Eli, a mother of two girls and a third baby on the way, is a volunteer with one of ChildFund`s local partner organisations in Oaxaca, in the south west of Mexico. We met her two daughters, who are among 30 wildly energetic children, aged six to 12 years old, participating in the Activate (Get Active) after-school program. Eli (pictured below) has her hands full trying to maintain order!
The session begins with a game called ‘the mailmam’. The children form a circle outside on a basketball court, and the leader calls out, “The mailman brought a letter for a child with€¦ a ponytail! Blue jeans! Red shirt!” The children scurry to the correct position in the circle, depending on their hairstyle or clothing. Younger children learn to identify categories through the game, and everyone burns some energy.
We then venture inside to a large room that the municipal government lends to ChildFund`s local partner. It`s centrally located and safe, so the children have an easily accessible space for learning. Inside these walls, creativity flows.
Now the children work together to create a new fairy tale, which winds up being called ‘Little Red Riding Hood and the Boy in the Blue Cape’.
Eli walks around the room asking children to provide the next line in the story, building on what the last child said. The story, intricate with detail, twists and plot turns, grows and grows, and another adult volunteer writes the story on a blackboard €” but with intentional spelling and grammar mistakes. After the story is finished, the children tell her how to correct the story €“ where an accent was missing, where a comma needed to be added, where an S needed to be changed to a Z.
As a facilitator, Eli supervises four sessions a week: two for children aged six to 12 like the one we saw, and two sessions for youth, aged 13 and older.
These sessions are different from school classes, Eli says, because in class, the children have to be formal and quiet. But in these programs, they get to let their energy and creativity soar.
As a facilitator, she receives a small stipend of approximately $50 a month to help her family. But the payback is more than monetary; Eli describes the children as her friends, and she loves when they run up to her and give her big hugs when she walks through the community.
After the fairy tale session, the children have another recess outside. This time, the basketball court is turned into an obstacle course with a fabric tunnel, foam rollers, large boxes and rings. They jump, hopscotch and crawl through the course, ultimately sitting on a throne made from cushions. Then it`s time to go home.
Eli says she has a new purpose and higher confidence with the skills she has learned as a facilitator, and she feels empowered to be a leader in her community. More importantly, Eli says the training has helped her to be a better mother to her own children.
Margaret Nyirongo is well respected in Chongwe district, a poor rural area of Zambia not far from the capital, Lusaka. Not only is she a dynamic businesswoman, this 25-year-old has become an inspiring role model to other young women as the founder of a girls’ peer support group.
Below she tells us about her journey, and the youth program that changed her life.
The struggles faced by young girls in rural Zambia
In an area where youth unemployment, early pregnancies and HIV prevalence are at critically high levels, this kind of support can be life-changing for girls who see few prospects for themselves.
“I want to be a good example to other young people and my family,” says Margaret, the eldest of seven children. “I want people to understand that sharing knowledge and skills can bring about desired change in our communities, and that selflessness is key.”
Margaret knows first-hand the risks faced by girls in her area. Like many other bright young women in rural Zambia, Margaret saw her dreams slipping away when she was forced to drop out of school early as her parents could no longer afford to pay for her education. She had always wanted to be a nurse.
“I was devastated when my mother said I needed to stop school,” Margaret recalls. “I felt like the world had crumbled, together with my dream of wearing a nurse`s uniform.”
No longer in school, Margaret became pregnant at the age of 18 and life took a turn for the worse. She says: “The man responsible refused to take responsibility and my mother asked me out of the house.”
How Margaret’s life was changed by a ChildFund youth program
It was at this point that a friend of Margaret`s encouraged her to attend a youth meeting in her district, organised by ChildFund Zambia. Here, she heard other young people talk about how participating in the group`s activities had changed their lives.
“They requested me to join their group, but I thought it was all nonsense. I did not realise that the programs they participated in kept them away from vices like illicit sex and alcohol abuse, which are so common in our communities. After a few days, I actually saw positive changes in most of the youth that I knew and this was what made me join the youth group,” Margaret says.
Initially she took part in the various trainings on offer, including life skills, psychosocial support and village banking, which helped the group members set goals, become more confident and able to teach others.
Then in 2010, Margaret was among 200 young people (mostly young women) from Chongwe and Luangwa districts to be trained in banana production and business management through the AusAID-funded Youth Empowerment Project (YEP), managed by ChildFund Australia. The overall goal of this three-year project was to establish sustainable livelihoods for the young participants and increase their incomes through improvement of production, marketing knowledge and access to markets.
How Margaret was empowered to follow her dreams
“With that support my life changed a lot because I realised that I had the capacity to earn income in a respectful manner,” says Margaret. “Besides, I also learned that it pays to work hard and that when you sweat for your business, sweat turns into sweet!”
Today Margaret is not just leading the YEP group in Chongwe district, she has set up her own banana plantation. She also keeps chickens and is running a grocery store built from the proceeds of the chicken sales.
Her knack for teaching and supporting others has also seen her in high demand with local schools, community groups and other organisations to assist with training children, youth and adults on issues such as HIV prevention and awareness, and women`s rights. This is something Margaret is incredibly proud of.
“It means they have seen something in me,” she says, flashing her big smile. “I will always remain grateful to ChildFund for helping me rediscover my purpose and realise that despite my humble education background, I can still make it.”
You can help children in poverty reach their full potential
There are still other children like Margaret who are forced to drop out of school and give up their dreams. Many of them are girls, who are forced into early marriage, child labour and other unsafe situations.
To reach these children, and empower them to follow their dreams, we need your help. Donate to our current appeal, and help children fear less.
Donate before June 30th and your donation will be tax deductible, which means you’ll be able to claim it on your tax return. There’s no better time of year to give back, to get back.
You can also take the leap into child sponsorship, a journey that will see you make a monthly contribution to support a child in poverty. If sponsoring a child interests you, learn more about our child sponsorship program here.
The Youth Empowerment Project was completed in June 2013. ChildFund Zambia and their local partners continue to provide mentoring, technical and monitoring support.
