Introducing NaSuma Designs

 Dress: NaSuma Designs
Heels: Aldo. Similar: here
Purse: Marley Lilly. LOVING this one
Nail Polish: Essie "Blanc"

I want to introduce you all to NaSuma. You may remember me writing about how I lived in Tanzania for 4 months, here. While living in Tanzania I was fortunate enough to meet many amazing local artisans & seamstresses. Many of these seamstresses now work for NaSuma.

NaSuma was created in 2014 and is a socially conscious fashion brand based out of Bagamoyo, Tanzania. NaSuma uses handmade African fabrics to create unique dresses, skirts and tops. NaSuma employs locals, and pays fair wages to all involved. The profits from NaSuma are invested into a woman's fund called Inua, which provides education and business start-up support to women in Bagamoyo. How great is that!?!

I am so thrilled to be able to help support NaSuma by sharing their designs with you. I love this bright yellow dashiki dress! The colours are perfect for summer and the lightweight material is fantastic! My style has always been heavily influenced by other cultures and climates. I really love that we live in a post-technology world in which we can connect with companies and people across the world. The Tanzanian fabrics and silhouettes are so gorgeous, and it is so cool to me that we can now see them and wear them in North America, and also support people in the process! 

NaSuma is such a great organization, and I hope you consider ordering something from them! If you have any questions about them, or their clothes, feel free to ask! My favourite items from their collection (other than my dashiki dress!) are shown in the photos below!

Linking up with:
casual friday linkup
fab favourites linkup
friday favourites linkup 
let it shine 
sunday funday 

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Travel Guide: Uganda

Good morning readers! As you may recall, last week I wrote about my experience in Tanzania. While I was living in Tanzania I also traveled to neighboring Uganda for a week, and that is what I wanted to talk about today.

I love Uganda. The people are incredibly friendly, and the adventures are endless! As you can probably tell from the above photo I am a bit of an "adventure" traveler. If it involves swimming with sharks, riding elephants, or exploring volcanoes count me in! So, when my friend Jon (whom I was visiting in Uganda) suggested we white water raft The Nile I jumped at the opportunity! 

Jon and I did a day trip to the southern city of Jinja in order to whit water raft the Nile. In addition to loving the rafting, I actually weirdly enjoyed traveling there. One thing I love about Uganda is the scenery - from extremely lush to very dry the views are always something to admire. Additionally, one of my FAVOURITE foods I ate in Uganda can only be acquired during bus travel ... Does that sound odd? Well, you need to travel Uganda by bus and try "bus stop" Chapati and then talk to me haha.

Essentially, when traveling the country by bus you end up going through bus stops that are filled with people reaching food and other trinkets up to the bus window to be purchased. Every time we travelled anywhere Jon and I got the Chapati, which is a doughy pancake like food that is incredibly delicious.  

*Ordering our bus stop Chapati*

While visiting Uganda I spent the majority of my time in the capital, Kampala. Kampala was quite a modern city with a variety of cool shops and restaurants. I loved being able to buy fabrics from local retailers at every turn. I bought so many fabrics which I brought back to Canada to display on their own, turn into pillows, and even turn into dresses. 

* A selection of the fabrics I brought home with me*

The final city I visited in Uganda (other than Kampala and Jinja) was Gulu. Visiting Gulu was something I had wanted to do for years. In 2008 I worked for the non-profit Invisible Children which was founded by three young guys after having witnessed the destruction in Gulu at the hands of Joseph Kony and his rebel army, the L.R.A. Invisible Children began as a grassroots organization that grew to produce a number of short documentary films, help build a number of schools in Gulu, provide scholarships for Gulu students and employ a number of women to handcraft goods for sale in the US and Canada. One of the highlights of my trip was visiting the Invisible Children Gulu Office and getting to tour one of the high schools IC helped build.

While in Gulu Jon (who was also a law student) and I were tasked with attending the first day of a trial of a former L.R.A. commander. We were to observe and report as necessary. The trial was an experience I will never forget. 
 

