Dear Friends and Partners,
Wow! It’s been ONE YEAR since we launched Gem Legacy, changing lives in gemstone mining communities for generations to come. We aren’t exaggerating when we say children’s lives are changed, grandchildren’s lives are changed, and even great-grandchildren’s lives are changed.
Lives are deeply affected because we’re ensuring that a group of widowed miners will find Tsavorite Garnet, 28 orphans will get a full education, kids are getting full nights of sleep on new mattresses, and young adults are entering the gem industry with knowledge in gemology and gem faceting – just to name a few successes of the past year. They have hope because we are saying “we see you and we believe in you.”
Many of you know this is merely the formalization of work I have been doing during my 38 trips across the last 20 years in Africa and how very dear it is to my heart. Every gemstone I facet and sell is, to me, the culmination of someone’s months of work to reach facet-grade gemstone rough. I could never do their work – their passion and faith is remarkable. I get to share with you the harvest of East Africa’s red dirt. What an honor!
Many thanks for your support and looking forward to Year 2!
Roger Dery
