In Zimbabwe, hundreds of thousands of children will not be celebrating Mother’s Day this year. Nearly one million children have lost one or both parents to AIDS. And 3,000 more people are dying from AIDS every week. Traditional safety nets are unravelling. Extended family and communities are struggling to care for the thousands of children who are left without parents. (more…)

When Camfed Director Lucy Lake first met Fiona Muchembere, she was working as a cleaner in an office building in Harare – despite having achieved some of the best school exam results in Zimbabwe. Her dreams of going to university seemed far beyond reach. But with Camfed’s support and encouragement, she defied the odds to become the first member of her rural community to go to university and is now a fully-qualified lawyer. (more…)

Two years ago, photographer Mark Read spent ten days in one of the poorest regions of Zimbabwe meeting dozens of young women who have been able to go to school with Camfed’s support. The result was 120 rolls of beautiful photographs, which were turned into an inspiring book about Camfed’s work called I Have a Story to Tell. (more…)

We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their support this year to stop poverty in its tracks by educating this generation of girls. With a common goal to give every girl the chance to realise her full potential through the power of education, together we have made great strides. Yet there is still much more to be done. (more…)

Camfed brought together traditional leaders from rural areas of Zimbabwe earlier this month to tackle some of the problems facing young women in their communities.Eleven chiefs from some of the most remote rural areas of the country pledged to become more active in protecting girls from abuse in their chiefdoms. The chiefs also recognised the importance of challenging some of the harmful customs that undermine young women’s health and safety – including marrying girls as young as 16 and virginity testing. (more…)

Over the last two years, a network of eighty Mothers’ Support Groups has sprung up across Zimbabwe to help some of the poorest children in these communities to go to school. With Camfed’s support and encouragement, these remarkable women are working across 14 districts to provide a safety net of financial and practical support to thousands of children. (more…)