Many of you have expressed interest in seeing Camfed’s work on the ground— and we are thrilled to be able to offer you, our supporters, an opportunity to do that through our Facebook Causes Live-From-Africa Challenge!

Here’s how it works: Camfed has received a $100,000 donor match, which will provide 4,000 vulnerable children with the uniforms and school supplies that they need in order to stay in school—if we can get 200,000 more supporters to join our Facebook Cause.

That’s where you come in. By helping us to recruit new members to our Cause, you will unlock that funding, while promoting awareness about the power of education to catalyze change in rural Africa. For every four friends that you persuade to join Camfed’s Cause, a pair of Camfed donors will donate enough to keep a girl in elementary school for a month through Camfed’s Safety Net Fund. Convince 50 friends, and you’ll fund an elementary school student’s education for an entire year! Plus, our donors will match every donation contributed to the Camfed Cause during the Challenge dollar-for-dollar, in an amount up to $20,000.

The top ten recruiters will receive a copy of Camfed’s book, I Have a Story to Tell, featuring beautiful photographs and poignant first person stories from some of the young women we work with, and a unique gift crafted by a young woman supported by Camfed’s program. Recruiters who draft 100 supporters or more will receive a copy of our award winning
documentary, Where the Water Meets the Sky. And our top recruiter will win a trip to Africa to visit the communities where we work and meet the amazing girls who you are helping to support through school. Plus, thanks to Twitter, the rest of us will be able to follow your adventures via your instant reports from the ground.

The Challenge is yours to win—so start recruiting today!

Facebook Causes Live-From-Africa Challenge FAQ

(See official rules below for details)

1) How can I win the trip to Africa?

The person with the largest total number of new supporters recruited for Camfed’s cause on Facebook at the conclusion of the Challenge will win a free trip to Africa.

2) Who is eligible for the challenge?

Participants 18 years or older at the time of entry and legal residents of the 50 United States and the District of Columbia. However, Camfed & Facebook Causes employees and their immediate families are ineligible.

3) When does the Challenge end?

The Challenge ends the earlier of:

• The date and time that 200,000 additional registered members of Facebook join the Camfed cause via the Causes Application after the commencement of the competition; and

• 3:00 PM ET on January 1, 2010.

4) Where in Africa will I go?

Zambia (or other destination in Africa)

5) What does the Africa trip include?

• Round trip coach class air transportation for one from a major U.S. airport near the winner’s place of residence in the U.S. to Zambia

• Hotel accommodations (one room, standard, single occupancy) for 9 nights

• Ground and air transportation in Zambia

• Certain on-site meals

6) What will I have to pay for?

• Taxes/facility charges
• Insurance
• Travel visas
• Telephone/Internet/data charges
• Personal expenses/incidental charges
• Travel arrangements between the winner’s home and the U.S. airport of departure
• Other expenses

7) When is the Africa trip?

The winner of the Africa trip must be able to travel on those dates and times designated by Camfed. We will attempt to notify you no less than 10 days in advance of departure.

8) Do I need to donate money to Camfed to participate?

No. Participants are not required to donate money towards Camfed and a donation will not increase your chances of winning. Two anonymous donors will contribute a total of $.50 to Camfed for each member of Facebook that joins the Camfed cause and match dollar-for-dollar each donation contributed to the Camfed cause in an amount up to $20,000 during the Challenge.

9) How do I recruit supporters?

a. Use Causes invite tool
b. Make Camfed your featured charity
c. Copy your unique URL from your Facebook Causes page including your owner ID for emails or blogs:

Example: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/72910?m=63f2250d

10) What if I have already recruited supporters in the past?

All of the supporters you have recruited in the past are valid and count in this Challenge, except those associated with a former membership in the Camfed cause that was cancelled.

11) What are the prizes?

First Prize: A trip to Africa, which shall be awarded to the recruiter with the largest total number of recruits at the conclusion of the Challenge.

Second Prize: A paperback copy of the book titled “I Have a Story to Tell”, a series of autobiographical accounts by young women supported through their education by Camfed, which shall be awarded to the 10 recruiter with the largest total number of recruits at the conclusion of the Challenge. Additionally, the top 10 recruiters will also receive a keepsake accessory from a Camfed Alumni (Cama) entrepreneur.

