School graduate and Transition Guide, Malawi
My name is Christina, I’m from Mwanza District in Malawi. In our family, there are six of us, my older sister and two younger siblings, and our mother and father. My parents engage in business to make a living: my mother sells chips, while my father sells drinks, fish and other groceries.
Before CAMFED, I was facing a lot of challenges. I lacked school fees, groceries, and once I was disqualified from school as my parents were not able to pay all the fees for boarding*. Since I couldn’t board at the school, I had to walk the long distance from home without any food. I wasn’t doing well in my homework because at home there was a lot of noise. I often had to help out at my parent’s business, leaving less time for my school work. I was envious of my friends who boarded and didn’t have these responsibilities. They were able to do homework in the quiet school library after class.
I heard about CAMFED at school during a biology lesson, when our Teacher Mentor found out about my circumstances – that my parents were not able to provide a lot of things for me.
Currently at our school we have many girls who are affected by poverty and facing a lot of problems.
Eliza, Teacher Mentor at Christina’s school
After CAMFED stepped in to support me, I didn’t face any challenges. CAMFED paid my school and boarding fees, and provided things like blankets, bed sheets, school bags, school shoes, uniforms, and every term I received exercise books, menstrual products, soap, sugar, and pens. All these things my parents were not able to provide, so I was so happy to just be able to focus on learning.
After receiving support a lot of things changed. My performance improved and I managed to be the highest in most of the subjects, like history, English and French. I was in the top three after that support and I was able to beat boys. I was just great!
When a girl child is educated in our communities, it’s a big deal. Like for example in my community it’s known everywhere. My name is everywhere — that girl has been educated and she has put Mwanza on the map.
My favorite subjects are chemistry and mathematics. I’m the kind of person who likes to find out about how things work, so at school I was dreaming of being a scientist and reading a lot of chemistry books. Then I started liking mathematics and I was performing very well. We had some role models visit the school like medical officials and a surgery doctor, so being a surgery doctor is my current ambition.
I advise my friends with studying tips, how they can perform well in class. I have some friends who I’m helping to pass with good grades. I am like their role model.
Christina was supported in school by Eliza, her Teacher Mentor — a government teacher who has received additional guidance and counseling training from CAMFED.
“I have been a CAMFED Teacher Mentor for almost 10 years. As one of the only girls in my community to complete school, I was motivated to train as a Teacher Mentor to encourage and support more girls to learn and thrive in school. It is so important that girls secure their right to education, so they can be independent and protected from early marriage and gender-based violence. I enjoy being a role model and mentor, advising girls on how to fulfill their potential.” — Eliza
My Teacher Mentor, Eliza, was just like my mother, because every time she was there for me — advising me, giving me guidance and counseling. She was also my role model because seeing her teach, I was admiring her that one day it should be me in that position.
It’s very important to include Teacher Mentors at school because they’re the ones who help the CAMFED students at school. They are providing transformative leadership sessions to us where we learn about setting personal goals.
After achieving a top score in my school leaving exams, I felt great! It was such an exciting thing because most of the time, the highest scorers are boys. I was proud of myself for making it! After scoring those grades, other girls now have been boosted in terms of self-confidence because they realize that they can make it, by taking me as their example. My sister, who is 11 years old, has been greatly inspired by me. Every day I teach her what she can do to make it in life. How she can study, how she can do every school activity to be successful.
When I close my eyes now and see my future, I see it brighter — Brighter and brighter, that I need sunglasses to make it visible! Since CAMFED is there for me, it can help me achieve what I want.
After graduating school, I joined the CAMFED Association — the leadership network of young women educated with CAMFED support. To be a part of the CAMFED Association is my passion now. Together we sing songs, we share our experiences, our business skills, and we share solutions to challenges which we face.
Christina is a wonderful girl, she works very hard. When I first heard that Christina was going to receive CAMFED support I was very thankful because I knew they were taking the burden, which I could not afford. When I heard how well she had done in her exams, I was full of joy. I know that a girl's prospects change in life when she is educated because she becomes independent and she's able to do everything on her own, and she relies on herself.Sylvia, Christina’s mom
There are young women in the CAMFED Association who are Business Guides or Climate-Smart Agriculture Guides who provide a lot of training sessions to us. I am venturing into business using the skills I gained from the Business Guides. I order products wholesale and then sell them at retail in my local community. I’ve learned about record keeping of my income and expenditure, recording daily sales, identifying needs of my business and identifying what products customers like. My business is going well now because I’m using the skills which I learned through the CAMFED Association. The training has helped my business to boom! I feel great because I no longer need my parents to buy me groceries because I have my own savings.
This year my father decided to venture into farming, to reduce the cost of buying food. We rely mostly on maize (our staple food), but my parents want to start growing potatoes at their farm. I’ve been able to help them with money to buy seed potatoes from my savings. We’ve had some advice from Agriculture Guides on how to improve our farming techniques.
I run a stall in our local market place, selling goods at retail. (Credit: CAMFED/Catherine Wood)
Being a Transition Guide is part of my plowing back as a member of the CAMFED Association. Giving back is our passion! I provide learning sessions to my fellow friends, because after finishing school, we young women face a lot of challenges — for example there may be gender-based violence in our respective homes, financial problems or business problems. In the sessions we discuss different topics and my friends gain skills on how they can deal with their challenges.
There are a lot of different modules in the Transition Guide Manual. The most important topics are “Business Skills”, “My Rights, My Choices”, and “My Wellbeing”. In “My Rights, My Choices” we learn about sexually transmitted infections and how to prevent early pregnancy.
Being part of the CAMFED Association, I’ve learned that women can do what men can do. We can be successful in business. We can be academically successful. But what we need is to be hard working, to have role models, to have greater self-confidence. With these things, you will succeed.
In the learning sessions I run, we discuss different topics and my friends gain skills on how they can deal with their challenges. (Credit: CAMFED/Catherine Wood)
*Many students living in rural areas of Malawi attend schools with boarding facilities due to the very long distances students would otherwise face travelling to school on foot every day.
With CAMFED’s support, I completed secondary school, and now I’m on track to achieve my goal of becoming an independent woman.
Since I started my business, I’ve become confident to make decisions — particularly financial ones — on my own, which is unusual in my rural community. I have seen the community’s mind-set towards women and girls completely change.
Sydney Gurewitz Clemens $10.9
Jessy Clement $31.9
Brock Warner $5.6
Alexis Taylor $47.6
David Sipes $500
Peter Miraglia $158
Martha Campbell $5254
Michael Lewis $250
Katie Hawks £10.6
Kimberly Elam $106
Sean Simmons $5.6
Marcia Tugendhat $158
Pamela Tishman $63.4
Mary Parker £26.2
Marjorie Grayson $50
