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“As I had walked the path of so many young women out there, I was ready to be that big sister that they can always count on as they also navigate their journeys. Empathy was my biggest lesson.” — Linda Bhebhe

In sub-Saharan Africa, there’s a network — a movement — to support marginalized girls and young women to attend school, learn, and thrive. It’s called CAMFED, the Campaign for Female Education. With the power of technology, this movement could be scaled and expanded to support more young women in marginalized rural communities — bringing knowledge and education to exactly where they are, not the other way around. That’s why CAMFED developed the Learner Guide Hub, a digital platform, with the Yidan Prize project funds.

Since the very beginning, the Hub has been co-created with the young women it serves. It’s a process that involves comprehensive consultation, scoping, testing, and refinement to understand and cater to the specific challenges faced by young women and girls in rural Africa. Among the Hub’s steering committee are Learner Guides, Core Trainers of the Learner Guides, IT experts, and several additional members of CAMFED’s leadership network — the CAMFED Association or CAMA.  

Michelle Zhang, our Senior Manager of Global Engagement, speaks to Linda Bhebhe, who is a CAMA member and IT expert on the committee.

Michelle: Linda, could you introduce yourself to our audience today?

Linda: Thank you. Hello, my name is Linda Bhebhe. I’m a CAMFED Association member, also known as CAMA, from Zimbabwe. I joined CAMA in 2011 when I completed my secondary school. And I couldn’t wait at that time to be a part of this sisterhood that supports the next generation of young women to learn and grow to sustain their own livelihoods and be independent. As I had walked the path of so many young women out there, I was ready to be that big sister that they can always count on as they also navigate their journeys.

Michelle: Thank you so much for sharing this. It is really great and inspirational to hear that you joined CAMA with a purpose and vision of helping other young women to thrive and flourish in their community and lead their own journey to become a future leader.

And this leads us naturally to the Learner Guides, who are supporting young women in their communities, and whom we have designed the Learner Guide Hub for. Can you tell us a little bit more about the Learner Guides? Who are they and what do they do?

Linda: The Learner Guides, also known as peer mentors, are young women in the communities who return to their local schools as role models and mentors to other young girls. Most of the Learner Guides were supported through school by CAMFED. And just like me, they walked the journey, like most of the learners in the rural communities. And they work with the communities, schools, district government officials to keep girls in school and protect them from early marriages, dropping out of school, or any form of exploitation. They are the big sisters to the young girls who reach the gap between home and the classroom. And as well in their role, they help deliver the CAMFED-developed ‘My Better World’ program, supporting life skills and learner well-being.

Michelle: Thank you so much, Linda. And we know that for both CAMA members and Learner Guides, community and also working with each other is at the core of what you do. And that leads us to talking about the steering community, could you tell us more about the steering community — who were a part of this and how did you work together for the Learner Guide Hub?

Linda: The steering committee are consisted of members from the Learner Guides, the core trainers, IT experts, and several other stakeholders that were relevant for the Learner Guide Hub development. And myself as a CAMFED Association member, who is also a tech enthusiast — passionate about seeing the rural communities embrace technology and make the most out of it — I was a perfect fit for the Learner Guide Hub steering committee, and also gave the technical understanding of the various stages required when developing software, what could be possible, the needs that such a platform should fulfill and how it could improve the lives of our Learner Guides and them delivering the sessions and the work that they do in the communities.

I played a very intermediary role and crucial role between the Learner Guides and the communities as well as the developing team in making consultations to ensure that the digital platform or the Hub meets the expectations of the Learner Guides.

Co-creating the Hub

Michelle: Can you share more about what are the expectations, what were some priorities that were raised and shared during the whole consultation process?

Linda: In terms of the Hub, most of the priorities were on improving the way or making the way that the Leaner Guides work more effective. And this was more into taking off or lessening the burden in terms of the administrative role of maybe structuring their sessions with the learners, reporting ETCs, to rather giving them more time to spend with the learners, which is what they enjoy the most. So generally, designing the Learner Guide Hub required a perfect blend of being realistic and being creative, with good communication and problem-solving skills.

