On the trip to Kenya, Tim and I met many people and saw many things. After reflecting on the blog I realized I didn’t talk a lot about some of the “touristy” things we did and saw – besides the safaris of course!

Dad and Sue put on our “must see” list a trip to the Kazuri Bead Factory in Nairobi, Kenya. Who knew a clump of clay can turn into such tremendous things? Well, I’m pretty sure the founder of Kazuri Beads knew when she began her little business which has now turned into a BIG business maintaining its original ideals.

Kazuri means, “Small and beautiful” in Swahili. Pretty appropriate since every single bead we saw on the tour of the factory was indeed small and beautiful. The factory is built on what used to be a part of the Karen Blixen estate (remember the Meryl Streep flick, “Out of Africa”? That Karen Blixen!) At first Tim was a bit worried what kind of factory we were about to see. Do they pay well? Are there good working conditions? We soon found out his concerns were not applicable at Kazuri.

The mission of Kazuri is, “Provide and sustain employment opportunities for disadvantaged members of Kenya society” (kazuri.com).  It began with two women who made little handmade beads. It gave the women a steady income and helped them become self-sufficient- which is not always the case for women with children in Kenya. Soon, Kazuri expanded and found that women in many villages were in need of income and reliant employment.

Today, Kazuri employs more than 340 women in Kenya- mostly single mothers. The factory has a medical clinic and provides care for the employees and their nuclear families. Kazuri also helps to pay up to 80% of other medical care outside of the clinic.

During the tour, we saw many women working hard on the beads. They seemed happy- some talkative and some not. We asked questions about the beads and were able to see all of the stages of the process.

Here are some of the things we saw:

The women were of all ages. Some listened to music through headphones while others sat quietly, working. One woman I saw was blind and was rolling tiny little intricate beads. Kazuri gave her an opportunity to earn income for her family when it may be quite difficult otherwise.

At some point the clay is baked (forgot to take pictures) and they become art forms!

The beads are shipped all over the world- including Europe and the States. One Thousand Villages sells the bead jewelry.

It’s an amazing story and beautiful, beautiful art.