Third Prize: Recruiters with a total of 100 or more supporters recruited at the conclusion of the Challenge win a copy of Camfed’s award winning documentary, “Where the Water Meets the Sky”, narrated by Morgan Freeman.

12) What happens if there is a tie?

First Prize: The Africa trip shall be awarded to the qualifying recruiter that first (i.e., chronologically) joined the Camfed cause via the Causes application through Facebook.

Second Prize: The Book will be awarded to all qualifying recruiters engaged in the tie.

Third Prize: Not applicable.

13) Don’t even think about cheating!

a.You are only counted once
b.No fake profiles
c.Abide by Facebook and Facebook Causes terms and services, if you break any of their terms and services, you may be disqualified.

14) If I win, how will I be contacted?

Camfed will attempt to contact each potential prize winner by email after the conclusion of the Challenge using the email address corresponding to each potential winner’s Facebook account. Each potential winner will then be subject to verification by Camfed and required to sign and return Camfed’s documentation.

15) What is included in Camfed’s documentation?

• An affidavit of eligibility
• Camfed’s release and policy documentation
• Other releases and waivers requested by Camfed and its partners

16) Who should I contact if I have further questions?

Please send all other questions to Facebook@Camfed.org

Disclaimer

NO PURCHASE OR DONATION NECESSARY TO Participate in the CHALLENGE. A DONATION WILL NOT INCREASE OR IMPROVE YOUR CHANCES OF WINNING. OPEN ONLY TO LEGAL RESIDENTS OF THE 50 United States and the District of Columbia who are 18 years of age or older as of the date of entry. Employees of Sponsor AND PHILOTIC, INC. and their immediate families ARE INELIGIBLE FOR THE CHALLENGE. VOID WHERE PROHIBITED OR RESTRICTED BY LAW.

Terms and Conditions

Download Facebook Causes Live-From-Africa Challenge Terms and Conditions (PDF)

YOU can reduce poverty in Africa by running for Camfed in the ING NYC Marathon on Sunday, November 1, 2009!

Camfed is recruiting a team to raise money for girls to go to school in some of the poorest communities in Africa. This is a unique opportunity to run through the heart of New York, on a challenging course that has served as a world class model. And you will have the reward of knowing that every step raises more money for girls in Africa.

If you have already registered for the Marathon and are looking for an organization to fundraise for, we would also love to have your support!

Girls’ education is widely recognized by leading economists as the most effective tool in fighting poverty and Camfed’s work provides direct evidence of this investment. Through 2008, 645,400 children across four countries benefited from Camfed’s education programs giving young women the tools and skills they need to be economically independent and serve as leaders in their own communities.

As a member of the Camfed Team, we will give you plenty of fundraising support, including leaflets, stories and instructions on how to set up your own fundraising web page, as well as general information to share with potential sponsors.

We are also currently actively seeking sponsorship to underwrite all runner registration costs & fees so that 100% of your fundraising efforts can go towards our programs in Africa.

You can transform the lives of girls like Jane from Tanzania, who told us: “If I hadn’t been supported by Camfed, my whole life would have taken a different course… I would probably be stuck in this poverty forever. With my studies going so well and my whole secondary school education paid for, I am hopeful that I can make a good future for myself and my family.”

It costs just $300 to support a girl like Jane through secondary school for an entire year – helping to transform her future. Please join the Camfed team today, and help set hundreds of girls like Jane on the path to success!

To join Camfed’s team and receive more information, send an email to tjohnston@camfed.org with your name, address and contact email or number.

Visit the Marathon’s Official Website

Camfed has been thrilled by the level of enthusiasm and commitment from GirlGuiding UK units up and down the country for Camfed’s project – If you’ve got a voice… use it! 

Four hundred units across the UK are already working together to shout out on behalf of girls in Africa – and so far Rainbows, Brownies, Guides and Senior Sections have raised more than £24,700 to help transform girls’ lives by sending them to school. That’s enough to support 329 girls through secondary school for an entire year!

