Talent, orphaned at ten, dreamed of becoming a doctor. Brought up by poor relatives and living in a small village in Zimbabwe, she knew her chances were slim. But she held onto her dream long enough to be able to benefit from support from Camfed International. Over the past three years, Impetus has been an instrumental partner for Camfed in finding new ways to multiply the number of girls in secondary school in sub-Saharan Africa. Since 2006, Camfed has more than doubled the number of girls supported from 9,830 girls in 2006 to 21,637 in 2008, transforming their lives and setting in motion transformation for the next generation.
By the time Talent (pictured left)
was ten years old, both her parents had died. She and her two
younger siblings faced an uncertain future growing up in rural
Zimbabwe. They were raised by their aunt, who struggled to make
ends meet. Although Talent was extremely bright, her aunt could not
afford to send her to secondary school. Yet Talent was determined
to succeed. She dreamed of becoming a doctor: "I didn't want to
struggle, being poor all of my life. I wanted to change my life
through education. I knew people who had done it, and they were my
inspiration."
One week before classes started, the head teacher at Talent's school called her to his office. He told her that the charity Camfed had offered to support her through school. All of her school expenses, from her fees down to soap and bus fares, would be covered.
Top of the class
Talent completed her secondary school education with flying colours - and her dream of becoming a doctor was no longer out of reach. She is now in her second year of medical school and she is one of the top students in her class. She told us: "Now that I am in medical school, I have faith that the gates to success are wide open. I just have to walk through them."
Talent is one of 645,000 children who have benefited from Camfed's programme of educational support since it began in 1993. The impact is enormous. Girls like Talent, who come from some of the poorest rural communities of sub-Saharan Africa, are going on to become doctors, teachers, lawyers and businesswomen. In turn, they are becoming the next generation of philanthropists in Africa - helping to break the cycle of rural poverty.
Through their own community initiatives, young women like Talent have helped to support more than 71,838 children to go to school over the past ten years - making a lasting impact for generations to come. Ultimately, it is through these young women that Africa's children, and their children's children, will face a better future.
Read more about our work with Camfed and other lives being turned around by our tremendous charities and social enterprises.
Thanks for Vicky Anning, Writer-in Residence at Camfed, for providing this story.
The relationship has helped us raise our game. As a result, our strategy is bolder and our stakeholders are extremely excited about where this process is taking us.
Harriet Lamb
Executive Director, Fairtrade Foundation