Your purchase has the power to make a real difference. Help to break the cycle of poverty in Mathare slum, Nairobi, Kenya. These earrings are also the ultimate in Upcycling - hanging an upcycled bottle top covered in upcycled fabric from your ear. With stunning African prints too. Now THAT is a talking piece! And here is the story to tell...... These unique earrings are made by a remarkable and inspiring youth employment Project- Zakale Creations. In 2001 John set up Zakale Creations located in Huruma, part of the Mathare slum in Nairobi. The slum population is approx. 8,000 with a very high unemployment rate (approx. 80%). The people who live here have many challenges including poor housing, lack of basic facilities, including water, roads and lack of education. The ‘drop out’ from Primary School is very high and only a very few complete their Primary School education. John was brought up in this slum and still lives locally. He set up this project to create employment. It is a highly organised workshop and is very creative. It has improved year on year. The workshop has been extended, re fitted and now has internet connection. It also has new machines and is a very nice working environment, maintained perfectly both inside and out. Their recycled range of jewellery also creates employment for others outside of the workshop, who collect and clean bottle tops, wire, tin cans and old cooking pots to be transformed into beautiful jewellery. Ten of the artisans that John has trained at Zakale are now independent craftsmen and women with their own small jewellery businesses. Without John and his workshop it is unlikely they could have broken free from the poverty cycle. These creative artisans need us to buy their beautiful products made from the waste materials they have collected. Imagine you could be wearing a pair of earrings crafted by artisans whose lives you have directly helped to transform. These earrings are ingenious creations from a waste product. The fabrics are all off cuts of local materials with African prints. Your earrings may be sporting the same fabric as a child\'s shirt or a woman\'s \'Kitenge\'. We have these in a range of colours & patterns- every pair is unique as fabrics vary of course! We have created these sets of 3 funky & unique earrings so you are pretty much covered for every outfit, day or night. If you love upcycled jewellery you may also like our Upcycled Bottle Top Bracelet. Also designed and made by the artisans John has employed at Zakale Creations. Specifications Made in Nairobi, Kenya Made of upcycled bottle tops & offcuts of fabric. Approximate size: Drop 7cm; Width 3cm Nickel free hooks. Story Zuri Design was started 17 years ago by Helen Scanlan, who worked in Kenya and Uganda as a volunteer over a number of years. Helen saw the opportunity to alleviate poverty through the trade of handmade gifts and jewellery. Once set up as a wholesaler, Zuri Design financed a start- up workshop in Kibera slum, employing and training former street boys. Since then, Zuri Design orders have created work for more than 200 men and women in Kenya and Uganda, within over 10 workshops. Working so closely with people from slums in Kenya, means Helen has witnessed first-hand the hardship of living in poverty and the positive impact Zuri Design has within the communities, providing them with livelihoods so people can work their way out of the cycle of poverty. Read More