3 minute read
Jenny Mudolo, District Operations Officer in Mpika District, Zambia joined Sara and Christine, members of a Mother Support Group (local moms who are CAMFED Champions) at a CAMFED partner school, to learn more about their activities helping students thrive in class.
Jenny: Could you please introduce yourselves?
Sara: I’m Sara, Secretary of the Mother Support Group here at this high school in Mpika District.
Christine: I’m Christine, a Mother Support Group member.
Jenny: Why did you decide to join the Mother Support Group?
Sara: I decided to join this group because I wanted to counsel girls and help them progress in education. Education is very important because it will help protect girls from the risks of early marriage and early pregnancy, so as a group we encourage the girls to concentrate on education and their school work.
Jenny: What kind of challenges do girls face going to school in your area?
Christine: A lot of the girls around here face the pressure to enter into early marriage and drop out of school, to try and reduce the financial burden on their families. They also face the risk of early pregnancy, although now girls can return to school after pregnancy thanks to the re-entry policy here in Zambia.
Jenny: Could you tell me about your activities as a Mother Support Group?
Christine: We do a lot of different activities to help every student in the school, both boys and girls. Recently we prepared homemade drinks and nshima (Zambia’s staple food of thick maize porridge) for the students to encourage them to come to school regularly and reduce absenteeism. Bringing food helps their academic performance as well as retention. We also help with the distribution of bursary entitlements for CAMFED supported students, like Mapalo.
Sara: We buy and sell goods around the community, including groceries and chitenge — a traditional patterned fabric. This provides an income for us to spend helping vulnerable students at the school.
We are also into maize farming. After harvest, some of the crop is sold and the rest is cooked for the students.
Sara (left) and Christine (right) help distribute bursary support packages that include exercise books to CAMFED supported students like Mapalo (center). Credit: CAMFED/Catherine Cardwell
Jenny: How does it feel to be so active in supporting children and increasing retention in school?
Christine: It feels really good that through our activities, we are helping to ensure vulnerable children can stay in school, focus and learn. It is very gratifying to see the smiles on all their faces when we bring in food.
