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The Simmons Green Initiative

Filed under: Jewelry, Charity, Holiday Guides

Beyonce loves to be green!
Beyonce Knowles is happily wearing a Rough Diamond and Malachite Green bracelet from Simmons Jewelry Company.

Simmons, as in the infamous Simmons Family which includes lines such as Kimora Lee Simmons for Hello Kitty, Simmons Men's Collection, Brown Sugar by Justine Simmons, and the iconic Green Malachite bracelet which gives back to the Diamond Empowerment Fund. The bracelet, above, comes in three sizes at $125 and has a little gold diamond charm containing a small rough diamond - very classy, chic, and perfect for your environmentally conscious friends and relatives.

The Diamond Empowerment Fund, to which 50% of all Rough Diamond and Malachite Green bracelet profits go, is an international non-profit organization which raises money for educational programs in Africa. Feeling green? Click here to learn more and find out how you can help.

Another Huge Diamond Found In Lesotho

Filed under: Jewelry

Another large diamond has been found at the Letseng mine in Lesotho. The stone is 478 carats and is the 20th largest rough diamond ever found. What makes this stone important is that its clarity and structure is such that instead of being cut into many smaller stones like the Lesotho Promise diamond, this new stone could yield a single 150 carat cut stone which would be one of the largest cut stones. The potential rare stone could sell for tens of millions of dollars.

The Clinton Foundation, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity of the Day, Big Givers


The Clinton Foundation has recently concluded its philanthropy tour of Africa, where the former President worked tirelessly to reduce treatment costs for malaria and spoke in support of public health efforts to reduce the incidence of HIV/AIDS among children. He also helped celebrate the opening of a $1 million, 180-bed hospital in Rwanda. The foundation's Travel to Africa Blog followed Clinton on his multiple stops throughout the continent between the end of July and August 6 and includes video of some of Clinton's speeches during his visit.

Bill Clinton established his eponymous foundation during his second term as President. The foundation has grown to support programs focused on combating climate change, HIV/AIDS and other health concerns and childhood obesity.

We Are Together, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day


We Are Together
is a film about children living in the Agape orphanage in Africa. It chronicles their lives, individual personalities, and incredible journeys through life. They are also all part of a choir and have recorded an album that coincides with the film (absolutely beautiful music!), with profits from the both the film and CD going to benefit children in South Africa.

There are lots of ways to support the cause, including joining their email list (which includes getting a free music track download), donating money, or simply by purchasing the CD and watching the film (coming soon to HBO).

Drink 1 Give 10, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day


The Drink 1 Give 10 campaign is simple: for every liter of Volvic bottled water you drink 10 liters of clean drinking water will be provided to children in Africa. The campaign is a result of a collaboration between Volvic and UNICEF, and the money donated to UNICEF through Volvic will be used to build wells, educate the people, and help maintain clean water supplies -- because every child has the right to clean water.

If you don't have Volvic water available in your area you can also donate money to the cause directly.

The Grand Mauritian, Opening July 1

Filed under: Services, Spas, Yachts & Sailing


The Grand Mauritian, a Luxury Collection resort and spa from Starwood Hotels & Resorts, "invites you to experience the magic of Mauritian hospitality in a truly luxurious setting." (I accept!) Located on the northwest coast of the island of Mauritius on Turtle Bay, on the Indian Ocean, the resort is set to open on July 1 and is the the Luxury Collection's first foray into the Indian Ocean and Africa.

The resort will offer 193 guest rooms and suites, all of which offer ocean views (some have private terraces and tropical outdoor showers); a kids' club; a 1,500 sqm Mandara spa with 11 treatment rooms; and a selection of upscale restaurants and bars. Spread over 10 hectares, the resort is bordered by the reef and ocean nature park on the coast with sugar cane fields behind. You'll find water sports and diving in the two swimming pools and on the natural sandy beach.

For business travelers, the resort has plug-and-play high-speed Internet access in the guest rooms; wireless high-speed Internet access in public areas; a business center; and venues for conferences, meetings and social events.

Check rates and availability here.

Epic Change, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity of the Day


Epic Change has a unique philosophy toward doing good in the world. They believe that people's stories are assets that can be used as resources to improve their lives. They help people share their stories in innovative, creative and profitable ways to help them acquire the financial resources to create change in their communities. Their first project involves rebuilding and expanding Shepherds Junior, a small pre- and primary school located in Arusha, Tanzania. The school is taught in English but includes courses in the country's primary language, Swahili, and celebrates the culture and history of Tanzania. The school's goal is to give the children in the area a high quality education at an affordable price and charges less than 30% of the cost of private schools of similar quality within the area. They charge nominal tuition to most students and uses income to subsidize the costs of orphans and lower income children who attend the school. The land on which the school is based was sold to a hotel developer. Epic Change is working to help rebuild and expand Shepherds Junior in a new location adding a computer lab, library, cafeteria, playground, classrooms and solar panels for power. An acre of land has been purchased and students are currently attending school in four new classrooms. The Epic Change group and some volunteers are headed back to Tanzania this summer and future story-related projects include a greeting card line that includes pictures of the children and a post card line that includes photos by the children. Epic Change is actively looking for donations as well as volunteers to join them in helping work epic change in the lives of these children.

