Naomi

My journey from hardship to leadership

After my father died when I was just a few months old, my mother was left to raise me alone. In our daily lives we experienced poverty and hardship. My mother did her best to support me with food, clothes, and materials to attend school, but things were not easy. By the time I reached secondary school, where families have to raise school fees on top of the other essentials, I feared my education would be over. It was then that CAMFED stepped in with the necessary financial and social support to allow me to complete my education.

After I had just completed secondary school in 2016, I joined the CAMFED Association of women leaders educated with CAMFED support. I was so excited to be able to communicate and connect with my fellow sisters, in my district (Chinsali) and beyond. 

Soon after, I began training to become a Learner Guide. CAMFED Learner Guides return to their local schools to deliver a self-development and life skills curriculum (called My Better World), developed with young people in Africa. I led sessions to improve students’ confidence and their knowledge about themselves and the world around them, to help them study, plan for their future, and solve problems. My sessions also encouraged children to become more aware of their rights, responsibilities, and values. 

As a Learner Guide, I acted as a ‘big sister’ and a relatable role model, who could protect children, particularly girls, in my community from being pushed out of school by their circumstances, and having to enter into early marriage and child-bearing.

CAMFED Association members know what it is like to be vulnerable to child marriage. We share an unwavering commitment to securing every girl’s right to education. With the respect we have earned in our communities, we as CAMFED Learner Guides have reached children that others – including local authorities and school staff – could not.

During school closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic, I delivered sessions of My Better World life-skills guide to learners via local radio.

Here I am (right) with some of my fellow CAMFED Association members and Learner Guides. (Photo: CAMFED/Anke Adams)

The teachers in the school were impressed with me and they love the program. The learners love it too!

I am proud of the progress made by my learners, seeing them become more confident and resilient through my mentoring and guidance. With the skills I have learned in my role, I feel better equipped to tackle community issues.

A girl in my community became pregnant, and, not having family support, she felt there was no option but to drop out of school. My family and I took the girl in and encouraged her to remain in education. Each afternoon, I coached her through her schoolwork, particularly in English and Mathematics, where she had fallen behind. I saved up to buy stationery so that the girl could return to school.

In training as a Learner Guide, I could work towards a bespoke vocational (BTEC) qualification developed in partnership with leading education company Pearson, designed to support vulnerable children and young people. This will help me to achieve my goal of becoming a teacher, by strengthening my application to teacher training college.

I also gained further experience of working with young people by training as a CAMFED Transition Guide, to support school graduates progress to employment, entrepreneurship or further education and training. My qualities as a leader are coming into their own — in 2019 my peers elected me as the CAMFED Association District Chairperson and in 2022 as the National Chairperson for Zambia.

Stepping up for vulnerable girls in crisis situations

I am frequently invited by local traditional leaders and school based committees to speak publicly on issues concerning the wellbeing of youth and girls. During the COVID-19 pandemic, I stepped up with other CAMFED Association Guides to reach out to out-of-school children, who, in rural communities like mine, did not have access to online learning. To bridge the gap, I traveled by bicycle to visit learners in neighboring villages to help them study, and presented My Better World sessions on local radio. These interactive call and answer sessions reached many more children and teenagers with vital health and wellbeing information.

The radio sessions proved an invaluable link between rural communities when travel restrictions were implemented. After hearing me on the radio, several school graduates phoned in and I connected them with fellow CAMFED Association members so they could access additional resources. Furthermore, as a trusted voice in the community, my words and actions were vital to reassure parents and children that schools would reopen and help them stay on track to complete their education.   

Through the Learner Guide program, I gained access to financial training and an interest-free loan to start a home furnishing business, selling duvets, pillows and curtains. With the profits I am able to sustain both my family and other children in my community, paying forward the benefits of my education and keeping children safe from marriage.  

It’s not only the financial support that CAMFED Association members like me provide that make a huge difference to girls who are at risk of dropping out or have dropped out already. Our mentoring, advice, and ability to connect vulnerable children with support networks is essential.

We work closely with the Ministry of Education and the CAMFED District Committee, visiting schools to ensure girls understand the re-entry policy—that girls who drop out of school due to pregnancy have the right to return after giving birth—and conducting home visits to support their transition back to school.

As ‘big sisters,’ we not only help with their school work so they don’t fall behind, we’re also there so they don’t feel alone during challenging times. I am certain that my advocacy with the Ministry of Education means many more girls will benefit from the re-entry policy. 

I first saw child marriage in my community when I met a girl who was pregnant at the borehole where I fetch water. Once we got talking she told me she was married. We stayed in contact and became good friends, and she would share with me the problems she was facing with her husband. She introduced me to her friend who was in a similar situation, and as a living testimony to the power of education, I encouraged them both to go back to school. 

I coached them in reading and writing, and educated their parents on the re-entry policy and the importance of education. As a result of my efforts, they are both now back in school and passed their Grade 9 exams with flying colors. 

I met another girl who was selling fresh maize at the market when she was supposed to be at school. She invited me to meet her grandmother, and I came to learn of their financial struggles, which had forced her to drop out of school and enter into an early marriage. 

With the girl and her grandmother both willing for her to go back to school, I knew I could help and vowed to support her with uniforms, shoes and books for the rest of her time at school. I also persuaded the Headteacher and Guidance Counselor of a local secondary school to give her a place, and she was excited to find out she’d be joining Grade 8. I am proud to have played a part in securing her right to education.

Building climate change resilience and community food security

I have also enjoyed having a role at the Chinsali farm — CAMFED’s first climate-smart demonstration farm —  where I participated in training to become an Agriculture Guide. 

Agriculture is the backbone of our economy and provides everyone with food, so our work as CAMFED Association members at the farm is crucial to my community. The sustainable methods we are using are very important because they reduce waste and improve productivity.

To reduce the negative impact of unpredictable weather, my fellow CAMFED Association members and I have learned climate-smart farming techniques such as water management. I also now know how and when to plant different types of crops to maximize crop productivity, so if there is a drought I know the suitable seeds to use.

I share responsibility for a range of activities on the farm with 14 other Agriculture Guides, including feeding livestock, watering crops and operating and maintaining farm machinery like wheelbarrows and solar panels. I oversee planning processes and always ensure we document and report our progress on the farm. I am also responsible for ensuring that the farm equipment is kept safe and secure and that the right fertilizers are applied to the crops.

My community benefits from our work on the Chinsali farm as they can buy certain products, such as different fruits, locally rather than having to travel far to Nakonde or Lusaka. It is important that we engage the community to ensure our knowledge and skills that we as CAMFED Association members received through climate-smart agriculture training, gets passed on to others. We do this by training smallholder farmers in sustainable farming techniques and by working with community leaders to carry out sensitization sessions.

Another reason I was happy to get involved in the Chinsali farm is because I have a passion for philanthropy. On my own, I can support a small number of children, but when we work together as CAMFED Association sisters, we can support many more children with the profits made from cultivating this big portion of land. 

My hope for the farm is to see it become a famous school where people come from outside the country to learn what we are doing, as well as being a major center for trade. I hope that CAMFED Association members who have learned about agriculture will become lecturers and managers there —  and that working together, we will support thousands of children.