I Stand for Girls: Comma and Kurandza Team Up to Support Education for Girls
Did you know that two-thirds of the world’s 796 million illiterate people are women? Or how about that a child’s well-being and future success are strongly associated with how much education their mother receives?
The lack of educational opportunities among women is a global crisis. Not only is it limiting their ability to find work and be successful, but it’s also affecting the future success and well-being of their children. Girls in impoverished countries like Mozambique are especially disadvantaged. Many families are too poor to send their children to school and nearly 50% of girls become child brides before 18, often dropping out of school during their first pregnancy.
Despite these overwhelming statistics, change is possible. That’s where Kurandza comes in.
Kurandza: A Grassroots Movement
In 2011, the founder and director of Kurandza, Elisabetta, moved to Mozambique as a Peace Corps volunteer. She worked with a local hospital in Guijá, learned the local language, Changana, and made friends with a woman named Percina. Together, they began a sewing cooperative where they met and sewed with other local Mozambican women.
While they sewed, Elisabetta and Percina taught the women about more than threads and fabric. They discussed financial literacy, health, entrepreneurship, and other important life skills. In that small, mud brick home with this group of 12 local women, Kurandza was born.
Meaning “to love” in Changana, Kurandza became a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping impoverished women in Mozambique. Over the next few years, Kurandza helped with a variety of campaigns and causes, including raising funds to buy food for HIV+ women and their families during the 2016 hunger crisis.
It wasn’t until 2017 that their purpose became clear. Kurandza decided to sponsor the education of a pre-schooler named Lindsey. Within just a few months of schooling, Lindsey was counting in English, reciting poetry, and had developed a newfound curiosity and enthusiasm for the world around her. Inspired by Lindsey’s progress, Kurandza launched their first #IStandForGirls campaign to raise additional funds and send as many girls to school as possible.
At the end of 2021, Kurandza sponsored 200 girls in their education program and funded over 110,000 days of school.
Breaking the Poverty Cycle One Girl at a Time
Since 2017, Kurandza has adjusted their program to take a more holistic approach to education. Rather than focusing on sending as many girls to school as possible, they worked to make their program more impactful so it would create lasting change in each girl’s life both for herself and her future family.
There are three main ways Kurandza is focusing on making an impact in each girl’s life:
Educational Scholarships & Social Support – Sponsoring a girl doesn’t just get her access to the classroom. A Kurandza sponsorship is all-inclusive. It includes her transportation to and from school, school supplies, a uniform, and school fees. Additionally, sponsorships include access to a tutoring and mentoring program, extracurricular activities, home visits, and family support, as well as nutrition and psychosocial support.
Individualized Literacy Program – COVID-19 brought new challenges and obstacles to female education. To prevent learning loss and overcome setbacks, Kurandza has worked with local leaders and professional experts to develop a literacy program. This program provides girls with individualized lessons and additional assignments to help reinforce their learning. The program hopes to eventually surpass the national literacy standards for each grade level in the educational program.
Mentorship Program – Kurandza isn’t just educating impoverished girls in Mozambique; they’re working to build the next generation of women leaders. With a new mentorship program, high schoolers are assigned to mentor younger girls in the program. This mentorship opportunity teaches them valuable skills for handling responsibility, which will help them in their future jobs and educational pursuits. Not only will this program help develop leadership skills in the older girls, it also will give younger girls a role model, someone they can look up to who will help encourage them to stay in school longer.
Through a well-rounded education and additional social support, Kurandza is breaking the cycle of generational poverty one girl at a time.
Comma Cares Partners with Kurandza
At Comma, we believe everyone deserves access to the power of the written word. When our founder and owner, Crystalee Beck, heard about Kurandza’s mission, she knew Comma could help.
Through our Comma Cares program, Comma commits a portion of our annual revenue each year towards organizations that encourage literacy and support educational programs for children and adults. In 2019, Comma partnered with Kurandza for the first time and was able to sponsor 10 girls in their educational pursuits. The following year, we nearly tripled that number, sending 27 girls to school.
By the end of 2021, Comma’s partnership with Kurandza had sponsored an additional 28 girls in their education, paying for their school fees, uniforms, supplies, transportation, tutoring, extracurricular activities, and psychosocial support programs.
#IStandForGirls
Comma is proud to continue our partnership with Kurandza and send even more girls to school in 2022. As Kurandza hosts their sixth #IStandForGirls campaign this September, we want to highlight the many ways you can help support education for girls in Mozambique:
Become an Advocate for Kurandza – Share Kurandza’s message and mission via word-of-mouth and posting on your own social media. Post pictures of you with your #IStandForGirls sign to help raise awareness each September!
Join the Giveback Collective – If you’re an entrepreneur or a business owner who’s passionate about education for girls, you can join Kurandza’s Giveback Collective. You’ll be featured on Kurandza’s partner page and receive newsletters, emails, and a quarterly zoom call from Elisabetta to see exactly how your contributions are making a difference.
Sponsor a Girl’s Education – One of the biggest ways you can make a difference is to sponsor a girl’s education. Sign up to make a monthly donation towards their education or select to donate once. Either way, you’ll be changing someone’s life forever.
Every time you work with Comma, you help support and educate girls in Mozambique. Schedule a free consultation with the Comma Copywriters team and help us send more girls to school as we help you with all of your content marketing needs!