"THE MISSON OF KAZURI IS TO PROVIDE AND SUSTAIN EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES FOR DISADVANTAGED MEMBERS OF KENYAN SOCIETY"
Creating Hope and Opportunity from the Earth of Africa.
I had my introduction to a Kazuri shop around 4 weeks after arriving into Nairobi. It is an amazing shop full of colour and shiny necklaces, earrings and bracelets. Really, you can hear them all calling your name the second you step into the shop and once you are in you just cannot leave without buying something. The prices are also quite reasonable, well mzungu reasonable, with the cheaper necklaces starting at 750KSH (9.30AUD) for the cheaper smaller ones and the full beaded necklaces start around the 1200KSH (14AUD) through to 2500KSH (30AUD). Kazuri export a portion of their products to the UK, Israel, Brazil and the USA to name a few countries and after doing a little research online for my blog I saw that prices of the necklaces in the UK are 36GBP (60AUD) and 77USD for the same necklace that I can buy here and I pay 19AUD here!!! Hmmmm maybe a business opportunity for Australia?
Kate and I decided to head out for lunch on Sunday and we were heading to Karen so I mentioned about visiting the Kazuri Bead Factory and thought it would be a nice thing to do on a Sunday afternoon. As Kate has been here 6 months longer than me she has done a lot of this ‘touristy’ stuff already but she was more than happy to make a trip again to Kazuri and who wouldn’t want an opportunity to visit the shiny little baubles, yes the things people to for friends! Kazuri, which means “small and beautiful” in Swahili, began in 1975 as a tiny workshop experimenting on making ceramic beads made by hand. Situated on what was once a part of Karen von Blixen's coffee plantation there is now a small workshop where ceramic jewellery and beads are made by Kenyan women. It is painstaking work. Many of the beads and necklace components are tiny. Each one has to be shaped carefully, polished, fired, painted and fired again. The result is KAZURI, the Swahili word for "small and beautiful."
Kazuri was started in 1975 by Lady Susan Wood with the social mission of making work for a few women. Initially less than 10 women were employed making beads in her garden shed. As word of the beauty and uniqueness of the Kazuri beads, necklaces and earrings spread, sales increased, as did the facility, and as a result 350 people are now employed. Many more wait in the hope of having an opportunity to join the ranks of those talented people who make small and beautiful objects. Now under new ownership, Kazuri has been able to expand whilst still retaining its philanthropic roots. The workshop is still located on a portion of the farm once owned by Karen Von Blixen, of 'Out of Africa' fame, at the base of the Ngong Hills outside Nairobi. Kazuri Founder - Lady Susan Wood was born (1918) in a mud hut in a West 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 East Africa in 1947 and they were dedicated to making a difference and Lady Wood started a coffee plantation on the Karen Blixen estate, famous from the award winning movie "Out of Africa”, at the foot of the Ngon'g Hills, about 30 minutes from the bustling Nairobi city centre. Lady Wood was a visionary and an unsung hero of her time. She assisted her husband in founding the East African Flying Doctor Service, which expanded into the African Medical Research Foundation (AMREF) of which Michael Wood was Director General for 29 years. Michael Wood was knighted in 1985. Lady Susan Wood passed away in 2006 but her legacy lives on.
We were at the factory on the weekend, which was a shame as the women don’t work on week-ends so we weren’t able to see the workshops in action but apparently there is a constant buzz that comes from over 350 or so women chatting away non-stop while they work, imagine. The people from the sub-Saharan Africa are facing what often seem to be insurmountable problems as they attempt to improve their respective situations in life. With unemployment running from 65% - 90%, one jobholder often ends up providing for an "extended family" of 20 or more. It is particularly difficult for women to find jobs. Those with little or no education find it virtually impossible. Those lucky ones who do find employment are shown great respect by their families and communities.
In 1975 Lady Susan Wood set up the 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 and so Kazuri Beads was created and began its long and successful journey as a help centre for the needy women especially single mothers who had no other source of income. In 1988 Kazuri became a factory and expanded hugely with over 120 women and men. Here women are trained and apply their skills to produce these unique and beautiful beads and jewellery. The beads are made with clay from the Mt Kenya area thus giving them authenticity to their craft. The factory acts as a social gathering with the hum of voices continuing throughout the day.
Today Kazuri produces a wide range of handmade, hand painted ceramic jewellery that shines with a kaleidoscope of African colours and Kenyan art that reflects a culture and appeal to a worldwide fashion market. Kazuri's beautifully finished products are made to an international standard and are sold worldwide. These standards are maintained through high training standards and a highly motivated management team. In 2001 Mark and Regina Newman bought the company and their goal is to further increase the size of the company and to maintain the guiding philosophy ... to provide employment opportunities for disadvantaged members of Kenyan Society. Kazuri is a member of the World Fair Trade Federation (WFTO), an internationally recognized organization which authenticates fair wages and safe working conditions at production facilities worldwide.
Once we had completed the 10 minute walk around the factory seeing where the earth is bought in and where there are also remnants recycled, to the massive press, to the kiln, to the workshops for the building and then the painting and then refiring and then the assembly, for the shiny articles to end up on the shelves for us to buy. I asked how long a necklace would take to make and was told it takes around 3 days to complete and I also asked if the ladies are given patterns for the beads and if they are stuck with just the one design and we were told that they do have patterns to follow as there could be certain orders that they need to fill and the ladies are moved around the departments so they get experience on all the processes and they also don’t get stuck with the same pattern for painting. It really is amazing how this company has grown and even though at the end of the day it is still a business that needs to make a profit, the good that it is doing for the community, has done for the last 37 years and it is good to know that the new owners intend to keep providing employment opportunities for the disadvantaged members of Kenyan Society.
Well done Kazuri. You will always have a loyal customer in me and I know that I will never be able to ignore the lure of entering any of your stores, which out of the 6 stores that you have in Nairobi-I have been (and bought something) in 4 of them I think that is a clear sign of my dedication. I can take comfort and also have the bonus of guilt free shopping that I am helping the Kenyan economy and also keeping the local ladies employed. If that isn’t a good enough excuse I don’t know what is.
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