Camfed International

From April 23-May 2, Camfed’s Kimberley Sevcik will be in northern Zambia blogging and Tweeting from the 10,000 Women Leadership and Enterprise Training Program, which is teaching a group of remarkable young women to be entrepreneurs.

Thursday was Careers Day, and for hours 140 rapt young women sat in the Lubwe High School Dining Hall listening to personal stories and guidance from young professional African women who also were born into poverty. Trudi Kaumba, a fashion designer from Lusaka, spoke about dropping out of school in grade six and working for years as a maid. Now she is one of the most successful designers in Zambia, and she’ll be representing her home country at the World Cup this summer. “Making it in life is a choice,” she said. “If you remain focused, you can achieve anything.”

Cama Coordinator Mwangala Mukelabai told the young women about losing her father when she was 14, and being forced to drop out of school to help her mother support her five younger siblings. Ultimately she resumed her education with Camfed’s support, and she is now directing Cama’s business training program in Zambia. With the money she earns, she has built a house for her family, enabling them to leave behind the single-room hut that they had crowded into during those difficult years after their father died.

Mwangala is articulate, poised, and confident. The students unabashedly admire her. Many call her their role model. “Mwangala shows us what’s possible,” an 18-year-old student named Jacqueline said, with a shy smile. “She is independent, and she doesn’t look to anyone else to support her. I want to be like that.”

Back in the classrooms, the trainers helped the girls devise action plans, encouraging them to think about their career goals, and map out the steps required to reach those goals. “I want to emphasize that when you choose a career, you should choose something that will make you happy,” trainer Justin Machila told the girls. “How are you seeing yourselves in ten years? Which of you is a lawyer?” he asked, his eyes scanning the room. “A doctor? A teacher?”

Students also had the opportunity to consult with a career adviser from Lusaka, who helped them articulate their passions and their strengths, offering guidance on career options that would allow them to draw on both.

The next day, the focus shifted from long-term to short-term planning. Each group was asked to give a presentation outlining how they would take their businesses forward as they prepared to return to their communities.

Some groups are expanding their product lines: there is a group of poultry farmers who will start making pillows from feathers and a group running a mobile bakery who will start serving coffee and tea, per customer requests. The women of Western Enterprise, who sell solar lamps in Shangombo district, will start buying lamps from their supplier in bulk in order to save time and money on transportation.

Both groups of women producing bags from recycled goods have ambitions to expand their businesses even beyond Zambia – they plan to seek international distributors. Encouraged by the enthusiastic response to the whimsical, stylish bags they make from recycled snack packaging, Poverty Breakers are seeking online shops to market them. And Nkumbu Enterprise is negotiating a contract with designer Trudi Kaumba, whose crocheted bags, made from plastic bags and wool, are in high demand. They’ll be paid to help her fill a big order while she mentors them to improve their own bags, in preparation for displaying them at a fashion trade show in Lusaka this summer.

Poverty Breakers is adding an advocacy element to their work: they’ll be plugging into the “Keep Zimbabwe Clean Campaign” by teaching schoolchildren about the importance of caring for the environment – and simultaneously asking them to pick up snack wrappers for their tote bags!

Catherine Boyce, Head of the Leadership and Enterprise Training Program, was impressed by what she heard from the students’ presentations. “I think we had a real breakthrough during this phase, given the challenges that business finance presents for women this young and this new to entrepreneurship,” she said. “It was clear from the students’ presentations that the women understand these concepts and they understand their value. Cash flow projections and project plans are no longer just theory to them—they’re able to put them into practice, and that’s going to help them develop profitable, sustainable businesses.”

With regular earnings from their businesses, a whole world of opportunity can open up for these young women – opportunities that once were out of reach.

• Students giving presentations on future plans for their businesses based on lessons from past 2 weeks.(via @CamfedZAM)
• Nakawala, bakery project: customers are asking for tea and coffee so we will add them to our product offerings.(via @CamfedZAM)
• Memory, recycled tote bags: increase sales by signing contracts with distributors in Lusaka & maybe even internationally! (via @CamfedZAM)
  
• Nalishebo, solar lamps: reduce transport costs by buying many lamps at once from supplier rather than traveling back & forth(via @CamfedZAM)

From April 23-May 2, Camfed’s Kimberley Sevcik will be in northern Zambia blogging and Tweeting from the 10,000 Women Leadership and Enterprise Training Program, which is teaching a group of remarkable young women to be entrepreneurs.

