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Thursday, May 17, 2012

Kazuri Beads: A Day Out

I go to the Kazuri bead factory about once a year, usually with visiting friends interested to see the cottage industries in the city and how they work. Kazuri Beads is a fairtrade initiative that enlists disadvantaged single mothers in the production of beads and pottery - not a new concept, but I think a good one. It's such a charming little place tucked away in Karen, with such nice ladies on the 'assembly line'. And who doesn't love a big pile of painted beads?



Beads are hand-moulded out of ceramic dough, one at a time
On the 'factory' floor


Assorted pottery ready for the oven
Sun-dried beads

Bead abacus
Stringing beads together to create jewelery
Decades-worth of bead storage, from as far back as the '70s


Bead paint
Elaborate beaded mural
Surrounded by finished product - beads & pottery of all colours & shapes
My Kazuri mug that I use every second of every day (that's a guinea fowl in case you can't tell)


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

I believe that the fashion industry will be a very big industry judging from the way things are going. Lets be honest, in Kenya we need such industries to grow to increase employment.
Kazuri is a good example of this and if we keep going in this direction, i believe we are on the right track.
Your blog is amazing btw, love your work.

Check me out on thescarletmadame@wordpress.com
still new but working on it.

Annabel Onyango said...

Thanks so much for your feedback :-)