Our Story
Kazuri... it means "small and beautiful."
Today we embark on a new path. If you have found us, it is because you are a friend, family member, or champion to one of us.
And who are we? Kind of an unexpected group of women, tossed together serendipitously on a trip to Africa one summer.
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Simone, Kat, Joanie, Kellee & Kristin… a manager at Bloomies, a doctor, a school teacher, a yoga instructor and a marketing chic.
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What we hoped for was simple: We wanted to be loving arms and careful hands for hurting and forgotten kids… and then we wanted a few days on Safari. Truth.
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Like you, for years we’d all seen the pictures and felt the little tug while gently looking the other way. What could we really do? It’s too awful… or too far… or too big a task. Right?
Until we went there. It’s NOT too big for us. Not at all. For 300 kids in ONE orphanage, in THOSE 10 days, we changed things. We saw things we couldn’t unsee… including a way to continue to make things better once we got back home. For them, we are game-changers.
And so we started Project Kazuri. It wasn’t to save Africa; it was to focus on 300 very specific little people in a forgotten slum in Nairobi. It was to put actual shoes on their little feet, toothbrushes in their hands, and fresh fruits and veggies on their plates. It was to make sure that when they have scabies or ringworm or just a small cut on their hand, there is medicine and ointment and a bandaid. It is to help THEM rise up, know their value, and take their place in this world. And for these 300 kids, it is happening.
Our only aim was to create a platform for giving where we know that every single dollar goes exactly where it’s meant to go… where we take on project after project that makes things better for these kids. If you choose to stay with us, to make this your giving space, you will see projects listed and then accomplished, one right after the other. That’s how it works. We were amazed at how far our money can go there… and what can be accomplished when someone in charge is making sure the dollars land where they’re intended.
We knew that if just the right handful of our close network made this their giving space, everything would change for 300 little lives. It just would. We started with their most immediate, pressing needs… medication, showers, shoes, and school… and hoped that eventually we'd do something crazy like rebuild their orphanage and send them to college.
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So here it is: We’re really excited to see what a small band of people can ignite here. If you’re reading this, you’re one of OUR people. We’d love for you to feel the life-altering warmth of these little hands the same way we did but, for whatever reason, we got to go ahead of you on this one. We realize that pictures and stories are not the same as being there but we’re asking you to take hold of this like we have… until you can see for yourself. And if you have just a little more than what you need in life, then just maybe some of the extra could go here and we can become game-changers together.
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