All G.R.O. Artisans jewelry 20% OFF - Givings Thanks sale with Etsy

The women of the G.R.O. Artisans Collective have teamed with Etsy as their first international supplier with a beautiful collection of handcrafted and unique jewelry items. The pieces are made from a mix of locally sourced materials, such as mountain clay, prcupine quill, and cow horn, as well as upcycled products including glass bottles and paper products.

Until Thursday you can purchase any of these pieces for 20% off as part of the Giving Thanks Sale. This is one of the first chances many of you have had to purchase the jewelry that you have been asking so much about.

Give thanks this season with a gift of empowerment!

Posted under The Movement

Gifts of Growth 2010 campaign launches today

G.R.O. Canada is proud to announce the launch of the Gifts of Growth 2010 campaign!

G.R.O.’s Gifts of Growth campaign aims to honour the important people in our lives by providing you the opportunity to create positive change in the world. You can make a donation to the international poverty reduction projects of G.R.O. in the name of your loved ones this holiday season.  For your gift of any amount we will deliver a beautiful card describing the gift you’ve chosen and the social impact it will make in the developing world.  This card can be sent to you directly or can be sent to the gift recipient with your name and personal message.

For Immediate Release:

Posted under The Mission

The G.R.O. Artisans Collective was delighted to present a gift to the Queen of Lesotho from their 2010 collection for her birthday on June 2nd. For a long time, the Artisans had been looking for ways to get the Queen, who was born and went to school in their community of Hlotse, involved in their work, so this was a great opportunity to do so.

The gift that was presented for her birthday featured locally sourced porcupine quills and recycled glass elegantly mixed in with Tiger’s Eye to create the beautiful Lefats’e set. Not long after her birthday, feedback was sent to the Collective through the Queen’s brother who had been our liaison. This was not just a ‘post birthday thank you’ you might expect; She was so excited by the elegance of the local design that she sent the Artisans a purchase order for even more jewelry!

She asked for a hand crafted custom order of three sets of jewellery  made in the colour blue. You can imagine the excitement that filled the Collective upon receipt of the order. The artisans sat down to design the sets and they came up with pieces that featured recycled glass, mountain clay, and paperbeads. Her response was very positive and we hope that the relationship with the Queen will grow stronger now that we have earned her support of the beautiful work that theArtisans do.

‘Me Motseoa Seutloali

G.R.O. Artisans Collective Coordinator

Posted under Letters from Lesotho

Up to a few months ago Jean Margaritis was likely to be one of the first faces you would encounter upon entering the G.R.O. Lesotho office or contacting the organization in country.  As Co-founder and Programs Manager Jean has worked tirelessly to support project partners, staff, and families within Lesotho. Her work ethic is matched only by her compassion for those that surround her. Recently, Jean has returned to Minnesota to be with her family but has maintained close ties to G.R.O. Lesotho staff and continued to support the in country board of directors.

After having spent the better part of 6 years either living or directly engaged in Lesotho you have had to take a step back with your return to the United States. How do you stay connected to all of your friends and G.R.O. project partners on a daily basis?

When I first returned to North America in 2006 after spending two years in Lesotho with the US Peace Corps, it was very hard to stay connected to Lesotho.  Few people in Lesotho had access to internet, phone calls were incredibly expensive at over 30 cents a minute, and letters took ages to arrive.  Technology has advanced so much in the last four years that staying connected to the G.R.O. projects, friends, and partners is easier and quicker.  Our Lesotho team has access to email and internet daily, and I speak with the team regularly by Skype.   We get updates and photos regularly from Lesotho, through Q&As and from our team.  It’s very exciting because it helps us remain connected and focused on our priorities ahead, and definitely helps us stay productive as a team, even though we are thousands of miles away.

What do you miss the most about your average day in Lesotho?

To be honest, no day was the same which is probably what I loved about it the most.  Every day presented a new challenge, a new project idea, a new accomplishment.   I miss walking into the Artisan’s workshop, always noisy and alive with women’s laughter and baby cries.  I miss the morning team briefings with the staff, charting out our day, the camaraderie and team work. The afternoon meetings with the grannies where we spoke about chickens and business over tea and biscuits are unforgettable.  I definitely miss the amazing and powerful energy within G.R.O. Lesotho that is created when everyone is working for a collective vision.

What is your current G.R.O. role now and what are you hoping to accomplish over the coming months?

