“If you care about the issues you are addressing, you understand that you must get these stories out to the public, even if the work is hard on you.”

Mwelwa Kamanda, a member of the Camfed Zambia team, was introduced to filmmaking in a participatory workshop chronicled in Camfed’s first documentary, Where the Water Meets the Sky. As one of the Samfya Women Filmmakers that emerged from that first training, Mwelwa was selected from a group of 200 people from around the world to attend a prestigious program to train activists in filmmaking for social change.

In July, Mwelwa traveled abroad for the first time to join 26 other emerging filmmakers from 24 countries including Iraq, Georgia, Indonesia, and Brazil for the nine-day Witness Video Advocacy Institute in Montreal. “It was reassuring to learn that filmmakers from other countries are struggling to bring attention to some of the same issues that we face in Zambia, although their cultures might seem very different,” says Mwelwa. “We realized that as human rights filmmakers, we are united by our desire to inspire change in our societies.” (more…)

Doreen never went to school, and was married by age 15. In this video, she talks about how learning to make films about subjects that affect her life has given her a sense of purpose and contentment. (more…)

In this short film, we introduce Exildah, a secondary school student in Zambia. Exildah dreams of studying to be a doctor so she can return to her village and provide her community with the high-quality health care that it needs. (more…)

At the rural school in Zambia where Grace Chabala works as a mentor, one quarter of the students are orphans. Some come to school in ragged clothes; others come with empty stomachs. With Grace’s help, they will get what they need to succeed. (more…)

Mary’s husband died an early death, leaving her with four children and no means of supporting them. In this film Mary explains how a grant from Camfed allowed her to start a small business in her home village in Zambia. Now she is able to support her family and to achieve her dreams. (more…)

Cindy is one of the thousands of girls being supported through school by Camfed. She is 13 years old and lives with her grandmother in a rural village in Zambia. In this short film she describes her life and ambitions. (more…)