Rain of Light…Your Rain of Love is a line of custom handmade pieces of jewelry – designed by Natoyah Swift and crafted by local Kenyan artisans.

The jewelry is made by local youths who work together as a group to see to it that they put at least a plate of food on the table of their families. Most of these youths have not gone beyond standard 8 (Equivalent to grade 8) due to financial challenges facing their families. Despite the fact that they don’t have any basic qualifications, they have been able to utilize their potential in creativity. They challenge each other in making all kinds of jewelry using the available materials. Lately they have been able to import cow horns from farmers in our neighboring country Uganda, since their horns are larger.

One of the major challenges facing these young men besides feeding their family is the poor working conditions. All the work is done in the open shades with the sides made of polythene papers and a leaking roof which makes it hard for them to work, especially during the rainy seasons. Also the lack of protective gear puts their lives at risk of contracting respiratory diseases like Asthma. Most of their hard earned capital is spent on medication.

If there could be a ready market for their jewelry, these young men could be able to buy protective gear and hence work even more to support their families and the community as well.

The escalating drought that has affected the country for the last three to four years now has contributed largely to very poor conditions; many families barely have one meal a day, while others go days between meals. Many children are suffering due to malnutrition. It’s because of such situations that these young men are called to work, risking their health, to save a life and save their future generations.

Our jewelry holds two purposes; to provide work for our Kenyan brothers and sisters so that they are able to feed and support their families, and also provide the monies needed to nurse men, women and children back to health, while also supplying them with the necessities to sustain their wellness.

We have chosen to support Action Against Hunger / Action Contre la Faim in it's fight to decrease the number of people who go hungry, which is now well over 1 billion people. ACF is an international network committed to saving the lives of malnourished children and families while ensuring access to safe water and sustainable solutions to hunger.