Camfed places young women on the world stage

While Camfed gave one young woman from rural Tanzania the opportunity to share her story with the world’s First Ladies in New York last month, across the Atlantic another Camfed graduate from Zimbabwe was sharing a platform with politicians and policy makers in London.

Twenty-six-year-old Lydia Wilbard from a small village in rural Tanzania stood before the spouses of some of the most powerful people in the world on September 14th to challenge them to help disadvantaged girls like herself in Africa to receive an education. Afterwards Lydia shared lunch with Laura Bush and Nane Annan, the UN Secretary-General’s wife, as well as Mrs Mkapa, the wife of the Tanzanian president.

“I never realised that what I had to say would have such an impact,” said Lydia, who was invited to the event as a representative of Camfed.

“They were amazed by my story. I was so happy when I heard Mrs Bush and Mrs Annan tell Mrs Mkapa: ‘We are so proud to have such a young lady from Tanzania.’ There are many girls like the Lydia I once was who can only dream of education.”

Just 10 years ago, Lydia was not sure whether her family could scrape together enough money to send her to school. Now she is fulfilling her lifelong ambition to become a nurse, studying at Muhimbili University in Dar es Salaam.

Today, Lydia is a passionate advocate for girls’ education and a leading member in Tanzania of Camfed’s support network for younger girls in rural communities throughout Africa. The Camfed Association – or Cama – now has 4,700 members acting as mentors and role models to more than 333,600 children and young people across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Ghana and Tanzania.

Lydia’s inspiring story is a shining example of just what can be achieved with the benefits of education. And while Lydia was busy talking to the First Ladies in New York, the young woman who helped to found the Cama network, Angeline Mugwendere, was sharing her story of success with top academics and politicians at the Foreign Policy Centre in London.

“I stand before you as living testimony to how a poor and uneducated woman from Zimbabwe can transform herself from a position of social exclusion to sharing a platform on an equal footing with academics and policymakers like yourselves,” said Angeline, the Director or Cama.

By making sure women like Lydia and Angeline take part in such high profile events, Camfed continues to place young women from rural Africa at the centre of the world stage so that they can bring their voices, knowledge and experience directly to those people with the power to change young women’s lives.