Kenyan Essence and Tradition | KAZURI BEAD FACTORY (Guest Series: 03)

To a lot of people a few jewellery beads might not mean much, but to Kazuri Bead Factory, located in Karen, Kenya, these beads are a legacy and tradition.

So let me take you all to a journey of hard work and empowerment.
Kazuri in the native Kenyan language Swahili means 'small and beautiful'.

Kazuri was initiated to provide employment to the disadvantaged women of the Kenyan society.They expertise in creating world class hand made ceramic beads and artistic jewellery.

It was started by Lady Susan Wood in 1975 with just 2 single mothers and now they have over 340 skilled women and a brand that is well established worldwide.

I started off my journey at 11 am in my car with my family and on the way we could see the beautiful architecture built during the time of the British colonisation.

We reached there in almost 45 minutes from Nairobi but it'll take around 1 and a half hour from the airport depending upon the traffic.

You can get a guide there who will show you around the factory one by one explaining each process of the journey of simple clay turning into beautiful masterpieces. The environment there is calm and full of greenery.

They'll start by taking you to the clay refining section, and then to the workshop where they shape each and every bead with their own hands. You yourself can try shaping them and can take it with you as a souvenir. Next is the colouring of the beads into all the vibrant rainbow colours and creating patterns on them using a brush and a specific clay and water based dye. The beads at this point are rough and pale.

Then these beads are then taken to the furnace and what comes out are polished, shiny and truly beautiful beads and other pottery materials like mugs, plates and animals like the 'Big 5 of Kenya'.
All the women working here are friendly, hardworking and extremely talented. There's no entry fee but they have a direct outlet situated right next to the factory where you could show your love and support for these amazing women by purchasing their beautiful creations.

After seeing the process one bead goes through, you'll be able to 
appreciate the beauty of hand made jewellery at its finest created with passion and love.

You could also find outlets of Kazuri in Village market, Westgate and other shopping malls located in Nairobi.
And for all the history lovers, on the way back you could even visit the Karen Blixen Museum which is the former African House of the Danish author Karen Blixen who is famous for the 1937 book, Out of Africa.
I hope you enjoyed this travel story of Kenyan essence and tradition.

If you like this story or If you like this series, Please comments below. 

 A Story By : Kriti Gupta|Country:Kenya 

                 Doctor, Writer