"Without courage, we cannot practice any other virtue with consistency.  We cannot be kind, true, merciful, generous or honest." ~ Maya Angelou
 
Looking for a little reminder to be brave enough to face the day, whatever it should bring?  This Brave Soapstone Heart is the just the thing!  Handmade in Kenya by women artisans who know exactly what it feels like to need bravery to face their fears of not being able to feed or shelter or educate their children, each heart message is literally etched by hands that walk a path that is similar to yours.  Tuck one of these precious encouragements into your pocket or purse, a child's lunchbox or college care package, a hospital go bag or a first-day-at-a-new-job desk drawer.  Feel its weight and touch its smoothness to remind yourself or someone you love -  stay brave, even when it seems most difficult.
 
Every item of our Soapstone collection starts as a huge hunk of stone, mined and hauled form the lushly green hills of southwestern Kenya, before being sawed and hacked by machetes into smaller chunks of soapstone.  Master artisans chisel and carve every piece into its final rough shape, and then more artisans wet sand until it is completely smooth.  Then the hot Kenyan sun dries the soapstone items before different artisans paint and hand-etch every single message.  So much time and talent, so many hands and so very much love goes into every single heart.
 
Purchasing just one of these hearts or of any of the Kisii Soapstone pieces provides so many jobs and a sustainable, stable income that provides for each woman artisan's family and the education and university fees for their children in a country where employment is too often nearly impossible for women to find.
 
Approx. 1.5in