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Our flagship program: Supporting young women to lead and girls to succeed – at the same time

The Learner Guide Program is CAMFED’s flagship program, and is central to scaling the impact of girls’ education and women’s leadership across Africa.

It sees young women in the CAMFED Association—once 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.

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As a Learner Guide I am...

  • …a “big sister,” friend, and relatable example for vulnerable girls – my success and status show girls the possibilities for the future if they stay in school and concentrate on their studies.
  • …a “first responder,” noticing if a girl’s attendance becomes erratic, and following up with children displaying early warning signs before they drop out of school.
  • …a support for girls outside of school if they do drop out, working with other stakeholders to keep them connected to education, and offer a route back to school or other training opportunities.
  • …a voice for “invisible” children, who might never have made it into the school system in the first place, working with others to help them overcome the challenges that keep them out of school.
  • …a convener, galvanizing my community to help children tackle all the barriers, not just the financial ones, that are limiting their access to — or progress in — school; whether they’re facing hunger, pressure to work, or child marriage.
  • a role model across my community, as I run my business, take up leadership positions, and financially support others.

Every day I actively challenge harmful gender norms!

What do Learner Guides deliver?

  • Quality education and learning: Learner Guides use resources developed by CAMFED and Pearson with young people in sub-Saharan Africa, speaking directly to the experience of marginalized youth. The My Better World program and workbook help students to build self-knowledge, discover their talents, build resilience, select role models, set goals and learn how to achieve them. They also provide vital health information, work to prevent HIV/AIDS and keep girls safe from exploitation. Learner Guides introduce students to new learning techniques, supporting them to form study groups and make the time to study, for example.
  • Support and a link to services: Learner Guides have a profound understanding of the psychology of poverty, because they have lived it. Deeply rooted and respected in their school and community, Learner Guides understand the local challenges, including issues and pressures behind early pregnancy and child marriage. They are ideally placed to provide emotional support and information to vulnerable students more likely to confide in empathetic peers. And they can link students and families to services, taking swift action to rally the resources necessary to remove the barriers keeping girls out of school.
  • New jobs and philanthropy: Learner Guides benefit from access to low-risk interest-free loans through the online lending platform Kiva, enabling them to start or grow local businesses, on the basis that they are paying “social interest” by assisting children at local schools. Through these businesses, Learner Guides are creating jobs for young people in their communities, supporting their families, advancing their own education, and supporting more children through school.
  • Leadership and female teachers: Learner Guides are highly respected by students, the school administration, family members, and their communities. The young women grow in confidence and ability every day. They are asked for advice, to monitor local elections, and to stand for public office. New vocational qualifications (BTECs) earned through the program will enable Learner Guides to fast track into the teaching profession, providing badly-needed female teachers and role models in poor rural communities.
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The impact of CAMFED's Learner Guide Program

This short documentary brings to life the impact of the program through the eyes of Learner Guide Dotto, her mother, and the teacher and students she supports.

Read video transcript

Meet a few CAMFED Learner Guides

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StoryZambia

Chise

Growing up in rural Zambia, every day in education was a challenge to me. Today I am an advocate for girls’ education, working with stakeholders to improve the lives of others and achieve my dream that all girls in Zambia have access to quality education and become independent leaders.

Hendrina-Chauma-702203-LG-Machinga-MW-LG-Documentary-Yidan-Funded-Oct-2022_Christopher Loades-DSC02074

StoryMalawi

Hendrina

I'm Hendrina from Malawi. CAMFED stepped in to support my secondary education so I could follow my dreams of becoming a clothing designer. Today I’m a respected businesswoman and I am even making school uniforms for CAMFED students.

Ashura-Khamis-Ramadhani-884950-CAMA-entrepreneur-Mwanza-TZ-March-2022

StoryTanzania

Ashura

I feel happy to be part of the CAMFED Association network because I am learning a lot. The network has encouraged me to start my own business and have the spirit of helping others, which is a blessing. I wish every CAMFED Association member to fight for their dreams without giving up.