One of these girls is 18-year-old Cecillia from Zambia, who lost both her parents when she was very young. She was raised by her elderly grandmother, and spent her days drawing water, pounding cassava and washing dishes. Life was a constant struggled for Cecillia. She and her family lived from one meal to the next. Eventually, poverty forced her to drop out of school altogether. It was then that Camfed stepped in to provide everything Cecillia needed to continue her secondary education – from school uniform to school books. Today, her dream of becoming a doctor is within reach. She told us:

“When I heard [that Camfed would support me], all the sorrow I had felt about dropping out of school left my body… This thought filled me with happiness and relief! I could see that I had a future.”

Educating girls in Africa really does change the world – for each girl who gets the chance to go to school, her family, her community, her country and for the next generation too. Thanks to Girlguiding UK members, Camfed will be able to help ten whole classrooms full of girls like Cecillia to go to school in some of the poorest parts of Zambia, Tanzania, Ghana and Zimbabwe.

As well as raising funds, GirlGuiding UK members have also been raising awareness up and down the country about the importance of education for girls in Africa – helping to give them the confidence that they too can change the world.

Twelve-year-old guide Natasha from Dorset said: “I am really thrilled to be able to help Camfed; being 12, saving the world seems almost impossible, but it’s because of Charities like this that it doesn’t only make African girls dreams come true. It also starts to make the dreams of English girls (like me) come true. So I hope during my Assembly, talks, and Fundraising activities not only will I get young people aware; I will prove to them it is possible for us as children to change the world.”

Thank you to everyone who has taken part in Camfed’s Shout Out Challenge so far. We would love to hear your fundraising stories too. Please send any stories and photographs to info [at] camfed.org

Camfed’s Kimberley Sevcik is in northern Zambia covering an innovative new project launched by Camfed and the University of Cambridge, with funding from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative. Read her second blog installment below, and follow up to the minute progress on Twitter.

Lubwe, Zambia: Saturday, April 18th

Minutes before the Impact Fair starts, the students from the Leadership & Enterprise Course are practicing their presentations and fine-tuning their posters, putting the finishing touches on drawings of chickens and cell phones and overstuffed couches.

Dressed in Camfed T-shirts with the words, “I am a leader” on the front, and “I am an entrepreneur” on the back, students have set up stalls on the parched grass and the concrete steps of the classrooms at Lubwe High School. Agape Sisters, who sell second-hand clothing, have brought with them a bag of shiny rayon blouses and T-shirts emblazoned with the logos of famous athletic teams and foreign companies, which they have hung from the eaves of a classroom block. Progress Group have started a lending scheme based on the Grameen Bank model, and they plan to display the meticulous records they keep in their ledger book. And the women from Big Sisters Restaurant have procured a bag of cassava from the kitchen staff so they can prepare – and sell – nshima, a Zambian staple food. One group of women has posted flyers on classroom doors to attract visitors to their displays: “Come hear the story of Fipelwa’s campaign against early marriage – free to all,” proclaims one hand-lettered sign on the cinderblock wall outside the staff resource room.

The Fair, the brainchild of a group of MBA students at the University of Cambridge’s Judge Business School, is designed to give participants an opportunity to celebrate their achievements in launching and running successful enterprises, to help them think about how to measure impact and to encourage them to communicate their success effectively to stakeholders. The day before the Fair, the women were asked to assess whether their project had made an impact in each of five areas: social; financial; learning; pride and recognition; and growth and confidence. Those self-evaluations are now displayed on flip charts at each group’s table, so that group members can reference them in their presentations. Course trainers, Camfed staff, and the students themselves will be ranking each project with a system of colored stars – red for social impact, yellow for financial impact, and so on.

Standing before a microphone in the midst of the displays, Benjamin Chama, Camfed Zambia’s Program Manager, gives the women a two-minute warning to finalize their preparations. There is a flurry of activity as they secure flips charts to the wall, and share last-minute presentation advice.

“Today we’re going to show one another how we have put the skills we acquired during Phase One into use in Phase Two,” Benjamin announces. He explains that half of each group will stay at the table to present the story of the impact they achieved and half will visit the displays of their fellow students – then they’ll switch. He also establishes some ground rules for the Fair: everyone must visit all of the projects; and we must also give every group at least one star!

