Help Bring Beauty and Employment to Millions

We are proud to bring KAZI products back to Sotre for the Fall and Holiday 2020.  The word "kazi" means employment in Swahili.  KAZI the company is at its core a company who believes that everyone, no matter where their location, deserves a right to fair wage and income.  

KAZI woven objects are amazing products that are sourced from all natural materials which helps to ensure traceability to the source of the supply chain.  Every colored fiber is dyed by trained color experts and each basket is woven by a master craftsperson. While KAZI sources from Ghana, Uganda and Rwanda, many of the baskets are made with sisal leaves found high in the mountains or low in the swampy areas scattered throughout the regions across Rwanda. The leaves, which can grow up to six feet long,  are gathered and then stripped with a machete blade to reveal the useful threads inside. Weavers work to carefully break the fibers down into individual strands which are washed repeatedly until they lose their natural tint and fade to a silky white.

The sisal fibers are wound around thin bundles of sweet grass, and secured stitch by stitch into a tiny coil. The coil grows as the process continues, and the weaver incorporates differently colored sisal threads into careful patterns or designs.

The artisans that create these works of art are committed to bringing the best in design, color and quality to each work of art they create but that is not where the story ends. KAZI is currently one of only five companies to carry the Nest Seal of Ethical Handcraft on their Rwanda and Uganda products—the highest standards for assessing artisan homeworker production and supply chains. When you purchase these products, you can feel good knowing everything is made ethically in a home or small workshop. Every purchase of a beautiful Kazi basket has the added benefit of helping its artist find a way out of poverty - a livelihood that changes not only their own future but the future of their families and their children. 

xoxo,

Grace