Why are Learner Guides important?

Tackling child marriage

Child marriage — though illegal in most of the countries where we work — is widespread, particularly in the rural communities that CAMFED serves. Where intergenerational poverty, exacerbated by climate change, leads to failing crops and increasing desperation, child marriage is seen as a coping strategy. This is where Learner Guides step in, as ambassadors for the life changing power of education, to keep girls in school.

“After delivering the sessions I always encourage the pupils by telling my own story. I also sensitize the learners on the importance of not involving themselves in early marriage. We work to bring child brides back to school. Because they’ve appreciated what Learner Guides are doing, the parents have committed to building a house for the Learner Guides at a school that is too far to travel to.” – Angela, Zambia

Achieving community buy-in

Learner Guides run advocacy sessions in their villages, using role play to illustrate child protection issues including early marriage. Learner Guides are closely connected to local authorities, and have child abuse reporting systems, procedures and mechanisms in place. They join forces with CAMFED district officers, teachers, traditional leaders, social workers and the police to protect child rights, and get to the bottom of abuse cases.

“I work closely with the head teacher, the CAMFED-trained Teacher Mentor, and the School-based Committee, to understand in detail the day-to-day challenges that learners and teachers encounter, and what needs to be done to address them. The approach is different from that of a teacher, whose main focus is academic performance. As Learner Guides, we take an interest in every child’s life as a whole.” – Petronella, Zimbabwe

Going the extra mile

Learner Guides are tuned into the needs and social challenges of children in their communities, and possess the tools and resources to support children academically as well as socially. Beyond the classroom, they provide a bridge between schools, families and local authorities. They take action for “invisible” children and where others may lack time or resources, they go above and beyond to keep girls in school.

“The Learner Guide yields positive results for the students because she stands as a caregiver and as a problem solver. There are children who cannot directly present their challenges to the teacher, but through the Learner Guide the children have been able to explain their problems. I have been by contributing the little I have and meeting the various needs that can help them to attend school.” – Stumai, Tanzania

Leading for a better world

Learner Guides deliver the My Better World program in weekly sessions as part of the school timetable, providing support to 40-50 children. The program is designed to improve students’ confidence, resilience, and autonomy, encouraging children to become more aware of their rights, responsibilities, and values. It is tailored to local needs, including life skills, sexual and reproductive health, literacy and study skills.

“The Learner Guide Program is a means through which the CAMFED Association, CAMA, is addressing needs of students in my community and across Ghana. Through the life skills program we are able to address or tackle issues of the students. Success to me, is making others feel important, feel valued, and helping them achieve greater heights in life.” – Pearl, Ghana

Mitigating crisis situations

Soon after the onset of the COVID-19 crisis, Learner Guides were lauded by governments as an essential service. When schools started to close, our long-established reporting systems, structures and connections meant that CAMFED could support Learner Guides to quickly pivot their outreach to students at home, acutely aware of the additional threats to girls’ wellbeing as families lost their livelihoods and faced increasing food insecurity.

“At the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, we worked with teachers to visit girls at home, dividing them into groups for study circles. We provided them with sanitizers, masks, hand wash, buckets, and COVID-19 guidance. We also met with girls and their parents to advise them to avoid child marriage. Lastly, we did a radio advocacy campaign, having a program on air that was guiding girls to continue studying.” – Winnie, Malawi

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Discover a television series inspired by CAMFED's My Better World program, delivered by Learner Guides

Our partner at Impact(Ed) International, with support from CAMFED, produced 55 My Better World episodes, featuring footage of CAMFED Learner Guides, Association members and supported students.

Keeping more than 200 million students in Africa engaged during COVID-19 related school closures in 2020/2021

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the My Better World multimedia series, based around the themes of CAMFED’s life skills program, expanded to more African TV channels. It was also adapted for radio to support national distance learning efforts during school closures, with a combined broadcast reach of more than 200 million children.

