Mango Tree lovers and supporters - we've got a sweet sneak peak for you! Halle, Gihan, and I (the OMT Uganda team) took an exclusive tour to hang with our friends at Phenix, the premiere warehouse for organic cotton production, here in Uganda. We have lots of details for you but before we share it all, here's a sneak peak at our experience yesterday...

We were exposed to the ENTIRE process of creating this cotton - here's the first and last step. Pretty incredible, eh?

Celebrating Moms and Fair Trade

This year we get to celebrate World Fair Trade day and Mother's Day all on the same weekend!

We're excited to bring you some deep discounts for Mother's Day - think Aprons for $5, Coin Purses for $2 and Weekenders for $10!

Over here in Uganda, we're spending the holiday weekend packing up our Summer Collection to send it your way - new bags fresh from the fabric markets, Sseko strappy sandals and our very first organic cotton knit clothing line! You won't believe your eyes!

So, make sure to really celebrate your Mom this year, and while you're at it, celebrate World Fair Trade Day too. Think about all the ways that buying fair trade makes a difference.

Meet Our Ladies: Anena Nassarine

It's incredible to see the way different people flourish when they're fulfilling their dreams, isn't it? As I walked into the office yesterday, I had absolutely no idea the ways I'd see this confirmed. Anena Nassarine grabbed my arm with a you-have-no-idea-what-I-have-planned-for-you smile of excitement on her face. "Work is finished for the day. I want you to see my home," Nassarine was bursting at the seams. I couldn't say no and to be honest, seeing women away from the workplace have been some of the richest experiences I've had in Gulu. "Yes! Now or now-now?" "Now-now. Let us go."

Anena Nassarine is a natural leader and she communicates this daily by taking time to intricately cut all of the fabric for the other ladies. She adores her job and is an incredible worker: she's one of the first to arrive, one of the last to leave, and sometimes I'll find her working away on a saturday morning as a deadline is approaching. As we hopped out the front door, I could see in her mannerisms that she was excited. "It's not far. Do you see that mango tree? It's near." We crossed the street and weaved in and out of mud huts like a well-constructed obstacle course at 5th grade summer camp. We arrived at her hut to find that we were anything but alone; the air was filled with a thick smoke and my ears were filled with the delight of local music blaring from a single radio... surrounded by a swarm of dancing children. As we passed, they let out cries of "munu, munu!" ("white person, white person!")

We entered her hut and without missing a beat, she offered me a seat. Her home was immaculate, split into three separate areas: one for seating, one for sleeping, and one for cutting. The children outside were peeking in, shouting "ah, she has a very big bag!" Many women keep small photo albums, collecting photographs of themselves, their family, and friends. She opened hers and glimpsed each face, recalling what seemed like bittersweet memories and old faces. She began to tell me about her family: stories of her beautiful daughter (3 years) who is staying at the Bobo IDP camp some 15 kilometers away with her sister and her husband whom she only sees on weekends because he's studying construction. At only 20 years old, she confessed, "I live alone, my baby will begin nursery school in January. She will be here, I am so happy." She revealed that she was one of five children and her mother passed away when she was very young. I asked about her siblings; her brother was kidnapped by the rebels and escaped some years ago.

I asked her what life looked like before she worked with One Mango Tree. "Uh-uh" she shook her head strongly, "work wasn't there." "An organization connected me with Halle. I am so thankful." We sat together, in a silence filled with heavy gratitude. I could feel the weight of her heart and through the silence, I could see very clearly the distinct ways in which the model of One Mango Tree had lifted her to a place of opportunity and empowerment. We stepped outside and the families around welcomed us as we all began to dance, each in our own way, to the music from that single tiny radio.

A Day at the Owino Market

Here at One Mango Tree, I’ve discovered that one of the most exhausting but extraordinarily rewarding times of the season is spent searching for the brand new fabrics our women use on the items they continually sew and create. Updating our fabrics gives us the much-needed freedom to move with the seasons and consistently release new items, thus empowering our women and giving them ownership through sustainability and a regular, fair-trade income.

There’s really only one place in Uganda that we can find the fabrics we use... and that’s Owino Market. Choosing fabrics may sound easy but to be frank, it’s a tough job. In all its’ glory, the infamous Owino lies in the heart of Kampala and is an absolute circus of people, second hand gems (if you dig long enough!), and our favorite - local fabrics. When we say circus of people, we mean it - the streets are absolutely cluttered and everything begins to look the same after you’ve spent an hour or two wandering the streets.



Last week, I was introduced to what it felt like to be knee-deep in the process of finding Spring fabrics for our favorite ladies. It took three of us, lots of serious hunting, endless amounts of walking, two full 8-hour days, and our not-so-shabby bargaining skills to emerge with the brand new Spring 2010 fabrics. Needless to say, we at One Mango Tree are more than excited for you to see and wear the treasures the women are making for the upcoming season and for the ways in which their lives are sincerely being transformed your purchases.

Thank you for being apart of our story and get ready to be inundated with brand new media and stories!

- Your new friend, Lauranne