I start my tour of the displays at the Big Sisters Restaurant, who urge me to try some of their beef and nshima – “famous in the town of Samfya!” they say. On the cinderblock wall behind them they have posted pictures of the restaurant, a tiny, colorful place with three tables covered in bright blue plastic tablecloths. I grill them about their experience: how did you find the building you rented? Word of mouth. How much do you pay per month? 100,000 kwacha ($17.5). Are you able to earn a profit? Yes. In fact, business is so brisk, they are now looking to expand to a bigger space.

“If you are given a gift, you cannot keep it to yourself. You must pass on your good fortune to others.” At the Progress table, managing director Petronella, 19, proudly describes the success of her group’s Grameen-Bank model. “We gave loans to eight women to grow their businesses or start new businesses. There was a social and financial impact because now these women are able to earn more money than in the past, and improve their lives.” One woman actually showed the receipt for her son’s examination entry fees, purchased with profits from her newly-launched business. Another loan recipient used to sell onions at the market. Thanks to the microloan, she was able to purchase supplies to diversify and sell carrots, green beans, and tomatoes as well, generating greater profits.

“At first, no one believed that a group of young girls could start a village bank,” Petronella explains in deliberate, impeccable English. “They didn’t take us seriously, they thought that we were players.” Ultimately, however, community members were knocking on the girls’ doors, asking for loan applications.

Discouragement – or at least skepticism – from the community was a common challenge. Mildred from the Treasure group, which breeds goats to donate to orphans, tells me that people laughed outright when they heard of her plans. I ask if she ever considered quitting. “No!” she says, and her tone is indignant, almost offended. “You cannot give up so easily just because someone laughs at you. You must keep on.”

As I visited the stalls, I overheard women from other groups firing shrewd questions at their colleagues. “How much of your budget did you spend on rent?” says Rachel, a petite girl with a cherubic face framed by a halo of curls. “Were you able to earn a profit? How did you know there was a demand for another grocery shop in your village?” Finally, satisfied with their answers, she nods, and says, “You have done very well.”

At every stall, I’m struck by the women’s persistence. It took most groups two to three weeks just to open a bank account, as they scrambled to gather introductory letters, registration cards, and personal recommendations. “Imagine these girls walking into a bank and asking to open an account,” says Barbara Chilangwa, Executive Director of Camfed Zambia. “In their communities, many people have never set foot in a bank. And yet they weren’t intimidated. Every one of them was able to do it.”

Many of the women showed their entrepreneurial spirit by capitalizing on the Impact Fair to market their goods. Beyond Vision Communications sold talk time and cell-phone covers; the Poverty Fighters sold beautiful batik wraps, and the Blessings group sold hand-woven baskets. The Future Fighters group sold 40 bags of charcoal to Camfed for cooking during the Phase Three Course.

I was impressed by the careful documentation the students kept of their endeavors. The Fipelwa group, which visited seven schools to advocate in favor of keeping girls in school (as well as persuading four young drop-outs to resume their education) exhibited the letters they were sent from head teachers thanking them for the positive effect they had on students, and asking them to return next term for another presentation.

But it’s their generosity of spirit that makes the biggest impression on me. When I ask Mildred from the Treasure group what inspired her to start an enterprise to benefit others, she says, “I lost my parents when I was just young, and I was supported to go to school by Camfed. If you are given a gift, you cannot keep it to yourself. You must pass on your good fortune to others.”

By the end of the Fair, I am overcome with admiration, marveling that these girls – so young – have summoned the creativity, the courage, and the sophisticated knowledge to accomplish these things. I know the challenges that they face. I have sat with them at lunch and in their dorm rooms and listened to their stories. Today, they are running their own enterprises, and they convey their success to others with confidence, clarity and enthusiasm. “I think we saw evidence that, given the right tools, a person can accomplish anything she sets her mind to,” says Barbara Chilangwa.

I suspect that for many of these young women, this course is just the beginning. Petronella from the Grameen Bank project told me about a call that she received from her brother a few weeks ago. “I described my project to him, and he was very impressed,” she says. “He was proud to hear that I was managing director. He said, ‘My sister, one day you are going to become managing director of a big company!’”

I think he’s right!

Read the last installment of Kimberley’s blog.

Camfed’s Kimberley Sevcik is in northern Zambia covering an innovative new project launched by Camfed and the University of Cambridge, with funding from the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Initiative. Read her latest blog installment below, and follow up to the minute progress on Twitter.

