small & beautiful

Kazuri Bead & Pottery factory isn't small any more, but it certainly is beautiful. My colleague & I got to take a trip out to Karen (a suburb of Nairobi named for Karen Blixen, the author of Out of Africa - you might know it as that Meryl Streep movie). I'll write other posts about our other adventures - but this place deserves its own:













Kazuri means small & beautiful in kiswahili, and the factory was begun in 1975 as a small enterprise to give single mothers a sustainable livelihood. Like that? Keep reading. The factory is now huge, giving work to over 100 people. The artisans make beautiful ceramic beads and pottery - all by hand. We took a tour of the factory, and got to see all the different stages - mixing the clay, cutting & molding the beads, firing 1, glazing & painting, firing 2, quality control, and jewelry production. The pottery side of the factory is a smaller, but still very successful. Artisans throw pots, use molds, and also hand-sculpt the various pieces.













The bead factory has become wildly successful and popular all over the world - so it was amazing to see the home-base of the operations. I could hardly believe I hadn't heard of this place before.



After our tour, Mary & I spent about an hour in the shop - it was like walking into a candy store: bright colors, shiny textures, beautiful jewelry, beautiful pottery. Everything was so tactile and so inviting - I'm surprised I didn't break anything! We justified our (exessive?) spending by the fact that we were purchasing direct from the makers - no middle men or shipping costs.











For me, the best moment was realizing that my boss gave me some Kazuri beads several years ago - and I had now found the origin of my beautiful red necklace.