So the steering committee invested time in gathering the user requirements from the Learner Guides and other relevant stakeholders, as I mentioned before. And this was done through interviews, workshops, discussions, et cetera, where the Learner Guides were allowed to just dream and say their needs and expectations as they are in terms of what they wanted to see in the digital platform, how it will help them, what the content should include, the features that it should have.

And I remember one of the Learner Guides telling me that they wanted to get tips on how to apply to a university or college for them to further their education. One would say, “I want to know how to look for a job, how to write a CV.” And all these expectations were to be captured and included in the design of the digital Hub.

Michelle: Yes, I love how the Hub was co-created and really thoroughly consulted with the Learner Guides who will be the end users of this Hub. And can you share some challenges that the Learner Guides identified as potential barriers, or something that they pointed out would be the most important functions or features to have for the Learner Guide Hub.

Linda: Besides the challenge on connectivity, the challenge on high internet data costs generally in the country. The Guides also had a fear that the Hub might be too heavy for their gadgets that they use. Given that most of their mobile phones have limited storage and capacity — they rarely have the latest phones in the market — so the Hub needed to be very lightweight for it to be compatible with their gadgets.

The other fear as well was the issue of security, with the rising cybersecurity attacks nowadays. They fear that such a platform that would bring thousands of young women beyond borders together can be prone to cyber-attacks, which could compromise the integrity of the Hub itself and the information that it would share — which is Learner Guides and these young women on the platform. So those are some of the constraints or challenges that they thought of which the designing team had to put into consideration and make sure that the Hub addresses those challenges.

Functions and features of the Hub

Michelle: Could you tell us a bit more about like how the Hub looks like? What can you do on there? Let’s talk more about the Hub.

Linda: So I think one of the most exciting things about the Hub as well is the fact that it's very usable, easy to navigate, with a very user-friendly interface that is engaging and appealing. It is designed in such a way that one can make the content available to view when offline. And this makes it more usable to the Guides — given the constraints that we mentioned earlier in terms of internet connectivity and the high data costs — the Learner Guides are able to make use of the resource centers for young women in the CAMFED Association. And these resources are located in the districts where the Guides operate. So they are generally called the CAMFED Association Resource Centers, and they have power back-up, Wi -Fi, as well as tablets and other gadgets to support the work of the Guides.

So given the way that the Hub is designed, they can charge their devices and connect to the internet while at these centers to download all the content that they need, making it available for offline use when they go back to their respective homes. So that was one of the best things that the Hub does in terms of countering the main challenge and the main fear that the Learner Guides had.

And also the Hub has ensured multi-factor authentication upon logging in, such that it gives access to only the intended users, reducing chances of it being compromised.

In terms of compatibility, it has proved to be very compatible with mobile phones of different levels, especially Android versions, given that that's what most of the Learner Guides use. It's very lightweight. Lightweight, can be installed on devices with minimal storage capacity.

It's also a progressive web application, which you can either download to your mobile phone or use the web, depending on what works best for you. And because of that, some of the Guides, even if they have a challenge with their mobile phones, they can use the laptops and desktops that are available in the CAMFED Resource, CAMFED Association Resource Centers, that I mentioned earlier for them to access the Hub. So in general, the Hub met my expectations, and most of my CAMA sisters share the same sentiment as well.

Michelle: And I also heard that the ‘My Better World’ curriculum is now also available on the Hub.

Linda: Yes, yes, it is now.

Michelle: Could you share more about what is the ‘My Better World’ curriculum and how it is available on the Hub now?

Linda: The ‘My Better World’ workbook is generally a workbook with various topics, modules, and activities that the Guides use during their classroom sessions with the learners. And as I mentioned earlier that in their role, the Learner Guides in their role, they deliver the CAMFED-developed ‘My Better World’ program. So this workbook helps them to plan the sessions that they have with the learners in the classroom.

And now such a book is available on the digital Hub, among many other books like the study guides, et cetera, that they use with the learners in supporting them to learn. So having such a book really makes the work of the Guides more effective in their communities given that some of the Learner Guides travel long distances to the schools that they meet learners. So imagine sometimes it might be raining, or the terrain might not be so good. So carrying a hard copy with them was really a challenge. But now they have the soft version of the book on the digital platform, which really makes their work much easier and more effective.

