In countries where access to education is a given, few of us are aware just how precious it is to children who cannot take it for granted. We asked a group of secondary school students in the Wedza district in eastern Zimbabwe why they felt it was important that girls go to school. Their answers reveal a deep desire for knowledge, for respect, and for opportunity. They remind us that education makes all the difference between a life of limitations and one of possibility.

Lorraine
By going to school I am becoming a role model in my village. I am a living example to my brothers and sisters that it can be done. Success is not reserved for the elite class. Anybody can make it big in life including us from the dust. I want everyone from my village to appreciate that it’s not where they came from that makes them prosper but how much effort they put into pursuing their dreams.

Kudzaiishe
I was forced to drop out of school for a term for financial reasons, and during that time, I felt hopeless. When schools opened for second term I was lucky to be selected as a Camfed beneficiary. Since then I have never looked back.

I love going to school because it gives me a chance to meet new people with different ideas about life. Education is an investment that will stay with me throughout my life. It is mine to use as I wish and it can never be taken away.

Priscilla
It is important for me to go to school because it will me put me in a position to invest in the next generation–meaning that if I become an educated mother, I am more likely to send my children to school.

Kudzai
Education is important because it puts girls on equal footing with boys. Education is the foundation for development and prosperity. When a woman is educated she can become empowered, independent and responsible. Surely with all these qualities she can find herself a job and look after herself and her family.

Charity
It is important for a girl to get an education because nowadays life without education is not life. With an education, I’ll be able to prepare for my future. I’ll be able to select the profession that I want. I am in love with the subject of commerce, but my dream is to become a pilot.

Ever since Camfed started to assist me, I have had the feeling of belonging. Knowing that everything is catered by Camfed—school fees, books and uniforms—gives me the energy to work even harder.

Envioleta
After I finished primary school, my parents could no longer afford my school fees. I spent eight months at home herding cattle and goats instead of going to school like any other child.

I’m very relieved to be back at school. I want to get an education so that I can be enlightened on my rights as a woman. I have sadly realized that the reason why most women are abused in all facets of life is because they are ignorant of their rights.

Melody
If a girl goes to school, she has an opportunity to identify her strengths and choose her path.  Education is a form of emancipation.

Vimbai
Going to school is the only way I can qualify for a professional job, and the only way to elevate my status so I am recognized in society. With an education, I will avoid being a burden to other people.

If I was not in school right now, I imagine I would be married. That’s another good thing about education–educated women marry many years later than women with no education. They marry after they have had a chance to accomplish their dreams.

I met Mrs. Simbisai  M.*. . . earlier this year in Harare. She had traveled from her village 258 miles away, to attend a home-based care training workshop organized by Camfed for Mother Support Groups throughout rural Zimbabwe.  Mother Support Groups engage in income-generating activities such as gardening and soap-making in order to provide girls with all the small things they need to be able to attend school. They are made up of women who have seen the tremendous benefits of educating girls, and who are committed to doing their part to contribute to the mission.

When I first encountered Mrs. M., she struck me as an ordinary mother from rural Zimbabwe: a modest woman with cracked hands and greying hair. She wore tennis shoes with her skirt, and a wig that she had borrowed especially to come to the city. She is quiet and observant, but she has one of the most majestic spirits I have ever encountered.

About 13 years ago, Mrs M. learned of a three-year old in her village named Nobetter, who had lost both of her parents. Because Nobetter did not have nearby relatives, she took Nobetter into her home, although she already had four children of her own. Since that day, she has raised Nobetter.

Four years later, Mrs. M. adopted another orphan–an18-month-old named Patience, who lost her father to AIDS. Her mother was critically ill, and unable to care for her. Like Nobetter, Patience did not have any family in the village, so once again, Mrs. M. stepped in to be her guardian.

Nobetter is now 16 years old, and Patience is 11, and they are still with Mrs. M. She and her husband are subsistence farmers, and they struggle to make ends meet.   “It’s not like I am rich,” she says. “It’s the love that I have for these innocent children that pushes me to care for them.”

In addition to their four biological children, they have three grandchildren who live with them as well.  The family of 11 share a one-bedroom house and two round huts. At times, Mrs. M.’s husband has questioned the wisdom of her decision to adopt two children. “At one point my husband asked me where I was going to get the money to look after these girls,” Mrs. M. says. “I told him that they would feed on what I would be feeding on. Thank God he now understands me and he is very supportive.”

Mrs. M. is highly respected in her community as a woman who gives assistance to the disadvantaged. Another woman at the meeting told me that she wished she had a heart as big as Mrs. M.’s.

But what is most remarkable about Mrs. M.’s story is that in Zimbabwe, it is not an exception. Although everyone is worried about feeding their own families, among the communities where Camfed works, Mother Support Groups, Father Support Groups, teachers, and teacher-mentors still have the welfare of others in their hearts. Like Mrs. M. they continue to sacrifice, to find ways to find ways to help children through these times of crisis.

*Note: Mrs. M.’s full name has been omitted to protect her identity

In many sub-Saharan African countries, judicial systems and traditional courts still fail to recognize domestic violence as a crime. Violence may be considered an appropriate response if a wife argues with her husband, fails to have food ready at meal time, or goes out without her husband’s permission. Last November, Camfed teamed up with Padare, an organization in Zimbabwe partnering with men to tackle the imbalance in relationships that leads to violence against women. Together, Camfed and Padare are engaging community leaders and young men in workshops about the need to identify and address barriers to women’s equality.

Here, Usher Mande, who coordinates the partnership between Camfed and Padare talks about how the two organizations are creating a safe space where men can discuss gender roles.

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As the leader of a Mother Support Group in Wedza district of Zimbabwe, southeast of Harare, Alice Jaure oversees a group of other mothers in her community in their efforts to alleviate poverty and suffering. Here, her husband Elijah talks about the ways in which her work has challenged his thinking and inspired him to make his own contribution to the community. (more…)

Camfed’s work in Zimbabwe is more vital now than ever before. As the economic situation continues to deteriorate, we are seeing more and more girls and boys dropping out of school. Families are finding it increasingly difficult to support their children’s education as they struggle to put food on the table. (more…)