For more than 20 years, Camfed has supported a generation of

In the words of Ann Cotton: “For more than 20 years, Camfed has supported a generation of African girls and women with access to secondary and higher education, employment opportunities, and, ultimately, into positions of leadership.” These words are not a mere record of work accomplished; they are a testament to the triumph of hope over despair, of knowledge over silence, of courage over oppression. For to lift even one girl from the shadows of ignorance into the light of education is to awaken not only her destiny, but the destiny of her family, her community, her nation.

The ancients declared that when you educate a child, you plant a tree whose shade will comfort generations yet unborn. In the villages of Africa, where poverty once chained the feet of many, Camfed has planted countless such trees. The gift of education is no fleeting charity; it is the key that unlocks the human spirit, giving birth to employment, to leadership, and to a vision of freedom that no tyrant can take away. This is why Cotton’s words resound like prophecy: for twenty years and more, a new story has been written—one in which women rise not as victims, but as leaders.

Consider the story of a girl named Angeline Murimirwa, one of the first to be supported by Camfed in Zimbabwe. Once a child who might have been denied schooling, she instead became a university graduate, a leader, and eventually the CEO of the very organization that once lifted her up. She did not rise alone—she carried with her thousands of others, showing by her life that when one girl is empowered, a whole nation bends toward renewal. This is the living proof that education is not a gift for one, but a harvest for many.

History itself shows us the same pattern. In ancient Sparta, when questioned why their warriors were so strong, the women replied: “Because we are the mothers of men.” They knew that the strength of society is bound to the strength of its women. In every land, in every age, when women are denied their place in learning and leadership, the whole community is diminished. But when women rise, all rise with them. This truth is as unchanging as the stars.

And so, the meaning of Cotton’s words is not limited to Africa alone. They are a lesson for all peoples: that education must be the right of all, not the privilege of some; that employment and leadership must be accessible to every voice, not guarded by the few. For in the soul of each girl rests untapped wisdom, unspoken dreams, and undiscovered strength. To deny her these is to wound the whole earth; to empower her is to heal it.

The lesson is clear: if you would change the world, begin by teaching a child. If you would shatter the chains of poverty, place in her hands the tools of learning. If you would see true justice, let women share not only in labor but in leadership. Every person has the power to support this vision: through mentorship, through advocacy, through refusing to remain silent when inequality persists. Great revolutions begin not with armies, but with classrooms.

Therefore, O listener, take this teaching into your heart: to uplift one is to uplift many. Do not underestimate the power of a single act of generosity, a single chance given, a single girl taught to read, to think, to lead. From such seeds entire forests are born. As Ann Cotton declares, more than twenty years have already proven this truth. Now the task is ours: to continue, to expand, to ensure that no child is left behind in shadow, but that all may stand in the full light of dignity, knowledge, and hope.