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The Kazuri Story
Kazuri Beads
Founder, Lady Susan Wood, was born 1918, in a mud hut in an African
village. Her parents were missionaries from England in the Ituri
Forest. Lady Wood was sent back to England to be educated and
married Michael Wood, a surgeon. They came to Kenya in 1947.
They were dedicated to making a difference. At the foot of the
Ngon'g Hills, about 30 minutes from the bustling Nairobi city center in
Kenya, Lady Wood started a coffee plantation on the Karen Blixen estate,
famous for the award winning movie, "Out of Africa".
In 1975, Lady Susan
Wood set up a fledging business making beads in a small shed in her back
garden. She started by hiring two disadvantaged women, and quickly
realized that there were many more women who were in need of jobs.
Thus Kazuri Beads was created and began its long and successful journey as a
help center for needy women, especially single mothers, who had no
other source of income. In 1988, Kazuri Beads became a factory expanding hugely
to over 120 women and men where, now, women are
trained and taught to apply their skills to producing unique and beautiful
beads and jewelry. Kazuri beads are made with clay from the
Mount Kenya
area thus lending them authenticity. The factory
acts as a social gathering place with the hum of voices continuing throughout
the day. With unemployment high, one job-holder often ends up
providing for an extended family of twenty or more. Kazuri is a
member of the Fair Trade Act.
Today Kazuri, Swahili for
"small and beautiful", produces a wide range of hand
made and hand painted ceramic beads that shine with a kaleidoscope of
African colors. The beads and jewelry made from this Kenyan art
form reflect their African culture and appeal to a universal fashion market.
Kazuri's beautifully finished products
are made to an international standard and are sold worldwide.
In 2001, Mark and
Regina Newman bought Kazuri Beads, their goal being to further increase
the size of the company while maintaining the guiding philosophy, "to
provide employment opportunities for disadvantaged members of Kenyan
Society".
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Beads by Price & Shape
The pictures
below are arranged by price & shape. They are not actual size,
however, they were all taken at the same time and are
proportionally correct relative to each other.
Although each picture shows only one bead in each color/design, we may
have more than one of each in stock.
Click
here
to see beads sold only by the pair or set. |
