Meet The 11 Year Old Who Has Started A Campaign To Get More Diverse Books In Schools

Isossy Children loves to see young people doing amazing things across the world.
Frustrated by the lack of books about black girls in her school curriculum, Marley Dias launched the #1000blackgirlbooks campaign to collect 1000 books where black girls are the main characters. Books will be donated to Retreat Primary and Junior School and Library in the parish of St. Mary, Jamaica where her mother and GrassROOTS’ President, Dr. Johnson Dias, was raised as a child.

If you would like to donate books send them by February 1st to:
GrassROOTS Community Foundation
59 Main Street, Suite 323, West Orange, NJ 07052

Books of any age are welcomed. You may also donate for the purchase of books.  Suggested donation: $10.

To support online tag your favorite book using hastag #blackgirlbooks.
Twitter and IG: @grassrootsfound @kindredthewife

Isossy Children Featured In The Nubian Times

Thanks to @TheNubianTimes for this FANTASTIC feature.

#Diversity and Global Fashion for Children http://thenubiantimes.com/isossy-diversity-and-global-fashion-for-children/

Amanda Rabor Featured on Fashion Walks Africa

Great to see Amanda Rabor, our Founder profiled on Fashion Blog, Fashion Walks Africa focusing on her passion for diversity and global fashion for kids.

Read more here and share: http://www.fashionwalkafrica.com/kids-fashion-designer-amanda-rabor-promotes-diversity-global-clothing-for-kids/

Isossy Children meets Bisi Osundeko, Founder of Joy and Joe Baby Wraps

Isossy Children loves inspirational stories, particularly when it comes to products for babies and children. Joy and Joe baby wraps has a wonderfully inspirational story that starts with cuddles. Everyone deserves cuddles. Read this lovely interview with Bisi Osundeko and be inspired! We think our Isossy Babies would love these! 

What inspired you to start your business? My experience with my children inspired me to start my business. I observed how cuddles and carrying helped my children to recuperate faster when they were unwell as babies after birth. During the early stages of business, some of the lovely emails I received from mothers who had used my wraps was very encouraging and I wanted to do more to positively impact families all around the world. Also, I particularly wanted to be 100% involved in bringing my children up so the model of a strict 9-5 job didn’t appeal to me, I naturally deflected to entrepreneurship after graduating from the university based on these reasons.

What have been your favourite client experiences? I’ve been very privileged to have lots of lovely experiences with my customer but one particularly one stands out. I was at one of the baby shows exhibiting my wraps and there was a chance for mothers to try our wraps on. One of the mums who tried our wrap on was apparently a new mum and she had never used our wraps before. So when she carried her baby in our wrap, she was so surprised as to how comfortable it felt that she started crying and we were initially worried as to why she was crying. She then explained to us that it was tears of joy and that since the day she brought her baby home from the hospital, she struggled to get hands free and hold her baby at the same time. She told that the difference was so clear in terms of how comfortable she felt in our wrap. We usually sell our wraps via our website so we rarely see our customers face to face, it felt so nice for us to see firsthand how mothers new to wrapping receive our products.

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry? My advice for anyone starting up in the babywearing industry will be that you should approach your business with a desire to help parents (customers) first and foremost before the desire to make money because only will success follow. Also, there has been an influx of counterfeit carriers recently on the market so it is very important for you to ensure that a high standard of due diligence is adhered to in order to set you apart from the others. Such standards are your insurance, laboratory testing and customer testing where you send sample of your product around for real parents to use and give you their feedback.

What are your long term goals? Our long term goals are to hopefully make our products more mainstream by entering into the high street market. We will love to have shops where our customers can come in to try our wraps before the buy. Most of the high street carriers are quiet uncomfortable for parents because of their structured construction and some parents have expressed the desire to see natural products like ours in Mothercare shops to widen the range of options available for them. Our products are not mass produced right now so the mothercare model isn’t feasible for us but we are hoping to widen our production here in the UK to cater for that in future.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation? Today’s world around us is dynamic mix of different cultures, ages, races, lifestyles, genders and more. Diversity matters for every generation because it is about how receptive people are to new ideas whilst acknowledging similarities and differences which subsequently enables people to unlock their potential so they achieve their aspirations


What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

I think every child should grow up knowing that they are capable of achieving whatever they set their minds to do. Also that whatever they are very passionate about as they grow up could be a calling rather than something random. Talents can be anything even outside academics. So even if a child doesn’t fit the mould of a bright child, there will be something this child is particularly passionate about. Those strengths in a child should be well nurtured to ensure that that child achieve his/her potentials in life.