My current role with G.R.O. is still that of Director of Programs, but has shaped and morphed with the fact that I now live thousands of miles away.  This is very exciting for me, because it has allowed our Lesotho team to grow, change and adapt in positive ways to accomplish our shared vision under local leadership.  I work daily with Rethabile, the G.R.O. Lesotho Programs Manager, as she continues to implement our plans for growth and development and lead the growing team.   Our primary goals for the next few months are to scale-up the LEAP program with the distribution of 4,000 career resource books and opening of the Career Center for high school students.  The Artisans Collective will be attending the Morija Arts and Cultural festival in October, and then will work to expand their retail locations throughout South Africa with assistance from our new Peace Corps volunteer, Adam.   The Grannies are looking to scale-up production now that the winter months have passed, and will also be distributing first aid kits to the local high schools.

I am also working in North America to help the artisans establish retail outlet and an online store as well as to strengthen our USA networks and partners.  I will also be focused on grant-writing for G.R.O. Canada and G.R.O. Lesotho.  It is a very exciting time for G.R.O. and I would like to thank everyone for being part of it!

We spoke to Jean Margaritis from her home in Minnesota.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

The G.R.O. Artisans Collective is a project that employs HIV affected mothers enabling them to provide for their families while empowering and educating themselves in small business practices. ‘Me Motseoa Seutloali is the Collective Coordinator for the business charged with supporting the women in the day to day operations while working to expand market share and brand exposure. After a string of successes including adding the Queen of Lesotho as a valued customer, a change of offices, and the addition of a daycare centre ‘Me Motseoa was able to take a breather to sit down for a Q&A!

With the recent office change you worked to organize a day care centre for young children to benefit not only the women of the G.R.O. Artisans but others in the small business compound in Hlotse - what impact has the day care centre had on the Artisans and what benefits have you seen to BEDCO as a whole?

The day care has received a very positive response from the mothers in BEDCO. Many say it gives them peace of mind to know that their children are taken care of within their vicinity. For the Artisans, the day care has provided them a second bonding place outside their workshop. I see this especially during the lunch hour where they gather the children around and play with them.

What new developments have the G.R.O. Artisans experienced since the change in offices?

We formed a link with the Likhetlane community based in the Leribe district. We met with different groups of women who might be our potential clay suppliers if they received training on how to make clay beads.  We also attended the Fouriesburg Spring Fair in South Africa where we made very good sales.

What are you working on currently to expand the business?

I’ve been trying to network and introduce the Collective to the Lesotho Tourism Development Corporation and the Ministry of Tourism, Environment & Culture. Plans to increase our retail locations both locally in Lesotho and internationally in South Africa are underway.

Running a small business is a constant challenge - What are some of the G.R.O. Artisans current challenges?

We do not have a reliable supplier for some of our products like porcupine quills and mountain clay. We usually purchase these products whenever we come across are a retailer who has them in stock which makes it very unstructured and dependent on chance.

We are also struggling to secure a reliable customer base for our bead shop.

And finally, in the next month we are planning to attend Lesotho’s biggest annual arts and cultural festival to showcase our products and do a bit of advertising, but we might be hindered by finances. It’s something we are working on though.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

The G.R.O. Artisans Collective has faced a number of challenges with business expansion and an increasing number of mothers working as both jewelry designers and producers. The Collective gives these women a chance at financial stability and independence for themselves and their families. This opportunity, as great as it is, necessarily comes after their most important role of being a mother. With an influx of mothers comes an rush of young children and as the Artisans expanded their production and retail space they searched for a solution to the increasing number of infants that quickly became an office responsibility which is bound to happen with a roomful of carrying mothers. Recently, the Artisans and G.R.O. Lesotho came up with the solution of G.R.O. Care a small daycare centre supported by both parties and open to all other small businesses in the Hlotse BEDCo compound - a small business centre where the G.R.O. offices are located - to increase the productivity of all surrounding local business. G.R.O. Careis run by ‘Me Rose an incredible woman, mother, and grandmother who took the time out of her day to talk to us a bit more about the daily activity of the centre.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho, Uncategorized

The G.R.O. Foundation has again increased in size as we excitedly welcomed Adam Peel,  a US Peace Corps Volunteer, to the team. Adam has dedicated himself to a two year placement in Lesotho where he will be working closely with the Bo ‘Me of the G.R.O. Artisans Collective, as well as assisting G.R.O. Lesotho to continue to better achieve its goal of community poverty reduction.