Changing the work of the Learner Guides

Michelle: That is, wow. Just hearing, just hearing all the features and all the functions that you have worked together with the Learner Guides to achieve. And I can imagine how this Learner Guide Hub can be really impactful and really helpful for the Learner Guides to carry out their day -to -day work. And now the Hub serves over 16,000 young women across Ghana, Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. And from your perspective, how has the Hub changed the way Learner Guides work?

Linda: The Hub has really made the work of Learner Guides more effective and more efficient. As I mentioned earlier, they now have more time with the learners and doing what they enjoy the most, which is engaging with the learners in the classroom, and less of the administrative work which includes maybe sending reports, designing the sessions, coming up with the activities that they want to do, et cetera.

So diving maybe into reporting, for example. Previously, the Learner Guides would complete a hard copy, or a printed form, that they would document their report for the month, and take that report to the CAMFED Association Resource Center, where they would be assisted to put that on the tablet using some of the software that we use for data capturing, for example, ODK. But now the Learner Guide doesn't have to travel all the way to the Resource Center to submit their report. They can just go straight away to the Hub and write their report. If they have a connection, they can send their report right away from the Hub. So you'd see that it has really made their lives much easier, and they are now more efficient.

The Hub as well has improved — it has helped the Learner guides to advance in their personal development plans. It has content that involves writing CVs, how to manage your finances, how to look for a job, how to prepare for an interview, which are things that promote growth for the Guides as individuals. Yeah, and so much more. I could go on and on. But in summary, the Hub has really made the lives of the Learner Guides more efficient in terms of running their sessions, engaging with the learners, and more effective.

Tech and digital access in rural communtiies

Michelle: Thank you so much for sharing this, Linda. And I would love to open up our conversation and broaden our discussion to talking, to talk about, you know, how do you see technology and digital access evolving in Zimbabwe, where you work, and in rural communities with implementation of platforms like the Hub? How do you see technology can be embedded or used to support the work in rural communities? Or do you see that it could become a challenge to some regions?

Linda: Wow, such an interesting question. I would talk about the Learner Guide Hub as an example. So the implementation of the Hub has enhanced the way communities interact with technology, hence increasing the internet penetration in the rural communities. So such digital platforms support rural communities with digital literacy skills, and it widens their perspectives on what is possible with technology, how it can improve their lives, and that in turn gives them the zeal to interact with technology even more. So I would say such digital platforms are very crucial in terms of narrowing the digital gap between urban and rural communities, which significantly transforms the digital landscape in Zimbabwe.

"Empathy was my biggest lesson"

Michelle: Thank you, Linda. And last but not least, I want to ask how it feels to be part of the Hub steering committee, or rather a part of developing a platform for thousands of girls and young women to use. Did you learn anything from the co -creation process? Was there anything you wanted to share in particular, any stories, any reflections, or takeaways?

Linda: Yeah, developing the Learner Guide Hub was very fulfilling. This was not just a mere development process of any usual digital platform that you may think of. But it was for a community with unique needs, especially considering factors like internet access, digital literacy, and even the gadgets that the young women use. The Hub needed to solve real challenges that the community faces while not creating further frustrations for them.

So from that, I would say empathy was my biggest lesson from the co -creation of the Hub. I had to immerse myself in the shoes of a young woman in an area with very low to no internet connectivity. Who had not interacted with technology before to even understand any complicated user interface. And in that way, I would imagine the perfect digital hub that would serve her needs from that viewpoint. So empathy was really my biggest lesson.

I also learned that the co-creation process creates ownership, which ensures adoption and sustainability of the product — in this case — the Learner Guide Hub. In general, there was so much joy and excitement from the Learner Guides when they used the Hub for the very first time. And that on its own was very rewarding and fulfilling on my side.

Michelle: Thank you, Linda. This conversation has been nothing but wonderful. Thank you for giving us the insider scoop, for telling us the stories and realities of Learner Guides in rural African communities, and for sharing a solution that is supporting young women and girls to learn and thrive. Thank you again, Linda.

Linda: Thank you, Michelle.