OUT OF EVERY 100 GIRLS IN MALAWI WHO BEGIN STANDARD 1, ONLY ABOUT THREE WILL ENTER INTO SECONDARY EDUCATION. OF THOSE THREE, ONLY ONE WILL ENTER UNIVERSITY.

CARE believes a strategic entry point for education and engagement of policymakers and key stakeholders is through travel to see the impact made by effective development programs. Several times a year, CARE hosts high-level delegations in the countries where they work to experience firsthand the impact of U.S. investments on the ground. These learning tours can be transformative for the participants.

We traveled on one of these learning tours with U.S. Representative Barbara Lee (D-CA 13th District) to Malawi when she visited one of CARE's Join My Village programs. In Malawi, many families don't have enough money to send their children to school. Some parents force their girls to stay home and do household chores or get married at an early age. Schools are often far away and it can be dangerous for girls walking alone. CARE's Join My Village initiative provides scholarships so girls can stay in school.

Our goal was to capture the story on the ground and Representative Lee's visit to create two films: one focused on a Malawian student that could be used as a general educational piece about Join My Village and and a second film featuring Representative Lee's reflections on the trip and the importance of girl's education.

We had limited time so we had to work fast and on the spot. We visited the school a day in advance of the delegation so we could film an interview with one of the students and b-roll. The school pre-selected a dozen potential students to work with. We started by conducting a group interview which we used to narrow the options down to one girl who we would focus on for the rest of the day. We chose 13-year-old Mwai Banda—a charismatic, bright-eyed, young and ambitious student.

We filmed an interview with Mwai and then followed her to her dorm, classroom, and finally home. On the day the delegation visited her school, we made sure that Mwai and Representative Lee had time to chat and get to know each other. Afterwards, we recorded an interview with Representative Lee about her experience. In the end, we were able to use the footage to create the two separate, but complimentary films about empowering girls in Malawi.

About Join My Village: Join My Village is a unique initiative that unites corporate philanthropy and public engagement to make real progress toward ending global poverty and hunger. With support from Cargill and General Mills, Join My Village supports CARE programs in education, food and agriculture, and economic empowerment.

About the Client: CARE is a leading humanitarian organization fighting global poverty. They place a special focus on working alongside marginalized women because, equipped with the proper resources, women have the power to help whole families and entire communities escape poverty.