As an ambassador for Free the Children, last summer I left the comfort of my big MTV studio to live in a tiny mud hut with a Maasai family in rural Kenya. As a tall, foreign, redhead, I expected to feel completely and utterly out of place. Instead my new family took me in as if I was one of their own. Their income was generated largely from hand crafted Maasai beadwork and at the end of my visit, one by one, they each presented me with a traditional piece of beaded jewellery to remember them by. This was a family who had nothing, but had given me everything. At the time I was speechless, I couldn’t begin to fathom a way to thank them, until now.

My brand new t-shirt for Me to We style is my way of honouring and giving back to my Maasai family. The design was inspired by their traditional beadwork and proceeds from this eco-friendly, sweatshop free “tee” will go right back to helping other families in rural Kenya generate their own means of sustainable income. Giving them a chance to break the cycle of poverty, a chance to be empowered, a chance at a better life.

So on behalf of my Maasai family, thank you, or as they say in Swahili, "Asante.” Xo Jessi