I’ll admit that I was a bit worried when I heard that one of the groups (pictured above) at the Leadership & Enterprise Program had chosen for their business project to launch a tourism agency in the remote district of Samfya. It’s a ten hour drive from the capital, and there’s no world-class monument or natural wonder to lure travelers there. But the more I learn about their business plan, the more confident I am that they’re on to something promising.

The 13 members of the Bangweulu Cama Girls Initiative believe that the undiscovered beauty of their rural district is its main selling point. Samfya is a blessedly serene place, characterized by swaying reeds, mango and papaya trees, dazzling stars at night, and a lake that seems to stretch into infinity – hence its name, Bangweulu, which means “where the water meets the sky” in the local Bemba language.

“Here you can get away from all the noise, and you can experience the real Zambia,” says Matilda, the group’s marketing manager. The students had read that tourism is a growing industry in Zambia, and they had seen tourists wandering around Samfya . . . rather aimlessly. “Visitors had no access to information about what to do, where to stay, or where to eat in Samfya,” says Bertha, the group’s managing director. “We realized that there was an opportunity that no one else was seeing, and we wanted to capitalize on it.” Their mission is to offer guidance to tourists that find Samfya on their own – and to market Samfya to those who might not.

The young women secured prime office space at the District Education office through a contact. They then approached the owners of Samfya’s five hotels with a proposal: for every tourist who they send to participating hotels, they receive a commission of 50,000 kwacha ($10).

To promote the charms of Samfya to an international market, they took advantage of the IT skills they’ve developed during the course to set up a Facebook page, and will soon launch a website with the help of Camfed staff. “Samfya has a lot of attractions,” says Matilda. “You can swim in Lake Bangweulu or relax on the beach. You can take a boat ride to visit the islands in the middle of the lake. Or you can go birdwatching in the swamps, to look for the ichofo, a beautiful rare bird that is only found in Samfya.”

Realizing that their enterprise requires a long-term investment of time, money, and energy, the women started a side business making and selling jewelry, which appeals to both locals and tourists. They’ll use a portion of the proceeds from the jewelry sales to invest in their tourism agency.

As they update their business plan after the first four months of operation, the women have a few things on their agenda: they plan to design tour packages, which might include a traditional kalela dance performance, an opportunity to meet the village chief and learn about the history of Samfya, and a visit to a traditional fishing village. They also plan to network with tour operators in the capital city of Lusaka. And they intend to produce brochures that they can send to hotels in Lusaka and other tourist spots such as Livingston and Victoria Falls, to lure visitors to their home town.

The young women know they won’t be flooded with new tourists overnight, but they are confident that if they persist, they will be successful. “Once we have everything in place, we think we can put Samfya on the world map!” says Marvis.

• Listening to career adviser, Mrs. Kasonde, give an inspiring speech to the girls about their futures.(via @CamfedZAM)
• Mrs. Kasonde: “I want you to believe in yourselves or no one else will believe in you.”(via @CamfedZAM)
• “Forget your past because I know it was painful. Work on the present & you will change your future.” (via @CamfedZAM)
  
• Back in the classrooms, trainers are helping girls draw up action plans to achieve their career goals.(via @CamfedZAM)

From April 23-May 2, Camfed’s Kimberley Sevcik will be in northern Zambia blogging and Tweeting from the 10,000 Women Leadership and Enterprise Training Program, which is teaching a group of remarkable young women to be entrepreneurs.

Half a dozen girls from the Young Stars Photography group are sprawled on the cool concrete floor of a classroom at Lubwe High School, shoes kicked off, making lists on flip charts. They’ve spent the day taking a clear-eyed look at the business they launched shooting and printing digital photographs in their home town of Mpika with a start-up grant from the Leadership & Enterprise Program – assessing what went well, and where they need improvement. Now they’re re-examining their business plan, trying to determine where they need to make changes in order to continue to make their enterprise sustainable and profitable over the next six months. Learning by doing and reflecting on business experiences afterward is a key aspect of the Leadership & Enterprise training model.