Raising Malawi, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day, Big Givers

Today's Charity of the Day is co-owned by none other than Madonna herself. When Michael Berg and Madonna founded Raising Malawi (RM), their goal was to help over one million orphaned children in Malawi that suffer from deadly diseases, extreme poverty and the effects of severe drought. Raising Malawi volunteers are hard at work, fund-raising, conducting research, and raising awareness. Check out this organization's website, there is a heartwarming and educational letter that Madonna wrote about Malawi and the children that reside there.

Goods for Good, Charity of the Day!

Filed under: Charity, Green, Charity of the Day, Big Givers

Goods for Good has a simple goal, to redistribute excess goods that sit unused in the US, to needy children in Africa. They provide much needed school supplies, clothing, and health and hygiene products to children in crisis, while at the same time reducing waste and overstock at home. Donations are received from a wide range of companies and the sorting and shipping is done by volunteers. If your company has outdated or unused inventory (office supplies, fabric, teaching or marketing tools...) that you wish to discard in an environmentally friendly way, contact this worthwhile organization today!

New Safari Style

Filed under: Decor, Luxury Travel & Hotels, Books


Though it will always have strong overtones of colonialism, going on safari in Africa these days isn't about imposing country club comforts on the untamed wilderness or making a dent in the local wildlife population. That's only fitting in an era when more people come to photograph the animals than shoot them. That's not to say there aren't plenty of elegant luxury lodges in Southern Africa where you can be waited on hand and foot; it's just that the emphasis now is on "organic glamour," a more ecologically-minded, indigenous approach that doesn't sacrifice anything in the way of comfort or style.

In The New Safari: Design, Décor, Detail, just out from Quivertree Publications, we get a tour of 17 of the best and most unique of these lodges, from the diaphanous Singita Lembombo in the Kruger National Park to Namibia's Little Kulala with its blend of earthy and contemporary elements. Be sure to check it out before you book your own excursion.

Missoni Bracelet for OrphanAid Africa, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Jewelry, Charity of the Day

The beautiful Margherita Missoni who is part of the famed fashion family, has worked with jewelry designer Ileana Makri to create a special bracelet for a worthy cause. The new rose gold and diamond bracelet will benefit OrphanAid Africa, an organization that helps vulnerable children in Ghana. The organization tries to help children at risk and works with community outreach programs and is creating a model children's home.

The bracelet will be available at Jeffrey New York, Colette, YOOX.COM, Matches, and 10 Corso Como next month. It will retail from $640 for the a limited edition, all-diamond bracelet while a single diamond version will retail for $240. Damon Dash and Rachel Roy are also working on a capsule collection of products to benefit the charity including ProKeds sneakers available in six different styles of African-inspired prints. The charity also accepts direct donations.

[via Fashion Week Daily]

Books For Africa, Charity Of The Day

Filed under: Charity, Charity of the Day

Books For Africa distributes new and used books to students in Africa who otherwise would not have access to any reading and study material. Their mission is to put and end to the book famine in Africa. The books are donated by publishers, schools, libraries, individuals and organizations and are sorted and packed by volunteers who carefully choose books that are age and subject appropriate. Today, Books For Africa has shipped more than 18 million books! The cost of shipping isn't cheap, with each one sent there is nearly 40 cents postage required. Books For Africa depends on the generosity of donors to keep the program getting these books into the hands of deserving children.

Keep a Child Alive, Charity of the Day

Filed under: Charity of the Day


AIDS is officially 25 years old and sadly in many ways it's as strong and as deadly as ever. In certain parts of South Africa as much as 41% of the population is afflicted with AIDS, and worldwide 90% of the people who have it don't know it. Ignorance is one of the biggest hurdles in treating and controlling the spread of AIDS, and Keep a Child Alive is an organization focused on helping with both education, treatment, and prevention of this devastating disease -- not to mention support of the children left in its wake.

To date over 15 million children have lost one or both parents to the AIDS pandemic, and for just $1 a day you can buy the drugs needed to keep a child alive.

Pictures From The Celestial Diamond Pre-Oscar Event

Filed under: Jewelry, Celebrity Shopping


One of the pre-Oscar events this week was the Celestial event held by the Diamond Information Center at Soho House LA. The invitation-only event was a week-long celebration for 2007 Oscar nominees and presenters. The event featured an African-inspired diamond spa with an African rough diamond ritual and massage and a warm kimberlite stone hand and foot massage. Dr. Elliot Ndlovu, a spiritual (sangoma) and medicinal healer (inyanga) from South Africa's Fordoun Spa was also on hand to preside over meditation and relaxation rituals. The star of the show however are the gorgeous diamonds on display, over $50 million diamonds from renowned jeweler Fred Leighton displayed $50 million of diamonds including many gorgeous museum-quality pieces. Guests received an Isibindi medallion from Mia & Kompany as a gift. After the jump, more unique diamond pieces.

Take The Kids On Safari

Filed under: Luxury Travel & Hotels


You could take your children to Disneyworld but if you are looking for something a bit more unusual, the Heritage hotels are making it easier to take your children on safari in Africa. They have created new family tents at the Mara Intrepids camp in Kenya's famous Maasai Mara game reserve. The new tents let an entire family stay in one tent and have two separate sleeping areas with ensuite facilities and a lounge with three verandas. The camp also offers two programs aimed at younger travelers. The Adventurers Club program is for kids aged four to 12 and includes nature walks, butterfly catching, craftwork and Maasai skills teaching such as spear throwing and fire building. The Young Rangers program is for teens and includes astronomy lessons, survival lessons and camel rides. Now all you have to do is convince the kids that a vacation with no television and text messaging can be fun.

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