With the Right Education, a Girl Can Raise Her Village

“I don’t just think, I haven’t just read, that education can transform lives. I have lived it. I have seen it in my own life.” – Angeline Murimirwa

In the lead up to International Day of the Girl, New York’s iconic department store is highlighting just what can be achieved when you educate girls and empower women.

As part of its #GirlPossible campaign, Barneys engaged deeply with three leaders of Camfed’s alumnae network, who provided the answer to the question: Who can educate girls and empower communities to elevate nations? #CAMFEDcan!

“They say it takes a village to raise a child, but with the right education, a child can also raise her whole village,” writes Benjamin Jackson, Managing Editor of The Window, who gained a profound understanding of the power of Camfed’s model, and the ability of the young women of the CAMA network to act now to keep girls in school.

“It is clear that the Barneys team really understood: Promises are not enough. We need to get real girls with real lives into school. Only then can they transform their communities,” says Angeline Murimirwa, Camfed’s Regional Director in Africa. “It’s the girls and young women who were supported through school who can tell you the correct way to dismantle the barriers to girls’ education. In some contexts it’s the uniform, in some it’s the school fees, in some you need to think about building new schools. 23 years after Camfed started supporting girls through secondary school, there is now a global drive for secondary education for the most marginalized children. There’s excitement; there’s interest; there’s big talk. Now let’s see the hashtags become real dollars, real schools, real pens and real books!”

Invest in girls’ education today