Financial Times Appeal 2007

FT Appeal raises £1.6 million for Camfed. Read the full release (pdf).

The Financial Times selects Camfed for its Seasonal Appeal Charitable Partner for Second Consecutive Year. Read the full release (pdf).

Change Lives

There are many ways, small and large, to empower girls in Africa to become leaders. Read about opportunities to change lives.

Financial Times Coverage

'We tell each other that we are making history’

Mary stands alone in the middle of an unfinished classroom, the cement still freshly trowelled on the walls, at the edge of the town of Iringa in Tanzania. She is shy but, even at 15, has the poise and confidence of any singer sure of her voice. Read the article [pdf] [article at FT.com].

Esther Turns Investor in Pineapples and Pigs

Esther’s house in Matamba is reached via a steep muddy slope. Over the door are the words “God Bless This Family”. One of her relatives climbs a tree to give an ancient call across the valley, to bring her children home. A goat chews on cardboard. Read the article [pdf] [audio slideshow at FT.com]

A gift of learning can transform lives

Naja's mud-brick house is 100 feet from the main highway that bisects Tanzania. In the courtyard is a pig the family has named Atukombwe, or "let him save us". The fact that Naja, a 15-year-old orphan, is being funded to go to secondary school by Camfed will have a far more profound effect on the families' fortunes than the sale of one pig.

‘I can face anything because I have got help in my life’

As Mary contemplates a small area of earth, she is looking at her family’s future. It is a row of about a hundred small plants, an inch high, protected from the sun. Soon they will be planted to become trees, which she and her brothers will sell as firewood.

FT readers help raise £1.1 million/$2.2 million for Camfed

The Financial Times' seasonal appeal on behalf of Camfed International has raised more than £1.1million/$2.2 million in its first four weeks and has received pledges to match readers' donations up to an additional £200,000/$400,000.

Camfed rides to aid of girls’ schooling

In regions where mobile phones are scarce and distances are enormous, an older form of technology—the motorcycle—is a vital tool in Camfed International’s efforts to maintain effective oversight of the girls whose education it sponsors.

Drama used to fight poverty of expectation

In rural Tanzania, where the literacy rate is low, Camfed has encouraged students to stage a play to teach community members about the importance of sending girls to school and protecting their rights. The play opens with a song in Swahili. “[A girl] should not be put in violation of her rights by female genital mutilation or rape,” it says. Read the article at FT.com

The future is female: a photo essay

“What do you want to be?” This simple question, when put to all ages of schoolchildren in Tanzania, is one of the most direct ways to get a sense of how secondary education can transform lives. At a rural primary school, Happy, a girl of 14, and Shadrack, an orphaned 15-year-old boy, both responded in the same way. They fell silent. No one will pay for them to continue their schooling. Check out the essay at FT.com

‘Driven by desire to be free’

When Riziki and Aziza attended the inaugural meeting of the Camfed Association (Cama), a group of Camfed alumni that first met in Tanzania in June 2005, they were feeling disappointed because they had failed their school exams. But Cama officials told them not to be discouraged. There was another route to success they could pursue. They could become businesswomen. Read the article at FT.com

FT aims to help African schoolgirls beat poverty

For Maggie, an orphan, her mother's death marked the start of a period of itinerant living, missed schooling and perpetual poverty. Then, this year, she received a small but important piece of good news: She learned that she would receive funding for her education from Camfed International, which is being supported by the Financial Times’ seasonal appeal for the second year in a row. Read the article at FT.com

‘I think I have a bright future’

Next to a sign advertising mobile phone credit, two schoolgirls in pale blue blouses and navy skirts are listening attentively to Penelop, 20, the owner of the Everything Has Time roadside stall. Once a pupil at the same high school, Penelop has now swapped her uniform for a pink blouse, floral skirt and a spot by the town’s decayed main road. The talk among the girls is of the exams Penelop has just taken, leading to what she hopes will be college and a career as a teacher. Read the article at FT.com

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