Natural Flow Direct "Out & About" - July 2008

Well it's that that time of year again. The Natural Flow Direct 'Roadshow' is coming to a field near you! Trish & David kicked off their Festival season at Hastings JACK IN THE GREEN. This yearly celebration is held in wonderful Hastings for the whole of the of the May Day weekend. A riotous celebration like no other! Also the weather was almost perfect to set up our trading Marquee and meet all our loyal local customers. Jack In The Green Festival website - http://www.hastingsjack.co.uk

Our next event was Global Fusion music festival, again near us here in East Sussex. Daara J a very popular band from Senegal were headlining. Daara J on Youtube - http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=npxZFT4Z7nE

Global Fusion Festival website - http://www.global-fusion.co.uk

Lots of our customers were seen taking pictures of our VERY colourful stall. Can we have some sent to us please? It's always the same... When you're working you forget to take any! We will do St Leonards festival later this month and then we are going to WOMAD for a little R&R to enjoy ourselves. Believe it or not we have never been..! Hopefully there will not be too much mud like last year. We will keep you updated on this BLOG of where we are going during July, August & Sept '08...

Have a great Summer everyone! Best Wishes David, Trish & Andy

West African Partnerships - July 2008

Regular customers and friends tend to know that trade with many parts of the developing world can be difficult at times. Often the infrastructure i.e. Road & Rail, Telecommunications, Economic instability do not always present an environment in which to do business! These are the challenges that Natural Flow Direct deal with on a daily basis, in running a Fair Trade and Ethically sourced product based business. We have been trading and developing partnerships with West Africa over several years now. We managed to negotiate some space in a "South Bound" sea container from Banjul in West Africa recently. We are reliably informed that our new drum order from Mohammed has arrived at Southampton. Also in our shipment we have a large amount of colourful African Textile Djembe Drum bags. We sent our drums via Sea this time as the price of Aviation fuel has reached levels that make importation from The Gambia almost impossible. The sea route, we are reliably informed, also has a smaller Carbon Footprint. So our new Djembe Drums and Fair Ethnic Trade percussion will be here in our warehouse next week (7-7-08 onwards). Here are a few new pictures of Mohammed & Family. Also our Artisan friends and Partners.

To see our range of Fair Trade Musical instruments including our NEW drums, please visit www.naturalflowdirect.com

Shailendra Master Tabla player - Goa Update - June 2008

Madeleine Retif from Switzerland contacted us to enquire about Tabla lessons as she was travelling to Goa. That is the real POWER of our Blog... She found us on one of the search engines... We introduced her to Shailendra and he has asked that we print his message and Music credentials here...

"Initially I have taken the lessons from my father i.e. Mr. Shashikant Shantaram Palni, then I have joined to Pandit Prabhakar Chari, then I have joined to Goa College of Music and passed the Degree of 'Bachelor of Music' (Tabla), through Goa University and still I am taking the lessons from Pandit Maruti Kurdikar (Goa). Now I am working in Goa Medical College, Bambolim and also giving the lessons to Shree Ganaraj Sangeet Sanskritic Mandal, Quitla Aldona, Goa. Through the tourist season until the month of April I have work in the hotels."

Madeleine was really impressed with Shailendra, just as we were. He needs all the private work he can get, especially "out of season". It is rewarding to work with a patient gentle teacher who can cater to all levels of musical ability. Shailendra is Goan and he can also provide a glimpse into Goan life that as an ordinary tourist, you may not see! Shailendra Palni - 9822182958 (mobile in Goa). We will continue to support Shailendra in any way we can.

A fashion show with a difference! - May 2008

Natural Flow Direct were one of the clothing ranges on show at Bexhill Fair Trade Fashion show recently. BUPA Grosvenor Park in Bexhill generously let Bexhill Fair Trade Town steering group run the show in their large downstairs lounge. The weeks of planning resulted in about 120+ people coming to see a great show of diverse Ethical companies. Nomads, Kolkata, Lovethatstuff, People Tree and Bishopston were all represented. Many volunteer models were on hand to do the ranges justice! To see Natural Flow's clothing range please access the online shop here. The full Bexhill-on-Sea Observer article is here.