They know they have to improve their record-keeping, for example. They must also budget for transportation if they want to offer services throughout the rural district where they live. “People were asking us to come to their homes to take their picture, but some of them lived very far away, so we would spend a long time walking back and forth,” says 18-year-old Sylvia, the group’s managing director. It didn’t take long for the group to realize that devoting entire days to walking didn’t make good business sense.

Travel demands were also a challenge for the young entrepreneurs who started Nakmwez jam company, who recently had to make two eleven-hour trips from Nakonde in the north to Zambia’s capital city of Lusaka to purchase jam jars. During today’s brainstorming session, where they proposed ideas for boosting the sustainability of the business, one student suggested that the group’s trainer, Justin Machila, purchase the jars for them in Lusaka and commission a bus driver to ferry them up north as part of his regular route. “That way, they won’t have to spend time and money traveling,” Justin says. “Instead they can focus on producing and marketing their jam.”

Almost every project group learned the hard way that “selling” products on credit isn’t smart business. “Many people never paid us for the items,” says 19-year-old Privilege, whose group makes tote bags from snack wrappers collected from recycling bins outside their local stores in Zimbabwe.

That’s why Young Stars Photography came up with the motto, “Mr. Credit Died Yesterday” when they launched their business three months ago. “We wanted people to know they had to pay us up front,” says Phydes, a young woman who always seems to speak her mind. During today’s evaluation session, however, the group agreed that that might not be the clearest, most positive marketing message. Their new and improved motto: “Service and excellence in photography.”

That promise will be put to the test over the next five months as they strive to expand their business. In the last few weeks, they’ve been approached by dozens of people demanding their services – couples asking them to shoot their weddings, teachers needing identity cards. “It’s a good start,” says Sylvia, “by 2011, we plan to open our own photography studio with lights and everything!”

• Question of the day: What’s important to you?(via @CamfedZAM)
• Given: Education. It reduces ignorance and earns you respect.(via @CamfedZAM)
• Marvis: Nature. It reminds us how precious life is.(via @CamfedZAM)
• Mary: Going to college. It will help me get a job and earn a steady salary. (via @CamfedZAM)
  
• Jessica: My business. I can now afford things I could not easily afford before-clothes, food for my family.(via @CamfedZAM)
• No class today, so the girls are relaxing on the grass outside the dorms, braiding each other’s hair.(via @CamfedZAM)
• Long chat w/Fatuma, an IT trainer. 18 months ago she’d never touched a computer. Now she’s troubleshooting for government officials!(via @CamfedZAM)
• Impact Fair today at the L&E Program. Students displayed balance sheets, cash flow projections, & business plans. Quite sophisticated!(via @CamfedZAM)
• They also sold their products, many of them handmade, including jewelry, batiks, tote bags, fritters, jam, and bread.(via @CamfedZAM)

From April 23-May 2, Camfed’s Kimberley Sevcik will be in northern Zambia blogging and Tweeting from the 10,000 Women Leadership and Enterprise Training Program, which is teaching a group of remarkable young women to be entrepreneurs.

Africa’s New Entrepreneurs

Starting tomorrow, I’ll be reporting from the town of Lubwe in northern Zambia, where I’ll be collecting stories and video about a group of recent high school graduates participating in an innovative business and leadership training program. Now in its second year, the 10,000 Women Leadership and Enterprise Training Program prepares promising young women to be entrepreneurs and leaders.

The four-part course started last December by training the young women in business skills and social entrepreneurship, as well as cultivating their leadership abilities. Divided into groups, the students came up with an idea for an enterprise that they believe will fill a need in their communities. Each group of women was given a small grant to do a trial run of their business plan back home, with support from mentors.

Now, three months later, they will return to campus to talk about the challenges they faced and how they might address them, and to receive more in-depth training. Finally, between May and November, they’ll put their revised business plans into practice with a view to building sustainable enterprises that generate healthy profits.

