African Handmade Cerami c Beads

Ceramic Beads, made by hand in Africa. These beads are made by a project to provide sustainable employment for women in Kenya. Sale of these beads enable these women to support their families. This project has grown and now provides employment for hundreds of women with little education and even less prospects for their future. Over thirty years old now, the project provides fair wages and excellent working conditions.

Care and attention to detail, mulitiple coats and firings produce these lovely beads. The richness of the colours and the finish is extraordinary.

These beads are made with clay from the foothills of Mt. Kenya by women of the Kikuyu tribe, who form it into beads, by hand, without the aid of machinery. Each bead is hand shaped, painted, and fired at least twice.

The project was started in the mid-70's by Lady Wood, who, with two Kenyan women, revived the trational bead-making process of the Kikuyu women. Thirty years later, the process continues. Hundreds of women have been employed in this bead-makig project who might otherwise have been unable to provide for their children and extended families. A member of the world Fair Trade Organization, the project provided fair wages and good working conditions as well as a medical clinic and assistance with school fees for their children.