“BeadWORKS has helped over 1,300 semi-nomadic Kenyan women utilize their traditional beading skills.”

The Azure Road Take 

If you’ve been traveling for many years, you might remember a time when it was relatively easy to purchase handmade crafts, textiles, or jewelry from regional artisans. Browsing local creations like silver earrings in Mexico or beaded bracelets in Kenya not only provided cultural insights, but the pleasures derived from selecting gifts for a loved one (or yourself) also provided financial support to the community, in turn keeping such traditions alive. 

Nowadays, streets packed with souvenir shops stocked with plastic trinkets from China have largely replaced authentic handicraft markets. Traveling to a destination does not guarantee finding a unique piece. Enter Ibu Movement, a non-profit organization based in Charleston that connects the curious, globally-minded shopper with women artisans worldwide. The team personally selects the pieces that are sold through the online marketplace as well as the Charleston showroom, including these hand-beaded snake earrings from BeadWORKS in Kenya.

IBU Movement sells artisanal goods crafted by women in over 40 countries. The organization’s marketplace helps to elevate women out of poverty and into a position of individual sovereignty. One of their artisan partners is BeadWORKS. BeadWORKS has helped over 1,300 semi-nomadic Kenyan women from different villages and ethnic groups utilize their traditional beading skills to create jewelry and leather pieces for local and international markets. Through this platform, artisans can earn an income to support their families and communities. Women artisans also commit to conserving natural resources and wildlife through self-governed, community-owned conservancies, and sustainable, social and ethical enterprise.