Sweet Flavia has been coming to shop after school everyday since January. She is six years old and the Niece of Sally, from deep in the village of Arua (Northern Uganda). When Sally returned to Jinja from visiting her family in Arua this past Christmas and New Years she brought back little Flavia so she could attend school in Jinja Town. When Flavia came to Jinja she didn't know any English or even the local language in Jinja (luganda) - she only new her village language. Since starting school Flavia has learned a lot of English and Luganda and loves playing with her new friends. She is quite Sassy and ALWAYS singing or humming. The ladies in the jinja shop say that she is their radio. Flavia has also been an inspiration to our WEE GROW line. She would often take the scrap pieces of fabric from the bags and wrap them around her head or knot them all together. We thought the bright Kitenge prints looked so cute on her so we decided to make the headwraps in kid sizes. Since Sally works for tukula she is able to pay for Flavia to go to a good school close to their home. We love seeing the money the women make being used on their families and the community around them.

This is the first installment of our ARTISAN INTERVIEW series.

Through these interviews you will get a better look at the lives of the ladies

and their work with tukula.

First up is tukula's very first seamstress, Nakato Bennah.

JOE: What are some things that tukula has helped you to do?
BENNAH: Tukula has helped me to earn some money to look after myself. Sometimes I can find when there is no money at home, when my husband has no money, so this money can help us and help my kid. It has also helped me to help other people.

J: What are 3 things that you like about your job?
B: I like my job because it gives me peace, I am working with free people who don't put pressure on me, naturally I like it like that.

J: How has tukula helped you besides financially?
B: They are friendly, they are close, and open to us, we can talk about anything we want.

J: What do you want for your future?
B: Since I am a tailor right now I would like to get my own workshop in the future with 10 machines around to teach others, for those who want to learn.

J: What would you like to say to people buying your bags?
B: I want to thank everybody who buys our bags because it has helped us in so many ways. If there was nobody to buy we would be losing jobs and losing courage but when their buying we can support ourselves like that.
Really, I thank them very much!

To learn more about Bennah and her family visit:
www.tukula.org/bennah.html

Jacob's Firsts

We love this kid!

Mother's Day Special and a Diaper Drop

Hi friends!
We currently have a mother's day special going on over on our store: Teal Carry all and limited Edition green/brown print clutch for only $35! I promise your mom will love it!

Also we wanted to let you know about the next Diaper Drop from The Little Bee Co.
They will be doing the drop in none other than our very own Jinja, Uganda at a very sweet children's home called Amani Baby Cottage. The kids there are very dear to my heart and I'm so excited that this company in partnering with them! Click on over to their site and buy a diaper or give a donation - even buying the Bee Loved bag helps!

Hope you all have a great week!
xo Melissa

How We Carry Tukula & A Giveaway

****Congrats to the giveaway winner Janelle from LeeMaeMarie!!*****

Being the founder of tukula I have received (or taken from inventory) a lot of bags.
After using each bag on a daily basis I feel like they all have very different uses so I thought I would share my thoughts on how each bag could be best used...




If you're like me and don't use a big bag for day to day use the Shami Bag is a good fit for you! I use this one most days to hold my wallet, keys, chap-stick, a pen and post-its...and it's perfect. I normally see it used as a shoulder bag but I wear mine cross-body more often. I like wearing it cross-body because I'm shorter and the bottom of most cross body bags end up hitting my knee but the shami doesn't.















The sling bag is an all time favorite amongst tourists in uganda and I have even seen that this style is even popular amongst tourists in asia as well. Living on the east coast it's easy for us to do day trips to cities like DC, NYC, and Philly and this bag is perfect for long days out. It's best worn as a cross-body bag as well and can usually fit all of the daily necessities as well as a light jacket or book.

















The tote bag has become an all-time favorite of mine. We spent a few days in Cape-May New Jersey at the beach and it was the perfect bag for the trip! With the weather being so unpredictable theses days here in PA it's been great for packing sunscreen, a sweater, a bottle of water, and umbrella along with all the daily necessities. Most larger bags have thicker fabric or are lined with foam but the tote bags has a light weight cotton fabric that makes it not feel bulky even when you're carrying a lot.











I feel like most women have a favorite bag and I love hearing about what makes them their favorite bag. So as a special spring treat I'm going to be giving away my favorite bag, the new tote bag.

Here's what you have to do to enter the giveaway (each one counts as an entry):
1. Leave a comment telling me about your favorite bag.
2. Share our giveaway on facebook - be sure to tag tukula in your post @tukula
3. Share our giveaway on Twitter - be sure to tag us @tukulawegrow
4. Blog about Tukula - be sure to comment here with a link to your post

I will randomly select a winner on Wednesday (April 25th).
Good luck, friends!
-Melissa

New Tote Bag and Prints!

Now introducing our biggest bag yet - the tote bag! The yellow/red/orange print is perfect for this spring/summer. I carry mine everywhere and love it!

We have also stocked our online store with new prints of our classic sling, shami, and clutch.
Happy shopping!

transistions

This month is a month of transitions for tukula and we are so grateful for all the support we have received!

Joe and I are now living in the states working hard to advocate for the ladies and sell their bags! We are so thankful that Benji and the tukula women are such hard workers and amazing people who we trust completely. We were so sad to say goodbye but are excited to experience a new season and help tukula the best we can.


We couldn't leave with out a party though! So we all had lunch together at our favorite "Mum's Cafe" and then headed to the pool. Only two of the ladies (Sally and Lydia) actually swam because the others were a bit afraid. But it was still a lot of fun to say the least. It was the very first time for Sally's niece Flavia (5) and Bennah's son Jacob (1) to be at the pool so there was some happy and not so happy screams!