The Beginning..
In late 1999, Mike, our two children, Brooke and Grant, and I headed to South Africa for a four month mission trip. Little did we know the impact this would have on our future. We were fortunate enough to work at a center of 85 beautiful children, ages 2-6 years old.The kids were full of life and always ready for a piggy back ride (even if our backs were not). The children all come from difficult family situations. Many have been affected by the AIDS epidemic (but one would not realize by their spirit in life).

My family experienced a culture that is; on one hand, destitute and yearning for an opportunity to live a life of dignity and self-sustainability; but on the other hand, they have a strong commitment to family and community. They carry a spirit of joy and hope that is relayed through song and dance. The Africans love to share stories, laugh and sing. The highlight of our trip was seeing the children's big smiles while listening to their stories and hearing their songs.
Once you experience the "African Vibe", it will never leave you.

We were passionate about helping others and experienced the power one person DOES have to make a difference. Towards the end of our mission trip, Mike and I knew we wanted to somehow integrate Africa into our lives.
How? By Bringing a piece of Africa to America. We were swept away by the handmade art from the diverse mediums, and were confident America would be too.

From Idea to Reality!

To bring a piece of Africa to America we started a wholesale business in 2000. From 2000 to 2004 we wholesaled beautiful handmade arts and craft from South Africa and Kenya.

Expansion soon followed to Central and South America and Haiti After a 2004 buying trip sponsored by Aid to Artisans, a non profit organization that develops and supports 3rd world artisans, we expanded our product lines to include artisans from Central and South America. After a buying trip sponsored by Aid to Artisans in 2007 we added Haiti to our mix.

We are different…
Mike and I have gained an intimate knowledge of our Artisans and their art by traveling on approximately 20 trips and spending about 2 years in the artisan’s countries working with the community organizations and artisans directly. These include:

South Africa…Zimbabwe…Kenya… Namibia… Bolivia… Peru… Columbia… Ecuador… El Salvador…Guatemala…..Haiti…

We have spent this time abroad building relationships and friendships, and developing high quality and unique products. This is a huge advantage over the majority of our competitors as many of them do not travel and others only go to one or two countries.

COST SAVINGS we can pass on…
We mainly buy direct from the artisans or community organizations we work with thus eliminating the middleman markup. This enables us to pay a fair livable wage to the artisans and pass the savings on to our customers.

BOTTOM LINE
Mike and I have devoted the last 8 years building a network of artisans which enables us to develop products to meet your price points, design needs, volume and packaging needs.

Working with Green Giraffe, you will receive dedication and passion to help make this a profitable and humanitarian business relationship. This is more than “just business” to us.