Artisan Impact: Kenya & Chicago

When you hold one of our pieces in our hand, imagine the numerous hands that held it before you. Picture the machete swinging from the arm of the incredibly precise artisan who carved the piece out of a hunk of rock!

Then picture that rugged piece being sanded repeatedly under water by women, chatting to each other while looking out on the green hills of Kenya. When it's completely smooth to the touch, it is painted and etched using only simple hand-tools. Finally it is polished before making its way across the ocean for you to enjoy.

Venture Imports is a fair trade company that works primarily with women in Kenya. One of our goals is to ensure that every person who works on our products is able to send their children to school. Thanks to our customers, we are succeeding at that goal! In addition, our partners are building houses and buying land and animals with the money they earn from making our pieces. This means they are multiplying their income through new streams of revenue and creating generational change for their children.

We are all so thankful to the artisans in Kenya for providing jobs to our teams in Chicago and Davis. And we are incredibly grateful to our customers for buying their pieces and making this all possible!