I’ll be intersecting with the women just as they return to the Lubwe campus from remote areas of Zambia and Zimbabwe after three months of running their own businesses. Some great ideas emerged from this year’s class. One group started a business shooting and printing digital photographs – a first in their community. Another launched a business producing tote bags from recycled snack packages. And there’s a group of women selling affordable solar-powered lamps in a district that lacks mainline electricity.

I can’t wait to hear about – and share with you – their adventures as young entrepreneurs!

• My 1st day @ L&E course. Listening to students assess their business’ strengths & weaknesses. (via @CamfedZAM)
  
• Challenges faced by digital photo business: outdoor photos impossible in rainy season! (via @CamfedZAM)
• On the plus side there’s a big demand for the photographers’ services & they’re sure they will be profitable.(via @CamfedZAM)
• A hard but important lesson for almost all the groups: “you may never get paid if you sell things on credit,” says Sylvia, age 18.(via @CamfedZAM)

During the Live from Africa trip, Jordan Ridge and Kristy Green traveled to Zambia to learn about Camfed’s work. They asked students, teachers, parents, community members and volunteers the questions you submitted. Here are the answers.

How do you think your life will be different because of Camfed’s support?

“I’m the youngest of seven children. I’m the first to go to secondary school. Without Camfed, I would have had to drop out of school just like them. Now, I’m working hard to become a nurse.” — Fostina, an orphan and secondary school student in Samfya

What motivates you to stay in school despite all the obstacles?

“Other girls my age who I know motivate me to stay in school. Most of them are married and are no longer in school. I know I have to stay in school so I don’t end up like them.” — Gift, an orphan and secondary school student in Samfya

What is the most important thing you’ve learned at school?

“Education can change your life. Educated women can solve problems and find solutions. They can support their families and achieve many things.” — Fostina, an orphan and secondary school student in Samfya

What would your life be like now without Camfed’s support to go to school?

“Before Camfed started supporting me to go to school, I had lots of financial problems. My uncle is a fisherman and he can’t afford to pay school fees or to buy me school supplies. Life was very hard. Without Camfed, I wouldn’t be in school.”  — Mildred, an orphan and secondary school student

Practically speaking, how will you help these schoolgirls?

“We were inspired by the work Camfed is doing for orphans and vulnerable children in our school. We all donated funds to start a small business. Through that business, we’ve raised enough money to buy school supplies for more orphans and needy children. We’ve also launched a feeding program once a week because many students come to school without having eaten and will go all day without food.”— Mother Support Group at Chisokone Basic School

Is early marriage still a major deterrent to girls’ education in rural Africa?

“Yes, early marriage is still a problem, especially in the rural areas of the district. Many girls are married by 13 or 14 and have children very quickly. We are working hard to change this attitude, and since Camfed has been in our district teaching parents about educating their daughters, it has improved.” —District Education Board member in Samfya

What options do young women have for making a living in rural Africa?

“There aren’t a lot of traditional jobs here, but there are opportunities if you work hard. I opened my bakery five years ago and was barely making ends meet. Then, I joined Cama, and applied for a small grant to expand my business. Now, I’m making enough money to buy a new oven and support myself through school. I’m going to graduate from Grade 12 this year!” —Gillian, a Cama member and owner of Blessing Bakery in Samfya

What are your dreams for your future and for the future of your country?

“We want all of our children to be able to go to school and get an education so they can support themselves and their families. We hope every child in Zambia can one day get a complete education and finish secondary school.” —Mother Support Group at Chisokone Basic School in Samfya

Live from Africa trip winners Jordan Ridge and Kristy Green are traveling in Zambia this week with Camfed’s Kristin Harrison and Mwelwa Kamanda. Follow their experiences visiting Camfed programs in Samfya district here.

During our week in Zambia, we tried to learn a bit of the language they speak in Samfya: Bemba. We asked Mwelwa, who’s from Samfya, and Given, our wonderful driver, to repeat common phrases until we could pronounce them properly. During meetings, we’d greet people in Bemba, generating smiles and laughter. So, we aren’t experts, but we had a lot of fun trying. (more…)