Camfed International

In December, we shared with you a moving message from Mr. Lawford Palani, District Commissioner of Neno district in Malawi. Poverty runs deep in Neno – one in four children have neither shoes to protect their feet nor a blanket to keep them warm at night. Mr. Palani described the pain of having to turn away talented and deserving children who came to him seeking an opportunity to go to school before Camfed began working in Neno. “Every time I had to tell a child, ‘Sorry we cannot help’ for lack of resources, it was with a very heavy heart,” Mr. Palani told us. “The coming in of Camfed has meant a lot of those children can indeed get a chance. It is hope restored.”

Thanks to your generosity, Mr. Palani no longer has to turn away children with a passion for education. Through our 2011 Seasonal Appeal, you have restored the hope of 21,158 children in Malawi, Zambia, Ghana, Tanzania and Zimbabwe by giving them the education they so desire. Girls like Ellina, a primary school student in Neno, now have a route out of poverty, and they’re beginning to dream about the possibilities that education will unlock for them. “I plan to go all the way through school and university and become a judge, so that I can bring fairness to my community,” Ellina told us.

This coming year, we look forward to sharing with you stories about the myriad ways that girls and young women are seizing the opportunity you have given them and flourishing.

Thank you for playing a vital role in transforming the lives of children in Africa.

Contact: Kimberley Sevcik
Information & Media Relations Manager
Camfed U.S.A.
415-963-4336
ksevcik@camfed.org

December 14, 2011, San Francisco, CA — Google today announced its support of a groundbreaking initiative to empower girls and young women in Tanzania by merging education and technological innovation. The Google grant will provide 2,500 girls with a comprehensive high school scholarship that will cover all school essentials for one year – including school fees, uniforms, books, and school supplies.

The grant will also fund an innovative use of mobile technology – education data will be collected by communities far from urban centers using cell phones. The data will be uploaded directly onto Camfed’s program database. This system has many advantages over paper-based systems – it is more up-to-date, more accurate, and more exciting.

Rural communities come to understand the power of data because it can be acted upon with new urgency. If, for example, a child has not been in school for a few days, her absence will be reported immediately and Camfed staff in Tanzania will be able to respond rapidly, while there is still time to find a solution.

“Google’s support of a community-run digital monitoring system will markedly increase the impact Camfed makes on the lives of girls and young women,” said Ann Cotton, founder and Executive Director of Camfed International. “It will strengthen the social safety net around schoolgirls, and it will promote ownership and buy-in from community members, which are vital to a sustainable program.”

By training young women in rural Africa to use mobile devices to monitor education programs, Camfed is creating a global platform for communities who have historically been excluded from technology.

“In Africa, technology is enabling women to leapfrog the gender divide, challenging perceptions about women and machines,” said Ann Cotton. “Africa has revolutionized mobile phone technology. This initiative will open a door for African women to apply their ingenuity and creativity to that technology to improve life for the most vulnerable children in their communities.”

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Camfed fights poverty and AIDS in Africa through educating girls and empowering young women as leaders of change. Since 1993, 1,451,600 children in some of the poorest rural districts of Ghana,Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Malawi and Zambia have benefited from Camfed’s programs.

Julia Kraetke decided to raise money for Camfed by climbing the Welsh mountain, Cadair Idris in June 2011. Julia, 25, and her teammates contended with torrential rain, poor visibility – and a broken tent – on their wet weekend in North Wales. However, they persevered, and reached the summit in just five hours – raising £770 for girls in Ghana. Here Julia, who is a Sales and Marketing Associate for a political consultancy based in Oxford, tells Camfed about her experience:

Why did you choose to support Camfed?

I chose to support Camfed because of its approach to fighting poverty and HIV/AIDS in Africa by educating girls and empowering women. I believe that focusing development efforts on women is a good strategy because they are the ones usually taking care of children and thus act responsibly and as transmitters of knowledge. Education also means that women have fewer, more healthy children, which will have a positive impact on demographics and therefore on poverty alleviation.

What inspired you to keep going despite the horrendous weather conditions (and the broken tent!)?

Had it been just for pleasure we would have probably turned around and tried again another (sunny!) day. However, we raised enough to send several girls to secondary school in Ghana so we owed it to the sponsors and those girls to make it. It is incredible how motivating it is to do something for a good cause rather than for profit or out of self-interest!

How did you feel when you reached the summit?

