Learner Guides, or peer mentors, return to their former schools to help vulnerable girls learn, thrive, and create a better world for themselves and their communities.
Our flagship model: Supporting young women to lead and girls to succeed – at the same time
The Learner Guide model is central to scaling the impact of girls’ education and women’s leadership across Africa.
It sees young women in the CAMFED Association—most themselves supported by CAMFED—return to their local school as mentors and role models.
Trained in delivering self-development, life and learning skills, as well as vital sexual and reproductive health information and psycho-social support, our young leaders work with schools, communities and district governments to keep vulnerable children in school, and help them overcome their challenges.
Beyond the classroom, Learner Guides create an important home-school link, following up with children who drop out of school and working with communities to keep vulnerable girls safe from exploitation, including early pregnancy and early marriage.
In return for volunteering, Learner Guides can access low-risk interest free loans and additional training to start or grow local businesses. And they can achieve vocational qualifications that can help fast-track them into further education and employment – as a new generation of much-needed rural teachers, for example.