Geneva Global, Inc.

Mary Kamau was at university when she began volunteer work with children living in the Mathare slums outside of Nairobi, Kenya. With a population of over 500,000, Mathare is one of Africa’s largest and poorest slum areas. Mary was so moved by the plight of Mathare’s children that she determined to invest her life in them. In 2000, she began by focusing on after school programs for the children. She soon realized there were many other ways she could serve the families living in the slum, and the scope of her work expanded. By 2004, Mary’s established charity, Mission of Hope International, had programs focused on schooling, counseling, health care, HIV/AIDS prevention, and micro-lending for home based businesses.

Geneva Global brought Mary’s organization to the attention of one of its clients in 2006. The client’s funding, just over $30,000, allowed Mary’s organization to expand its services by providing HIV/AIDS prevention, counseling and testing, as well as micro-credit loans, to even more poor families. As a result of our client’s grant, the lives of over 2,100 people in the slum were improved. The funding also helped Mary to build her organization’s capacity, so that it was equipped to manage larger grants to even greater effect in the future. By 2008, Mary’s organization was improving the lives of over 2,500 children and their families each year, providing educational opportunities and hot meals for children, operating a health clinic and a revolving credit fund that has helped hundreds of families from the slum start their own small businesses. And these are just a few of the ways this unsung hero is transforming her world – and ours.