 

Contact Details

Adebisi Osundeko

Joy and Joe ltd, UK

http://joyandjoebaby.co.uk/

Email: info@joyandjoebaby.co.uk

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/joyandjoebabywrapcarrier

twitter: @joyandjoebaby

Isossy Children profiled on Naija Living UK

Thanks to the fantastic Naija Living for this great profile on our SS14 Press day http://www.naijalivinguk.com/2014/02/isossy-children-ss-2014-girls/

Isossy Children meets Toys for Africa

In this blog interview we learn more about an amazing charity called “Toys for Africa” which has a mission to hand a new toy to every underprivileged child in South Africa and later the whole continent of Africa. They recently passed 76 000 children that have benefited from their work.

What inspired you to start your business?

Poverty in South Africa is very high and we know that children suffer silently when their parents struggle. Children need toys for so many reasons and their development on social, physical, emotional and mental levels depend on toys. 

What have been your favourite client experiences?

Seeing each and every smile that we get for delivering new toys to underprivileged children. We recently passed 76 000 children met through our work and every smile is a favourite.

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry?

Make sure it is your passion. As working for long hours does become tiring if you do not love every second of what you do.

What are your long term goals?

We would like to reach 17 million children with new toys. And we would like to build a manufacturing plant and start building and creating our own toys.

Isossy Children celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

Every single person differs from the next. Diversity I believe is something that makes you belong, as strange as that may sound. In South Africa we have diversity like nowhere else in the world and that is what makes us all work and stick together. Different parts of 1 team.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

As a child you have the potential to dream big without the realisation of limitations. Keep dreaming and believing.

Contact Details and to make a donation

Danie van Loggerenberg

+27823037088

toysforafrica@twincitiessa.org

@toysforafrica

Isossy Children Profiles KidWorldCitizen.org

Isossy Children loves to profile exciting products, services and resources from around the world that celebrate diversity and creativity. This week we interview the founder of The KidWorldCitizen Portal, Becky Morales.

Becky Morales

What inspired you to start your business?

My family is my inspiration- my husband is from Mexico City, we have 2 daughters (biological) and a son adopted from China and another from Ethiopia. We love to travel and teach our children about differing perspectives and world cultures. As a teacher and parent, these are the activities I use with my children and students.

What have been your favourite experiences whilst doing the work you do?

I love to spend time with my kids doing messy art projects, teaching them about our environment, working in the garden, cooking with them, teaching them about maps and geography, and going to different cultural celebrations. Every time I am doing the research for an article and then doing the activity with my kids- we have so much fun! (This doesn't feel like work:).

What advice would you give to someone starting up in your industry?

 I think people need to find something they love, and brainstorm how they can turn that into a career. I am passionate about global education, and running a web site where I get to continue learning and teaching is ideal for me. I think if people are passionate about what they do they are more willing to put in the time and energy to make it successful.

What are your long term goals?

I am almost finished with a book for schools on how to incorporate global lessons into their elementary classes. I plan to continue speaking, teaching, and developing lessons for school to teach global and cultural awareness.

IsossyChildren celebrates diversity through global clothing for children. Why do you think diversity matters for every generation?

When we raise kids to recognize differing perspectives, and to be culturally aware, they will grow up to be compassionate and respectful citizens.

What words of wisdom do you think every child should grow up knowing?

Be the change you want to see in the world. This quote from Gandhi is one of my favorites because it empowers kids: even though you are "only" a child, your actions CAN change the world.

Contact Details

Becky Morales
www.kidworldcitizen.org

www.facebook.com/kidworldcitizen
www.twitter.com/kidworldcitizen