For those who have followed me and Studio Crescent since the beginning of my entrepreneurial journey, you may know that I’ve built a give-back component into my business model that supports girls’ education through Kurandza.

Kurandza is a grassroots nonprofit organization that empowers girls from low-income populations in Mozambique through education and entrepreneurship initiatives. 

In celebration of International Women’s Day this month, I wanted to highlight the incredible work Kurandza has done in the past year by sharing some highlights from their newly released 2023 Impact Report! 

Keep reading to see the incredibly impressive list of milestones, success stories, and future plans for 2024 that Kurandza has shared with us!

Related Post: The Ripple Effect of Girls’ Education

But first… Here are some things we LOVE about Kurandza as an organization:  

• Kurandza’s team is mainly made up of women from the villages in Mozambique they are involved in, which feeds back directly into the strength and empowerment of the communities. 

• Girls who were sponsored and educated through Kurandza’s initiatives can be employed after education through internship programs, continuing to empower and educate girls even AFTER their graduation. 

• Kurandza is dedicated to creating a dignified workplace environment, providing their team members with above-average wages, paid maternity leave, and English classes, among other services!
  
• Kurandza’s Giveback Collective involves businesses like Studio Crescent to support the empowerment of women and girls through education from anywhere in the world!

Related Post: Why I Chose To Be A Give-Back Partner with Kurandza

The 2023 Kurandza Initiatives

The Educate Program

Kurandza’s longest-running program, Educate uses scholarships to cover school supplies, uniforms, backpacks, and school fees for Kurandza students to receive life-changing education. Kurandza’s team additionally teach the students literacy studies to receive national-standard reading and writing skills. 

Simultaneously, Kurandza works to educate and support children’s parents through financial literacy, budgeting, and community-saving so they feel prepared to support their children on their own once they graduate 6th grade. 

This is why we love Kurandza – they’ve thought of every way to support and empower these communities on all levels. 

👉🏼 Here are some key statistics about The Educate Program: 

• In 2023 alone, 255 children received educational sponsorships 
• 302 hours of literacy sessions were taught by the Kurandza team 
• 48,339+ days of schooling was funded

The Equip Program 

The next step in Kurandza’s evolution, this program teaches secondary school students practical life skills with a holistic approach. 

Students take courses in: 

• Financial literacy
• Public speaking
• Nutrition
• Health and hygiene
• Agriculture
• Self-defense
• First-aid, 
• Leadership
• Self-confidence 

AND MORE! 

The Empower Program

Another new vision for Kurandza students, this program would be open to Kurandza’s elder students in grades 10-12, along with their parents! Again – how incredible is that?! 

This program would be teaching essential skills to students and parents, including: 

• Market analysis
• Feasibility studies
• Community needs assessments
• Business plan development

This program intends to nurture entrepreneurial ideas in order to support and empower the entire community! 

With conscious and holistic programs the empower and educate both children and their parents for a better, more self sufficient future, 25,500+ lives have been impacted in the community, including 255+ families. 

The 2023 Kurandza Milestones

Every year since 2020 when I first joined Kurandza’s give-back program, I have been in awe every year after at the amazing accomplishments and milestones they have achieved. It is one of my biggest passions and dreams to support women and girls to have equal access to education and empowerment, and Kurandza is constantly proving that that dream can be a reality. 

Here are some of the incredible milestones that Kurandza accomplished in 2023. 

Sponsoring Felista and Tania’s University Education 

In 2023, a Kurandza student named Felista received overwhelming support through donations to cover the cost of her university tuition, textbooks, school supplies, meals, and school housing costs. 

She, along with another student, Tania started as a student with Kurandza, eventually becoming an intern and mentor for the younger students which equipped her. 

Through Kurandza’s support and education, Felista was the first woman in her family to graduate high school and enroll in college! 

Felista is part of the 1% of girls in Mozambique who receive a higher education through Kurandza’s support. She now studies Agricultural Development, while Tania follows her dreams of studying Agricultural Entrepreneurship! 