Lubwe, Zambia: Thursday, April 16th
When the 11 young women in the project group that named itself “The Great Ones” were asked to come up with a concept for a small enterprise last December, they considered opening a jewelry boutique or a hair salon, but ultimately they drew up a business plan for a social enterprise: a preschool to serve a poor neighborhood in the town of Mpika where children didn’t have access to early education. “Going to preschool gives children a foundation to go on to the next grade,” says 18-year-old Esnart, the group’s marketing and creative director. “This way, they won’t be roaming around, getting into trouble. They’ll be able to make something of their lives.”

Orphaned at the age of 14, Esnart – who has a serenity and poise that belies her age and life experience – could have been one of those forgotten and aimless young people were it not for her mother’s sister, who took her in and treated her as one of her own. “I think it was my auntie who gave me the heart to help those in need,” she says.

To ensure that early education would be accessible to as many children as possible, the group decided to charge parents just 30,000 kwacha ($5.30) per term. For orphans who have no resources, fees are waived entirely.

The entrepreneurs went door-to-door to spread the word about their school. Their business plan called for a class of 30 children. They were surprised and heartened when, on opening day, January 19th, 65 children showed up. Undaunted, they decided to run two sessions. “And they are still coming!” says 19-year-old Naomi, the project’s director.

I shadowed Naomi (pictured top-right), Esnart and several of their colleagues today as they attended their first day of workshops for phase three of the Leadership & Enterprise course, introduced by Camfed and the University of Cambridge with support from Goldman Sachs. This last phase of the course is intended to celebrate achievements to date, to teach impact assessment, and to deepen their understanding of the lessons they learned in phase one about financial planning, market research, and social and business entrepreneurship.

The day opened with an exuberant ceremony of song, dance, and ululation, in which Camfed Zambia’s Executive Director Barbara Chilangwa presented students with their phase two certificates. The students then divided into project groups to discuss the meaning of the term ‘impact’, and to assess the ways in which their projects had made a difference in their communities, and in their own lives.

The Great Ones preschool project was grouped with Kucincila, a project that makes wooden bed frames, and Poverty Fighters, who started a farm in their community to avoid the need for long, treacherous travel to buy produce. All the women chose names for their groups that reflected strength and confidence: Beyond Vision sells mobile phone talk time; Progress runs a loan scheme inspired by the Grameen bank model; and the Treasure Group breeds goats and donates the offspring to orphans.

Rashida Iddrisah, a trainer from Camfed Ghana with abundant energy and a talent for drawing out timid students, explained the various forms of impact that a project can have, while Lydia Wilbard (pictured bottom-right), a Cama manager from Tanzania, wrote the five categories that reflect a project’s impact on a flip chart: financial; social; learning; pride and recognition; and growth and confidence.

Rashida asked the young women in her class to think about each form of impact, and evaluate their own projects. The class fell silent. “Hello? Are we together?” she asked, making eye contact with any student who would meet her gaze.

At first, the students were timid about sharing their insights. Rashida persisted. “Group 14,” she said, addressing The Great Ones, “Didn’t you start a preschool for children in your community? Isn’t that a social benefit?” “Mm hmm,” they all agreed.

“Group 10, you manufactured beds,” she said. “Didn’t you employ a youth in your community to train you to make these beds? Didn’t you have a financial impact on him—creating employment?” “Yes,” they murmured.

“Group 11, didn’t you pay a visit to the village chief, something which is very hard for a woman to do for the first time?” A young woman named Loveness told the story of gathering with her colleagues to write a letter to the chief requesting a meeting; and of the chief’s reaction when they explained their proposal. “Well done!” she said to them each in turn, reaching down to shake their hands.

“Didn’t that give you a sense of pride and recognition?” Rashida asked. The group members nodded.

Rashida resumed her place at the front of the classroom and folded her arms across her chest. “Now,” she said, “isn’t that making an impact?”