Read video transcript

 

How many girls and young women can we reach directly?

The Learner Guide Program represents a sustainable model with enormous potential, as the CAMFED Association of young women leaders continues to grow rapidly. Scaling it up and integrating key elements into national education systems is one of our key strategies, as we partner with government ministries, building on the reach achieved to date:

  • 29K

    Since the start of the program, 28,564 young women have trained as CAMFED Learner Guides.

  • 2.8M

    More than 2 million students have already been reached by Learner Guides

  • 6.6K

    By the end of 2023, 6,576 schools were implementing the Learner Guide program.

  • 15K

    By the end of 2023, 15,336 Learner Guides were active across Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

Who else has recognized the impact of our Learner Guides?

With international donor partners coming behind the Learner Guide Program, we are on track to rolling it out even beyond our partner communities. Its ability to solve the dual challenge of girls’ success in school, and their transition to a secure livelihood beyond school, has led to high-profile awards:

The World Innovation Summit for Education (WISE) named CAMFED Tanzania’s Learner Guide Program as one of the six winning projects of the 2017 WISE Awards. Winning projects had to be scalable and replicable, demonstrating a transformative impact on individuals, communities, and society.

In 2020, CAMFED’s Co-Executives Angeline Murimirwa and Lucy Lake were awarded the Yidan Prize for Education Development, which particularly recognized the contribution to equitable, quality education delivered through the Learner Guide Program. The prize money is being used to create a resource hub for Learner Guides, technology key to the next phase of scaling.

In 2023, CAMFED was selected by The Audacious Project as one of the biggest, boldest solutions to the world’s most urgent challenges. The Learner Guide Program and our partnership with Ministries of Education – as we work together on systems transformation – are core to our ambition to support millions more girls to thrive in secondary school and enable their transition to work and leadership.

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Learn more about CAMFED's award-winning, woman-led, evidence-based program.

Created for the 2020 Yidan Prize Summit, this video highlights the importance of women’s leadership for quality education through the Learner Guide Program.

Read video transcript

How do Learner Guides benefit?

In return for their commitment—volunteering at least 2 ½ hours per week for 12 to 18 months—Learner Guides can gain access to interest-free loans through the online lending platform Kiva, enabling them to start or grow local businesses. Learner Guides can also achieve a vocational (BTEC) qualification through our partnership with Pearson, helping them stand out in future job applications including as teachers and healthcare professionals. Respected for their expertise at every level, these young women – who themselves were once among the most excluded – are multiplying the returns of their own education for the benefit of entire communities.

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Paying "social interest" while gaining vocational qualifications and business training

The Learner Guide commitment is incentivized by an innovative and sustainable scheme that supports young women in making their own next steps at the same time as helping children at school: in return for their 18-month volunteer commitment, Learner Guides gain access to interest-free loans to start local businesses (recognizing their volunteering as “social interest”) and the opportunity to secure a vocational (BTEC) qualification as a stepping stone to formal teacher training or employment.

CAMFED Executive Director Angeline Murimirwa explains the model in her TED Talk.

Read video transcript

Watch Angie's talk on TED.com

Meet a few more CAMFED Learner Guides

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StoryTanzania

From school student to confident business woman: How I turned my love for baking into a thriving business

In my Learner Guide role, I lead My Better World life skills and wellbeing sessions to help students thrive both in and outside of the classroom. I am also on the look-out for children in my community who are out of school. I have helped six girls who had dropped out of school continue their education. Five of them are now pursuing vocational studies and one has re-entered mainstream education.

Judith-Msindo-133162-CAMA-GokweNorth-ZW-1-Dec-2016-Jon-Pilch

BlogZimbabwe

It took a village to raise me. Now I’ll never stop protecting children from abuse.

