day 7 - support networks

Mentorship and support networks at school. I’ve been very fortunate to enjoy such relationships – my counselors, teachers, and peers are all incredibly encouraging.

It’s difficult for me to picture going through high school without those types of support networks: Who would offer encouragement or answer questions I might have about my future? This kind of relationship is essential for success – like the extra oar one might need to be able to paddle upstream. (Not the best metaphor, I know, but you get the idea.)

Unfortunately, girls in school in developing nations often lack this support group. They may lack a mentor that persuades them that their efforts will reap more rewards than dropping out of school to work. They may lack a voice to encourage them if they may find themselves falling behind in their studies because they needed to take care of a sick sibling.

But with a support network, this all changes. A mentor relationship helps girls to complete their studies to the best of their ability. And more so: A mentor relationship encourages girls to assume positions of leadership in their communities, thereby becoming mentors for the next generation.

Camfed, the Campaign for Female Education, has a strong support network of female alumni called Cama. Perhaps strong would be an understatement: Cama has 17,600 alumni in its network, each encouraging girls to pursue their studies and helping them find opportunities. These alumna coordinate developing committees that work to totally change a village through education and provide a stable mentor role, especially to orphaned children. Please learn more about Camfed, and its holistic approach to social change and education, in this article: NY Times Blog - Africa's Girl Power.

Here’s a quote from the article that sums up the importance of why girls’ education really matters:

“In recent years, leaders in the field of international development have come to agree that the most powerful way to bring lasting social benefits to a country is to expand educational and economic opportunities for girls. What has become known as the Girl Effect is dramatic: A girl who doesn’t attend school or marries young, for example, is at far greater risk of dying in childbirth, contracting H.I.V., being beaten by her husband, bearing more children than she would like, and remaining in poverty, along with her family. By contrast, an educated girl is more likely to earn higher wages, delay childbirth, and have fewer, healthier children who are themselves more likely to attend school, prosper, and participate in democratic processes.”

Does education make a difference? I think yes.

Janna