To be honest we felt pretty wet and tired when we reached the summit. We had covered our socks with plastic bags, which by then had soaked through. In addition, we were in a bit of a hurry because we literally couldn’t see a thing – being stuck in a white cloud – and were worried about not finding our way down. At the same time, we experienced a great sense of achievement – and relief that the money for the girls was now “in the bank”.

Not only did you climb a mountain for Camfed, but your partner Gary also spread the word about girls’ education in Ghana through a fundraising day at the primary school near Oxford where he works. Could you tell us more about that?

What we wanted to achieve with the Camfed day at St Nicholas Primary School (apart from raising £140) was to make the pupils realise that not all children can go to school and what a difference it can make to receive an education – not just in the UK but especially in African countries like Ghana. Prior to the “wear your own clothes” day, Gary visited all the different classrooms and told children about Camfed and why the day was happening. The response was great and we are grateful for the school’s support.

What’s next for you, Julia? Do you plan to take on any similar challenges in the future?

I haven’t done anything like this before and didn’t do any training. However, this won’t be the last time! I am already starting to think about what to do next year. My initial idea is to take a canoe and paddle from Oxford to London…

A big thank you to Julia and her teammates for raising money and awareness for Camfed – we hope she doesn’t get quite as wet in her canoe as she did climbing Cadair Idris!

Girls’ education is one of the hottest topics on the global agenda – and Camfed founder and Executive Director Ann Cotton is widely recognized as a thought-leader on the issue.

You are invited to join Ann and a panel of other experts at the World Affairs Council in San Francisco on Monday, November 21st from 6:00 to 7:15 p.m, as they discuss the challenges and the promise of girls’ education, as well as what makes a girls’ education program effective.

And thanks to the generosity of the World Affairs Council, Camfed supporters who sign up here receive a special rate of $7.00! Just register in the box next to the words, ‘Camfed International’.

Joining Ann on the panel will be Dr. Wanjiru Kamau-Rutenberg, assistant professor of political science at San Francisco University and founder of Akili Dada, a girls’ education and mentoring program in Kenya; and Dr. Joel Samoff, Professor of African Studies and Political Science, Stanford University. Shelly Esque, President of Intel Foundation, will be moderating.

Register today to have an opportunity to meet Ann, and to be part of this stimulating and important conversation.

When and Where
November 21st, 6:00 – 7:15 p.m.
World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter St. Suite 200, San Francisco

Click here for more information and program details.

We look forward to seeing you on the 21st!

Camfed alumna Abigail Kaindu, a young global ambassador for Zambia, just added another accomplishment to her impressive CV. She was named one of the winners of the U.S. State Department’s grants competition to bring innovation to AIDS prevention in Zambia.

Part of President Obama’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), the grant program supports initiatives that empower Zambians to become self-reliant, enhance responsible citizenship, and promote the health of their country and themselves. “No one understands Africa’s challenges the way its young people do,” says Abigail. “We are living those challenges, and we have the skills to develop solutions. This grant will give me the opportunity to put my ideas into action.”

The award comes in the wake of Abigail’s meeting with First Lady Michelle Obama earlier this year at the Young African Women Leaders Forum in South Africa. Abigail was one of 75 young women delegates from across Africa who were invited to share their ideas for combating hunger and AIDS, and promoting women’s rights. A year ago, Abigail was invited by the President himself to attend his Forum with Young African Leaders in Washington, D.C. The event brought together an elite group of young African leaders to chart a course for the continent’s future.

Once again, Abigail is being recognized for her ability to overcome the crushing effects of poverty to become a mentor and an inspiration to rural women throughout Zambia – and around the world.

Please join us in congratulating her!

Read more about Abigail’s journey:

Abigail goes to the White House!
Abigail to Meet First Lady Obama!
Abigail Gets a Hug from the First Lady

In November, independent nonprofit channel LinkTV will broadcast Camfed’s film Where the Water Meets the Sky, which chronicles the journey of a group of women in a remote region of northern Zambia who learn filmmaking as a way to speak out about the most pressing issues in their lives. Written by Jordan Roberts (March of the Penguins) and narrated by Academy Award®-winner Morgan Freeman, the film has reached audiences in 82 countries around the globe, from South Korea to Croatia to Venezuela.

Beginning on Tuesday, November 8, viewers around the world can watch the film online on LinkTV’s ViewChange project and on Camfed’s website. Prefer to see the film on a bigger screen? Tune in for the U.S. broadcast on Friday, November 11th at 7pm EST / 4pm PST to catch this uplifting and poignant story of a group of courageous women who defy a long tradition of silence to initiate change in their community.