Guidance and counseling is my passion! I am always happy when I see children, especially girls, in education.

Malumbo Mkandawire, Program Officer at CAMFED Malawi, met with Eliza, a Teacher Mentor at a CAMFED partner secondary school in Mwanza district to find out more about her important role. Teacher Mentors are government teachers with additional training from CAMFED in guidance and counseling, that help vulnerable students thrive.

3 minute read

Malumbo:  Could you tell us about yourself?

Eliza: My name is Eliza. I’ve been a Teacher Mentor for almost ten years. 

Malumbo:  Why did you decide to become a Teacher Mentor?

Eliza: I decided to become a Teacher Mentor because guidance and counseling is my passion! I am always happy when I see children, especially girls, in education. 

Where I come from — at the time when I was going to school — very few girls were attending class. Instead they were dropping out of school and getting married early [as a way for their families to cope with poverty by having one less member to feed and support]. I was one of the first girls in my home village to do well with education. That motivated me to train, I thought I could go on encouraging and advising girls. It’s both a privilege and my passion.

Being a Teacher Mentor, I’ve learned a lot. Through the training we’ve had, especially on topics like transformative leadership, I myself have been assisted with skills like goal setting. 

Malumbo: Could you tell me about Christina, one of the CAMFED-supported students you have mentored?

Eliza: Christina is so very good! Ever since she joined our secondary school in Form 1 (when we identified her as a student in need of CAMFED support) I’ve seen how hardworking she is. She is always studying in the library.

Malumbo: How does it feel to be a role model to the girls at school?

Eliza: I feel very comfortable with that, because I always befriend them and talk to them.

Currently at our school we have many girls who are affected by poverty and facing a lot of problems. I always advise them that marriage should be their last choice, that they should prioritize their education so that they can be independent.

And it’s not just girls, as a Teacher Mentor I offer guidance to students throughout the whole school. We discuss things like “how can you be successful in life?” and goal setting.

Malumbo:Why is girls’ education important?

Eliza: Girls’ education is very important because it leads to the reduction of abuse. If a girl or a woman is not educated, she might be vulnerable to being abused. So it’s very important, for the whole nation of Malawi.

Malumbo: Thank you so much. I really appreciate you taking the time to talk. 

Eliza (left) with recent school graduate Christina, a student who Eliza provided psychosocial support to throughout her secondary education. (Credit: CAMFED/Catherine Wood)