Kazuri jewellery is hand made in Kenya by local women.
fair trade jewellery Kazuri is a Swahili word meaning 'small and beautiful'. The jewellery definitely lives up to its name, every piece is made from many individual beads that are all 'small and beautiful'. Each bead is carefully hand-crafted by one of 400 women who create the jewellery in a small village outside Nairobi. The jewellery is made from ceramic, the process involves forming clay into beads, firing them and then hand glazing them with a vibrant range of different coloured paints, firing them again before stringing.
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Kazuri enterprise was started in 1975 by Lady Susan Wood. Lady Wood was born in a mud hut in the Belgian Congo to missionary parents. From a young age she was accustomed to living under difficult circumstances, a year after her birth her parents decided to return to England. To make this journey they had to travel on foot across central Africa, to board a steamer to Alexandria and then another boat to England. She and her siblings remained in England at boarding school whilst her parents returned to the Congo. During the second world war she trained at Oxford as a nurse, this is where she met Michael Wood who she would later marry.
Due to Michael's asthma they emigrated to Nairobi with their children where he ran a thriving surgery. They wished to experience Africa in a profound way, which caused them to move to Tanzania to live on a farm. This lady was a visionary committed to improving the lives of the people around her. Michael Wood and two others set up the African Medical and Research Foundation (AMRF) and its Flying Doctors service, providing the most inaccessible areas of Africa with emergency medical support whilst Lady Wood opened a clinic during the early days of the AMRF for mothers, their babies and farm workers with minor ailments. Her tireless work to provide a clinic for the local community ended when the Tanzanian government reclaimed the land. Undaunted the family travelled back to Nairobi, Kenya, where Lady Wood opened a small workshop making handmade beads.
The workshop began life as a small enterprise, but has now developed into a mini industry. At first just two local women were employed to assist Susan as they experimented with different processes for making ceramic beads. The first jewellery was made and became instantly popular, especially with tourists visiting Nairobi. Gradually the business expanded, now it employs over 400 local women. The women that work for Kazuri jewellery are predominately single mothers who would otherwise be destitute. There is a huge shortage of work in Nairobi and the jobs provided by Kazuri beads contributes towards the well being of many families in the area.
The company provides on site health care for the women and their closest family, and will absorb a high percentage of any other medical bills. They are committed to creating a happy working life for every worker.
Kazuri Jewellery is a member of the British Association for Fair Trade Shops (BAFTS) and the World Fair Trade Organisation.