To begin, Welcome to the team Adam - we are really excited to have you! Why don’t we start by telling all of our G.R.O. supporters a bit about yourself?

1) Sure,  I was raised in the great state of South Florida (yes it is its own state).  I  am an alumni of The Florida State University where I received a Bachelors as well as an Applied  Masters  Degree in Economics.  This is my first time travelling abroad , well I went to the Bahamas, but that doesn’t count.  I love to meet new people, try new things,  and see new places.

As far as my overall work with G.R.O. Lesotho I am helping to build the capacity of the organization.   More specifically I will be helping to assist ‘Me Motse’oa in making the Artisans a more profitable and stronger collective. I will also help in providing support where necessary to the LEAP program where my main role will be to act as a facilitator to ‘Ntate Katiso LEAP coordinator.

And as an incoming volunteer how were you received by the staff and project partners of G.R.O. Lesotho?

For my arrival, the G.R.O team held a braii for me this has been my  most exciting experience so far. It is very interesting to take part in a  celebration with a different culture.   The Basotho people love to dance and have lively celebrations.  It was a very welcoming experience.  They cooked traditional food including papa (a staple carb), chakalaka (a delicious spicy bean dish often expertly prepared by ‘Me Rethabile),  moroho (cold salted cabbage salad), and even mothoho (a warm heavy porridge that you add sugar to) - I wouldn’t recommend that one. We danced to the local music where I learned a new dance move whereby you pretend to chop yourself with your hand on your arm and leg.

You are walking into a foreign country and a different work environment but you do have a very supportive team - with this in mind what do you hope to accomplish in the first 6 months of your stay in Lesotho?

In the first six months as a volunteer I hope to make a positive impact with the G.R.O Artisans. I would like to help in facilitating a sales plan in which we will have a better approach to increasing sales in the region. I would also like to help in developing a system to accept credit card payments.  In the first six months I will also help Ntate Katsio in planning and implementing the distribution of the LEAP Career Guide books that the G.R.O team has made. In addition, I will be working on the LEAP Resource Centre here in Hlotse, Leribe. I will be cataloging books and helping to build a promising place to learn and receive information.

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Today we are stepping outside the office for a Q&A with the G.R.O. Artisans Collective Project Leader ‘Me Majoyce Mpelo. The Artisans have had an exciting year redesigning their line, expanding to international distribution, outgrowing offices, adding new members, and hiring a Collective Coordinator to help manage their business. ‘Me Majoyce is a founding member and has grown with each step of the business.

Lumela ‘Me! We are really happy that you are joining us, kea leboha (thank you)!

You are the original member of the G.R.O. Artisans - what does it mean to be the Project Leader?

It means that we have achieved so much in making the G.R.O. Artisans. Moving towards bigger achievements and growing day by day. Every day is a step forward. To be a project leader is exciting and we are making more products. Before we didn’t have many orders, then we grew to where we never had enough time to make the orders we had come to us, and now we have grown to include more members and we can finally complete orders on time. I think it is exciting because we have always talked and had these plans but now we are achieving these things. Becoming the Project Leader proves that we are now growing and seeing many successes.

Over the past year you have experienced some big changes and growth with Bo ‘Me - what events have you been most excited about?

There are so many! The first one is that we have now the bead shop - this is really exciting. So it makes us sell the supplies and beads inside the same space with our products. We have a Coordinator now and have started to distribute our products throughout Lesotho to the country’s best hotels and in South Africa at the boutiques and craft shops. The Artisans are going to the flea markets monthly.

We have started making products for the Queen of Lesotho and even for the US Ambassador. We have a good relationship with G.R.O. supporters and they always give us orders when they are in Lesotho so we are grateful for everyone supporting us in North America. We had new designs for 2010 also. Coming shortly we will have our new office that will be the biggest we have had so far so that we can make enough room for our new members and we will be free to make better products.

Finally, the members have babies in the office which makes it hard to keep producing quickly. Soon we will be having a baby-sitter in the office which will make our work easier and increase our production. There are so many exciting things!

What do you hope that the G.R.O. Artisans Collective will be able to achieve over the next few months?

We hope to have more markets and larger international orders. Our business is beginning to be known because we have started advertising and we hope that our local customers will grow. Bo ‘me want to get bigger internationally and locally. We want to keep growing but I know it happens that we need to keep finding new markets to expand.

