KAZURI - which means "small and beautiful" in Swahili - began in 1975 as a small ceramic workshop experimenting in making hand made beads. Lady Susan Wood set up a fledging business making beads in a small shed in her back garden, at the foot of the Ngon'g Hills, about 30 minutes from the bustling Nairobi city center in Kenya.
Situated on what was once a part of Karen von Blixen's coffee plantation featured in the movie "Out of Africa," in 1988 Kazuri became a factory and expanded hugely, with over 120 women and men. They receive health insurance, school supplies and uniforms for their children, and earn three to five times the national average. Kazuri now employs 200 people, mostly women, and continues to export beads and pottery all over the world.
With unemployment so high, one jobholder often ends up providing for an "extended family" of 20 or more. Kazuri is Fair Trade.
These beads are beautiful, and all unique. The painstaking work of making these beads begins with bringing the indigenous clay down from the mountains, hand shaping it, polishing, firing, painting, then firing again.
Enjoy your unique Kazuri piece, and know that your purchase will employ more women, allowing them to contribute to the welfare of their families and have a positive impact on the next generation of children in Kenya.
Thank you for your part in making our World a better place.