I know what it means to be scared, alone and vulnerable. So I have never stopped fighting for justice for girls and women facing gender based violence. I used to be unable to control my emotions, especially when I discovered instances of abuse. My training as a CAMFED Learner Guide (supporting vulnerable children to learn and thrive in school) and a CAMFED Transition Guide (supporting young women into independence and leadership) has helped me to channel my passion into collective activism for children.

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StoryGhana

Saviour

When she completed school, Saviour was determined to give back to her community what she had gained from the support received. For this reason she trained as a CAMFED Learner Guide, returning to her school to lead students through the My Better World life skills program and establishing a study group to help her learners prepare for exams. Through the program, she says, she underwent a transformation: “I gained so much courage and confidence that opportunities opened up as a result.”

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Integrating the Learner Guide role into national education systems

Working with Ministries towards systemic change

CAMFED collaborates closely with relevant Ministries – including those focused on education, youth, and gender – to explore conditions for broader take-up of components of the Learner Guide program within education systems.  Our ambition is to embed the Learner Guide role in national systems, with a significant proportion of the young women who volunteer in the role graduating to take up places in teacher training and being deployed as qualified teachers with a nuanced understanding of what it takes to get marginalized girls through school.

“Looking at the impact of this youth-led program and the recommendations provided from the technical team who were part of the scaling process, I am convinced that the Learner Guide program is worthy of government support.” – Professor Caroline Nombo, Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Tanzania

 

Research informing our scaling journey

Our research partnerships are critical in determining how we best serve the most marginalized children. Below are some of the blogs and policy briefs charting our journey to date.

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NewsTanzania

New Research: How Learner Guides are shifting gender social norms

New research shows that CAMFED’s Learner Guides have become “agents of change” in challenging harmful gender social norms in their communities.

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Scaling up an education initiative that supports marginalised girls

A blog by researchers at the University of Dar es Salaam, the University of Cambridge and Altamont Group describes our joint project to understand if and how our Learner Guide program can be scaled up in Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. The blog provides some key findings and links to country-level briefs as well as a regional overview.

Regional Scaling Overview University Dar es Salaam REAL Centre Altamont CAMFED July 2023

Regional Brief - Scaling Overview

Scaling up a life skills and mentorship program led by young women in sub-Saharan Africa – Regional overview by Luisa Ciampi (REAL Centre, University of Cambridge), Pauline Rose (REAL Centre, University of Cambridge), Loveness Chimuka (Altamont Group), Nkanileka Mgonda (University of Dar es Salaam), and Oberty Maambo (Altamont Group).

Tanzania Policy Brief REAL Centre University Dar es Salaam CAMFED July 2023

Tanzania Policy Brief

Scaling up a life skills and mentorship program led by young women in Tanzania’s national education system: Opportunities, challenges, and actionable steps by Nkanileka Mgonda (University of Dar es Salaam) and Luisa Ciampi (REAL Centre, University of Cambridge).

Zambia Policy Brief REAL Centre Altamont CAMFED July 2023

Zambia Policy Brief

Scaling up a life skills and mentorship program led by young women in Zambia’s national education system: Opportunities, challenges, and actionable steps by Oberty Maambo (Altamont Group) and Luisa Ciampi (REAL Centre, University of Cambridge).

Zimbabwe Policy Brief REAL Centre Altamont CAMFED July 2023

Zimbabwe Policy Brief

Scaling up a life skills and mentorship program led by young women in Zimbabwe’s national education system: Opportunities, challenges, and actionable steps by Loveness Chimuka (Altamont Group) and Luisa Ciampi (REAL Centre, University of Cambridge)

CAMFED Regional Scaling Advisory Committee Meeting TZ Nov 2022 780_6200_Kumi Media

BlogTanzania

Our journey to transforming education systems through youth-led innovation

CAMFED's close collaboration with government Ministries and research partners is looking at how we scale youth-led programs that drive up learning outcomes and post-school opportunities for marginalized children.

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