Later that day, referring back to their original set of project goals, each group listed the objectives that they achieved, and the challenges that they faced in running their businesses – which were, in some cases, considerable. Each group was given a grant to launch their enterprise, but some had far more ambitious plans than that budget allowed, and others didn’t manage their money well. There was the issue of daunting travel distance – as much as 40 kilometers round-trip by bicycle to reach a meeting place – and the issue of illness, as well. A number of girls had sick babies or parents to care for, and couldn’t contribute regularly to the group’s efforts to get the business off the ground. But Catherine Boyce, Camfed’s Head of Leadership & Enterprise, says encountering these obstacles, and working around them, was part of the learning process.

“With the phase two projects, the groups didn’t have to succeed by conventional measures,” says Catherine. “It gave them a chance to have a trial run in a safe environment, so they would gain an understanding of what it takes to run a successful business. All we asked is that the participants learned. But I’m pleased to say that we have the makings of some sustainable businesses.”

The girls will be reflecting on the long-term viability of their businesses tomorrow after they receive feedback from trainers and fellow participants at an Impact Fair – an event which will provide them an opportunity to showcase what they have achieved with their projects through visual displays and performance.

The Great Ones plan to exhibit photographs, drawings and teaching aides from their preschool. “We want to show people that we have really worked hard for the children,” says Naomi, “and that we understand the mind of a child. We want them to walk away saying, ‘Yes, those women have become social entrepreneurs.’”

Read the next installment of Kimberley’s blog, reporting on the Impact Fair where course participants share what they have achieved in the past 3 months with their enterprises.

Beginning next week, Camfed’s Information & Media Relations Manager Kimberley Sevcik will be sending frequent updates from northern Zambia, where she will be documenting a new program to train young women in leadership and entrepreneurship with a view to helping them transform their futures.  Every few days, she’ll file photo diaries, stories about participants, and interviews with staff and community members who are training, advising, supporting and doing whatever it takes to sustain the 200 people who arrive in this small village in northern Zambia for 14 days.

Three days and about ten thousand miles from now, I’ll be writing to you from a computer lab in in Lubwe, a remote village where most people earn a living through subsistence farming or fishing. The lab was set up as a teaching resource for an innovative new Camfed initiative, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women Certificate Programme in Young Women’s Leadership and Enterprise.

Developed in partnership with the University of Cambridge, the course catches young women at the critical juncture in their lives when they are leaving secondary school and facing the daunting question, ‘What’s next?’ The Leadership and Enterprise course is designed to carry them through this vulnerable period by helping them to develop vital skills, grow in confidence and both identify and seize opportunities.

The course launched in December 2008, with 150 young women, aged 18-20 years, who traveled to Lubwe from across northern Zambia. All of these women have known great hardship in their lives. Many lost parents at an early age. Some were raised by elderly grandparents who were too frail to work, or by parents who struggled to support five or six children on the earnings of a subsistence farmer. They grew up in communities with high rates of HIV/AIDS and low rates of employment.

They are, all of them, bright and resourceful and energetic—but their life circumstances threaten to prevent them from reaching their tremendous potential. Our goal is to give them the tools to unlock that potential.

During the first phase of the course in December, the women were encouraged to break out of the mold of rote learning and to think independently. They worked with a group of leading social entrepreneurs from around the world, venturing into the surrounding community to identify challenges – such as declining fish stocks, poor sanitation and high unemployment - and cultivate problem-solving skills in the context of those community challenges. They received training in core business skills – such as financial planning, team-work, market research and effective communication. They also started to harness the power of technology, using computers and sending emails for the first time in their lives.

Before returning to their own communities, the young women were divided into groups, and asked to design a business plan for a social or commercial enterprise of their choosing. It’s clear from their bold and innovative ideas how much their confidence had grown in just three weeks. One group planned to set-up the only woman-run hardware store in their district. Another planned a preschool for disadvantaged children.

Over the subsequent four months, they worked within their home communities to launch, run and grow those enterprises, with ongoing support from their trainers. As the students reconvene in Lubwe next week for the third and final phase of the Leadership and Enterprise Programme, they will share lessons learned and chart a course for their futures. Some will continue to grow their enterprises. Others will apply to university or vocational school to pursue careers as nurses, or teachers, or lawyers.

I’ll be meeting this group of women at an incredibly exciting moment in their life journeys. I hope you’ll check back for future micro-posts below, to hear how their stories unfold.

Read the next installment of Kimberley’s blog.