Congrats, Felista and Tania 🎉

Kurandza’s 2023 Student Graduations

This year, Kurandza celebrated many graduations at various grade levels! 

As preschool students with Kurandza graduated, they celebrated through traditional song and dance, parent testimonials, reception of graduate certificates, cutting of the cake, and a show-and-tell of what they learned over the past year! 

They also celebrated many highschool graduates, including Alda, who will be interning with Kurandza as she prepares for college next year! 

We could not be prouder to support an organization that is not only able to give these children access to education, but celebrate them and give them further learning opportunities after graduation! 

Documenting Kurandza On Film 

During the summer, filmmakers visited Mozambique for 6 days to document the work Kurandza does and share their story. The content they took showcase the stories of the communities and the programs donors are supporting! 

This is huge for Kurandza’s visibility! With more visibility, comes more support for the children, parents and the communities in Mozambique for education and empowerment initiatives. 

Read more about the behind-the-scenes here.

Learning Center Update 

Out of a 5-phase plan, in 2023 Kurandza was able to complete Phase 3 of their plan to build their own Learning Center from the ground up! 

👉🏼 Phase 3 entailed securing land, tearing down any existing structures and leveling out the land in preparation for the construction of the learning center. 

In the next phases, Kurandza looks forward to fund raising and starting the foundational phases of building the center that aligns with their overall mission. 

Eventually, they hope to create a Learning Center that includes: 

• Bioclimactic design 
• Solar energy harvesting 
• A playful atmosphere 
• A central courtyard made from local materials 

What an incredible accomplishment! We are so excited to continue to support Kurandza during their next phases and to see the end results! 

✏️ Join in the legacy and make a tax-deductible donation to the development of the Kurandza Learning Centre by clicking here!

Success Stories

Along with their incredible accomplishments and milestones, many of Kurandza’s students have accomplished amazing things they highlighted in their 2023 Impact report. 

We love to see the individual stories of these amazing young women and see the ways they’ve been impacted by having equal access to education and the proper resources to feel safe and empowered in their communities. 

Here are some of their stories!

Vision for 2024

After such an incredible and successful year, Kurandza’s vision for 2024 is even more promising! Studio Crescent is so excited to continue to support them through the next year as they embark on bringing their vision for 2024 to life! Below are some of the plans they shared with us in the report!

✏️ Educate Program 

In 2024, Kurandza plans to focus on educating and supporting primary school girls by providing them with school supplies, literary lessons, and mentorship from older high school students. 

🍃 Sustainability 

As a part of their 3-year path to sustainability, Kurandza will continue to expand capacity and provide local communities with the tools to increase local leadership and self-reliance by training and empowering local leaders. 

🐘 Adventure Trips 

Kurandza is now offering opportunities to travel to Mozambique for donors to personally connect to the communities and the inspiring girls whose lives they’ve changed for the better. Attendees will have the opportunity to immerse themselves in Mozambique villages to experience and witness the impact empowerment and education have on communities and the inspiring girls they’ve supported. 

I am manifesting I get to attend one of these myself soon!!! ✨

💰 Funding Equip & Empower Programs

Kurandza will continue to fund these programs, which help equip secondary school students with practical life skills, and teach essential business skills to both students and parents to increase the impact of the entire community! 

We cannot wait to see how Kurandza continues to grow throughout 2024 and see what they accomplish by the end of next year! 

A Sincere Thank You

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and Studio Crescent – whether you know it or not, your support has allowed me to fulfill my passion of providing women and girls equal access to education through empowerment. 

I could not be more proud to support such an incredible orgranization that is proving the tangible results of what is possible when girls receive access to education and low-income communities are supported and empowered. 

If you’d like to be a contributor to the amazing work Kurandza does in Mozambique, visit their website to donate or keep up with them on Instagram. 

All images and information are from Kurandza’s website 🙂