Sale opportunity, Wesleyan University Visits Ayindisa, and Announcements

Hello Everyone!

Last month Ayindisa held an inventory clearance sale on March 7th-10th in Ridgefield, Connecticut, USA in a big red barn. This sale was a lot of fun and it was great to see some familiar faces as well as meet many new customers and supporters. Also on Sunday, March 10th there was a free drum performance and workshop by Living Traditions drum group. Local families and customers were able to learn about West African drumming and cultural traditions. Living Traditions consists of a number of talented musicians and we were blessed that day to have Issac Hirt-Manheimer, Director of Enchanted Garden Music Conservatory, Wesleyan University Visiting Dance Instructor Samuel Elikem Kwame Nyamumame and some fellow alumni perform.

Many participants told us how much they valued the opportunity to be able to expose their children to different cultures music and traditions. The free drum workshop also enabled both children and adults whom never played a drum before to use Ayindisa’s socially responsible artisan hand drums to learn a traditional African song and then perform it together. Thank you to everyone that came out to this wonderful sale/event.

This year Ayindisa is even better prepared to take many orders for our high quality baskets, handbags, drums, woodcarvings and jewelry. The artisans are counting on us to help them get out of poverty and achieve our mission. We also look forward to better serve our customers and we are always adding new and unique products to our collection like hand-made Ghanaian Dolls! Please be sure to come back and check these out. We will be posting pictures/description of these and other new products in the next few weeks. Think about subscribing to our blog post in the sidebar. Also if you do not see what you are looking for please contact us by email and we will do our best find it for you.

Ayindisa, LLC is proud to have been able to established some great new friendships and partnerships last year and this year with very reputable organizations or individuals like Wesleyan University’s visiting West African Dance Instructor, Green Teen’s program at Cornell University, State University of New York at Purchase hand drum class, The Forever Young Foundation and the Enchanted Garden Music Conservatory and more.

If you would like to be informed of when similar events or sales are taking place, please e-mail me at kyleg@ayindisa.com, or subscribe to this blog feed by clicking here. or subscribe here:

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As well, Ayindisa would like to make a few announcements:

The first announcement is that Chris Gay, founder of Ayindisa, LLC has officially partnered with Issac Hirt-Manheimer, Director of Enchanted Garden Music Conservatory in Ridgefield, CT. More on the story of how this wonderful partnership came to be will be posted on future blog posts. Together they are going to be building the Sankofa Center for African Arts, the largest Cultural Center for African arts to date in Ghana, West Africa.

Sankofa Center for African Arts

Mission Statement
To develop a cultural center in Ghana’s central region that will offer arts based programs for American university students. The Sankofa Center will host a collective of master artisans that will manufacture quality instruments and crafts for sale both domestically and abroad. It is a top priority of ours to meet the highest standards of “Fair Trade” practices. The center is also dedicated to promoting national unity, creating employment opportunities, and revitalizing the region’s rich cultural heritage.

The Sankofa Center for the African arts is supported by many people including Mr. Seth Addo, Chief Director of Ghana’s Ministry of Trade, Mr. S.K. Boafo, Minister of Chieftancy and Culture as well as top Ghanaian musicians like Shasha Marley, one of the most famous reggae singers in all of West Africa. Check him out. He is a wonderful person and soon will be debuting in the United States. Please look for continued updates about this amazing cultural center that will be opening in the summer of 2009.

Finally, we would like to inform you that Ayindisa, LLC participated in the Stormville Airport Antique Show and Flea Market last Sunday, Aril 27th, 2008. This was the second time for us and it was a great event! It was very nice to talk with and meet many new people. Ayindisa especially wishes to thank Janet Stevens of Perry Designs for all her help at the show. Stormville is known as one of New England’s largest antique and flea markets which has been happening several times a year since 1970. Ayindisa, LLC can be found at this show various times throughout the year. Check our website and blog for future dates and if you are in the area, please stop by and visit the Ayindisa tent/booth. If you tell us that you saw our event date on our blog, you will be able to receive up to 30% off certain handcraft products! That means up to $85 off!

Please check in weekly for our latest updates. Future blog post topics are listed in our sidebar. Thanks!

Kyle W. Gay
Director of Marketing, Ayindisa LLC
Socially Responsible Artisan Handcrafts
42 Lake Ave, Ext. Suite 285.
Danbury CT, 06811
e: KyleG@ayindisa.com
w: http://www.ayindisa.com/