‘Me Majoyce we are so thankful that you could take the time to have a Q&A today. The G.R.O. Artisans have experienced so many successes and you really have only had a small amount of time to mention just a few.  We will look for new designs and the launch of your products in Canada and throughout the world!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

The past few weeks have seen some really exciting developments for the G.R.O. Artisans Collective. We have managed to sit down with ‘Me Mots’eoa, the Artisans Collective Coordinator, for a brief chat to update us all on what has been going on.

Lumela ‘Me! Welcome to your second G.R.O. Q&A – thanks for taking the time out of your day working on financials to hang out for a few minutes. Ok, here are your 3 questions….

Both the G.R.O. Lesotho Programs Team and the G.R.O. Artisans are about to move into a much larger office, still in the BEDCO Leribe complex. What does the new office space mean for the Artisans?

Well, the new office is very exciting for the Artisans particularly because we will centralize our space to include the retail space, the workshop, and my office with the Programs Team. There will also be a larger space that we are hoping, in future, can be dedicated to a space that Bo ‘Me can bring their children to work. As mentioned, we will be able to divide the retail shop and provide a more private workshop space. The new office and retail space gives the Artisans a greater chance to improve on their customer service and retail experience skills. The whole thing is a lot more convenient with a lot more space.

The Artisans recently had a pretty high ranking visitor to the retail shop – who stopped by and how did they hear about the Collective?

The Ambassador to the United States recently visited with his family. Ambassador Nolan had heard about the Collective from one of his daughters who had met us at the most recent Maseru Bazaar where we were selling jewelry. She took a flyer and ended up telling her mom. They were both impressed and visited our website to do a bit of research on the Artisans. From there the family decided to drop in to see the women and the workshop. The Artisans were ecstatic that they took the time to visit and purchase a few pieces of jewelry – I want to make sure we thank Ambassador Nolan and his family for the support!

That’s amazing! Congrats on the expanding customer base! In other big news the Artisans seem to have established a Royal connection – can you please update us all on what exactly I’m talking about?

Queen Masenate Mohato Bereng Seeiso recently received a birthday gift from the artisans - a jewelry set specially made by the Artisans in a custom bag made of local fabrics which was hand delivered by her mom. The Queen happens to be from Hlotse so we wanted to surprise her with a small gift. She gave us some really positive feedback that was sent to us through her brother. In fact, she was really impressed and she wants to purchase a few additional pieces. She has just ordered a customer set of 3 pieces that will match her seshoshoe in blue – the seshoshoe is the national traditional fabric and is worn at special events by Basotho women. This is of course big news for Bo ‘Me as it was really quite unexpected and we are hoping that this relationship that has been established with the Royal family will continue and that our queen will be a strong advocate for the Artisans showcasing their work at a number of events. I think we are all hoping she will eventually make a visit but we’ll have to wait and see!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho

Last Saturday was an incredible and important day for the members of the G.R.O. Artisans Collective. The community rallied around the event to support a group of women who only a few months ago were working out of their homes and now operate a workshop, retail space, and Lesotho’s only beading supply store.  Running around in the hot sun I didn’t have much of a chance to reflect on the event but after the passing of a few days and a cup of coffee, or ten, I am amazed at what this group of mothers has been able to do. The best part of this story is that the Artisans aren’t the only G.R.O. success story witnessed last weekend.

Since January I am proud to have been part of the Family Scholarship Fund to watch the students rally together and welcome the new G.R.O. Counselor, ‘Ntate Katiso ‘Mota. For the first time in the history of the Scholarship Fund there are students from Molapo High School outside the program’s membership who have joined for study sessions and lifeskills workshops. This is a true testament to the character of the students in the program and the great job ‘Ntate ‘Mota is doing with the group. When asked to volunteer their time to work at the Artisans opening the G.R.O. Scholars were there. These students - members and the recently joined -gave up their Saturday to prepare chicken, watch over the grill, distribute food to guests, clean dishes, and ensure the area around the workshop/store was free from garbage at the end of the day.

With a fresh cup and a few days I realize that the students commitment to community service and strengthening their program is a more subtle but equally exciting story that’s unfolding here in Hlotse-Leribe. On behalf of the G.R.O. Foundation Lesotho I want to thank and congratulate the students of the Family Scholarship Fund for their efforts this past weekend. See you on Monday!

Posted under Notes from Lesotho