The Kuza Project Interviews: Mary

A few notes on Mary's interview:

Mary is one of the leaders of the Kuza Project- Stella is the other. An enthusiast of the Kuza Project from the start, she has been instrumental to the success of the project.

At the time of this interview- although the Kuza girls were highly engaged in, and enthusiastic about, the program, they were not be able to optimally benefit from the program because the Kuza Project was not capable of supporting some of their critical physical needs (some of which Mary mentions).

This year, we were happy to announce that Brown GlobeMed has incorporated basic funding into the Kuza budget to support some of these needs! Furthermore, a skill-building component has been included that will train the girls in marketable skills that will allow them to start generating an income!

Along the same lines, the mentors are also frequently forced to make difficult monetary decisions; They are often torn between the desire to help the girls in the program and their responsibility to their own families. Furthermore, as she mentions- it is sometimes difficult to agree to buy things for one girl without feeling a responsibility to buy something for all of them. And while we hope that the additions to the program will help the girls provide more for themselves, we do hope to eventually provide a stipend for the mentors as well.

-Sarah Sneed