As I'm sure you can tell my experience in Uganda was WAY too intense and busy to sum up in one blog post, but, I will leave you with a few remaining photos and thoughts on this amazing experience:

1) If in Uganda you must try: Nile Special Beer, Chapati & Mandazi (a donut-y treat)

2) You also must explore more than just Kampala - check out Jinja in the south and Gulu in the North

3) On Saturdays there is a farmer's market in Kampala that is definitely worth checking out. It has so many beautiful fabrics, dresses and paintings all made by locals

*The view from Jon's apartment in Kampala*

*the mode of transport around Kampala- Boda'ing*

*The BEST East African beer (Nile Special)... which we are using to take our daily malaria pills... that part is not recommended haha*

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Travel & Fashion - Tanzania

 * The sign in front of my office, wearing one of my custom made office dresses* 

A few years ago now, the summer after first year law school, I had the privilege of going to Tanzania for 3 months to work as an intern at a women's legal aid clinic. The experience was challenging, rewarding, at times terrifying, and a hell of a lot of fun.

I lived and worked in the capital, Dar es Salaam. I rented a small house with 2 other interns in a local neighbourhood (ie. not an expact community). I loved our house, it was bright and vibrant - filled with local artifacts. We also had a rooster that lived in the backyard (I named him George). George was my favourite because he was pretty much incompetent at his only job (being a rooster). He would - without fail - cock-a-doodle-do exactly 20 minutes after the sun rose every morning. As a total non-morning person I friggin loved him. George got me.

* My house *

I loved the work I got to do while in Tanzania, but more than that, I loved meeting and getting to know the phenomenal women I got to work with. From other lawyers, to social workers, to friends working in the peace corps, everyone was so passionate. It was uplifting to say the least.

Ok, I know you are all reading this for fashion too so let me get to that! The fashion in Tanzania was incredible. What many people don't know is that Tanzania is quite the mix of traditional East African culture and Indian culture. There is a large and vibrant Indian diaspora community in Tanzania. It creates, in my opinion, a culture and life that is really unique to Tanzania. By way of fashion, there are many Kangas and Katenges (traditional Tanzanian fabrics) with bold and bright patterns, but, there are also traditional indian garments such as Sari's.

I was lucky enough to live and work primarily in Dar, but I also spent a lot of time with friends in a nearby village called Bagamoyo. The town is home to an amazingly talented seamstress who made me a number of beautiful pieces of clothing. 

Living in Tanzania for as long as I did there was no doubt that I needed to get appropriate clothing for different local functions. Let me tell you, I did NOT have to be asked twice to "Go get traditional clothing made" haha. I jumped at the opportunity. Below are photos of me with my colleagues in a number of the dresses and outfits I had made.

See what I mean about bright and bold colours?! To me, the whole country just exudes vibrance. Below are a few photos that my dear friend Hannah took that I think really illustrate this: 

The other AMAZING part about Tanzania that I have to tell you about is the Safari that I took in Ngorongoro National Park just outside Arusha, Tanzania. An African Safari was something that was on my bucket list, and to be honest I am still in shock that I was able to cross it off my list. My safari was everything I ever could have imagined and more. My roomate/colleague Madison and I did a 4 day safari where we slept in tents RIGHT ON THE SERENGETI ... literally no fences, no nothing, just us plunked down in the middle of the wilderness. 

*Madison and my tent- day one*

*Going on safari in our 4X4. Madison and I met up with two American guys also wanting to do a safari, so we joined up with them and spent our days in this 4x4 watching the animals together* 

I couldn't believe how many animals we saw on safari, nor how close we were to them. In particular I had, shall we say, a "situation" with a zebra... but I'll tell you about that at the end. First, here are my favourite pictures from my safari:

And last, I leave you with my zebra story (and a favourite Zebra picture). So, it's the middle of the night and I wake up and realize I have to pee. Not an "I can wait till morning pee, but a my-bladder-is-exploding type of pee". I realize that I am going to need to leave the tent in the middle of the night and walk to the nearby outhouse.

On go my boots, on goes my head lamp, unzip goes the tent door, and out I go. Now, being considerate, I decided not to turn my headlight on until I had walked a few steps away from the tent so as to not wake Madison. So, in complete darkness I step one step around the corner of our tent and *BAM* .... I was standing face to face with a ZEBRA. After a solid few seconds of both of us standing there staring at each other frozen, I turned and BOOKED IT the other direction {swearing and screaming like a crazy person, of course}. Thankfully, I made it safely to the outhouse and back to my tent (taking a very long route around Mr. Zebra) without any further incident. All I could think though is; seriously!?! Who the heck RUNS INTO A ZEBRA?!?! The things that happen to me :S, hahaha. 

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