Madam Lulamba, Teacher Mentor in Mpika District, Zambia
My name is Madam Lulamba, I’m the CAMFED Teacher Mentor (a teacher with additional training in guidance and counseling) here at a secondary school in Mpika District, Zambia. I teach Religious Education and Civic Education. I became a Teacher Mentor some 12 years ago, first at a different school and then I moved here.
I wanted to train in this area because I have a passion for helping girls. I could see in my school that there are a lot of girls with a lot of challenges. Through CAMFED, I received training in psychosocial support and counseling to better help girls who are vulnerable.
Now Zambia has introduced free education*, we’ve seen a lot more girls attending school. Even those who had dropped out, they’ve come back to school. It has really helped, but many of these students still face a lot of challenges due to poverty, even though they are not paying fees.
I’m so close to the girls, they can confide in me, talk to me. Being a female role model, I understand them very well.
One of the key challenges girls face is distance to school, especially in the school where I work. It’s a rural school and there are a lot of girls coming from far away places. Some of them even stop attending school due to the long distance, but we visit them at home to help them return.
Many of the girls come from families affected by poor health, where one or both of the parents have passed away. We have a lot of girls who come from rural villages, many of them lack enough food, so buying other essentials like school supplies or menstrual products is out of reach. As a Teacher Mentor I try to help them if I can. When they have a challenge or an issue, or they need any help from me in terms of material support, they confide in me.
As a Teacher Mentor, and as a school, we give girls both psychological and material support.
At school we have counseling sessions for girls to help them with their problems. We meet with the senior girls and juniors separately because they have different issues. We encourage them to bring out their challenges so that we can counsel and support them.
Elizabeth is one of my older students who is in Grade 11 and is supported by CAMFED. She’s serious with school and her academic performance is very good, but she comes from a disadvantaged background. Her mother runs a small farming business, but is not making enough to support the whole family, so Elizabeth lives with her grandmother. She has opened up to me in the last few years, confiding in me and the other Teacher Mentors. We’ve counseled her and really tried to help her.
Madam Lulamba, she's a good woman. She motivates us and teaches us how to take care of ourselves.Elizabeth, student of Madam Lulamba
Us teachers alone will not manage unless we involve others, like parents, community members, chiefs and Learner Guides, so we try to act holistically to support students.
Recently a Mother Support Group—local moms who pool resources to support school students—brought in food for all the students, and they were so happy! I could see the students felt cared for, not only by the school, but by the whole community. Together, with parents and the community, we will be able to achieve more and help more girls to complete school.
We Teacher Mentors work hand-in-hand with Learner Guides because we are a team.
As Teacher Mentors we also work very closely with Learner Guides that have been placed at the school. These young women are recent school graduates who volunteer as peer-support mentors, providing students with a ‘big sister’ and running life skills and wellbeing sessions.
I really have a passion for the rights of girls, being a mother myself. I always reflect on the other mothers, to imagine how they feel. It makes me happy when I see a lot of girls being in school and concentrating on their studies, because that’s what we encourage them to do. I see the students themselves are happy too.
It’s important that students see that we are really fighting for them, especially the girl child.
*In January 2022, the Zambian government implemented a free education policy for early childhood education through secondary school in all public schools. In spite of this progress, significant challenges remain for the most disadvantaged Zambian children to remain in and thrive in education.
Material and emotional support from CAMFED raised my aspirations and academic achievements. Now, I’m thriving in school and hope to study Medicine in future.
I see a lot of “Lucias” - girls just like me, who are really in need. I hope I inspire them the way my sisters in the CAMFED Association inspire me every day.
I am Portia, a trained teacher by profession, from the Upper West Region of Ghana. My education has equipped me with the skills to pursue my passion for teaching and community development.
Katheryne Hernandez $158
james traver $130
Ella Hubert $25
Diane Green $106
GORD MAXWELL $21.4
Chris Tawwater $106
Sue Bremner $100
Stephanie Gonzales £5.4
Stephanie Gonzales £7.5
Jynx Houston $105
Camilla Myers $31.9
Fiona Anderson £124.9
