Mary Mutua, founder of Twajali and a kanthari alumna (2023), grew up partly in the slums of Nairobi and chose not just to escape limited opportunities, but to challenge the systems behind them. After a career in hotel management, she founded a hospitality training initiative for youth from informal settlements and later reimagined it during her time at kanthari, relocating it to the Maasai region to build a new model of dignity, learning, and opportunity. Through her honest weekly reflections, Mary shares the real journey of a social entrepreneur, offering a rare look into the challenges, decisions, and persistence required to create meaningful change. We are pleased to see that the Frog, beaver, and Eagle perspective exercise that was done at kanthari, served a practical use…
For this weekly review, I want to focus on my experience with fundraising. When the centre becomes very busy, there is a high likelihood of putting fundraising aside or treating it like “any other business.” To avoid this, I usually set aside Wednesdays strictly for donor database updates or fundraising activities.
This structure helps me remain intentional. Emotionally, fundraising can be heavy. Waking up to rejection emails is never easy, and this week was one of those weeks. I received two rejections. Sometimes I wonder whether I just happen to read them very early in the morning or whether they are actually sent that early. Both foundations declined our proposals. Surprisingly, I did not feel as bad as I expected. Thanks to the “10 Rejections Challenge” I borrowed from Sabriye and some 2025 mentees; I reminded myself that I still had eight more applications to write.
Within the same week, I also received a motivating email from another foundation, with whom I had previously conducted an interview. This was a positive development, although we are required to attend a two-day physical training next week before qualifying to submit our proposal. I am willing to give it a try. The proposed project is to set up a pilot camping tent for Twajali Resort. Let’s see how it unfolds.
Interestingly, this project is beginning to attract potential investors. We were honoured to host Lucieta from the Kenya Tourism Fund, whom I had met during a training last year where I had expressed my unconventional perspective on the future of hospitality. I did not know whether that controversial conversation would later become the fuel that made her want to visit and see what we actually do.
She arrived while we were conducting our treasure hunt, themed around understanding Twajali’s history and orientation, counting our trees, identifying the first staffroom, and locating the cornerstone. I could tell from her eyes that this was not what she expected. With her strong hospitality background, I could only imagine what was going through her mind. I invited her to sit in our humble office since I was the game master and had a role to perform, but she preferred to sit outside with me. The treasure hunt involved mixed puzzles designed to measure teamwork, a copy left from the kanthari curriculum. Her words shifted from “this is challenging” to “this is amazing, what an experience.”
It was already late by the time we finished, so I accompanied her back to the city as we continued our discussion. Her main interest was the resort concept. While seated at a restaurant on our way back, she asked, “Mary, what if we got some investors to invest in the resort setup? I know a few networks who may be willing.”
The word investors usually creates a mental block for me. I paused, looked down at my plate, and chose my words carefully. I asked her what their take-home interest would be. Without hesitation, she answered, “Profits, of course.” That confirmed my concern. I explained that my challenge with investors is that they prioritize profit, while I prioritize impact; the order of priorities differs. That is why, for us, grants and donations often feel more aligned than investments.
Lucieta is witty, strategic, and very assertive. I knew my answer would lead to a deeper question. She referenced two leading hospitality schools in Kenya: The Boma International Hospitality College and Kenya Utalii College. Both have hotels attached to them. The Boma Hotel is high-end and sophisticated, and later gave birth to its own school, which is now thriving. Utalii, on the other hand, sometimes struggles with supplies due to government bureaucracy.
She asked what prevents Twajali from operating like Boma School. Her question was valid, and for a moment I fumbled for words. Eventually I responded that Twajali’s model is reversed; the “school” is intended to give birth to the resort, meaning the hotel will serve the interests of the school, not the other way around. After exploring this and other topics, she promised to introduce me to some of her networks and to return with one or two colleagues.
Before we concluded, she asked a final question that caught me off balance: how we handle Ministry of Health compliance when some of our classes and rooms have no floors. It was a legitimate concern. My response was reflective; I asked what the government does for rural areas where children learn under trees. Is it better to wait for perfect infrastructure before starting, or to begin changing lives while gradually improving facilities? When the authorities come, we will have a conversation.
My meeting with Lucieta felt like an eagle meeting a frog, yet it ended well. I believe a wise frog should be willing to borrow the eagle’s eyes to see far, and the eagle should be willing to come down to the frog’s level to experience the heat. As I prepare for another “eagle and frog” meeting with the Vice Chancellor of Meru University of Science and Technology today regarding collaboration on WASH, I remain hopeful.
Learn more about Mary’s work on twajali
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learn more about kanthari TALKS on https://kantharitalks.org/
