Kasaï is one of the 21 provinces of the Democratic Republic of Congo, with a population of around 3.7 million.  

Located in the south west, it is one of the most deprived regions in the whole country – a country that already ranks in the top five poorest nations in the world. 

DRC is one of the worst places to be a child. And for those children who are female, outcomes are especially grim.  

When it comes to education - perhaps one of the surest routes out of poverty - girls are disproportionally disadvantaged.

The reasons for this are complex - but include discrimination, the burden of domestic responsibilities, unequal gender roles, and the risk of sexual gender-based violence (SGBV), including child pregnancy and early marriage. 

Approximately 60 per cent of Kasaï's population are classified as illiterate, and more than 30 per cent of girls aged six plus, and women, have received no formal education.  

ENTER AXE-FILLES 

Launched in Kasaï in 2023, the AXE-Filles programme is tackling the problem head-on. 

Acces et Égalité pour l’Éducation des Filles is a UK Aid funded programme  led and implemented by Save the Children, alongside local and international partners.  

World Vision, Humanity & Inclusion, Actions et Interventions pour le Développement et l'Encadrement Social (AIDES), Action pour l’Encadrement des Filles-Mères Découvreuses (AEFID), Viamo, Charlie Goldsmith Associates (CGA). 

The mission: to improve girls' lives and futures, starting with access to quality education. 

The method: Everything from building schools and latrines, to providing school kits, menstrual kits and uniforms, to training teachers, to providing childcare for teen mums so they can return to learning, to community outreach, to sexual and reproductive health classes, to vocational training in motorbike mechanics, tailoring, hair and beauty.

Save the Children set out to increase access to education for 60,000 children in the Kasaï region. In the first year alone more than 65,000 children have been reached, of which more than 34,000 are girls.  

Here we meet some of them.

Adel's story

When Adel was forced to drop out of primary school because her parents couldn't afford it, she spent every day doing maths and literacy exercises at home, in the hope that she would one day be able to return. 

When AXE-Filles came to town, her dream became a reality. Identified by the programme, Adel was able to return to school and today, the 13-year-old is thriving as the Head Girl.  

 As well as being able to focus again on her favourite subjects of maths and French, a whole new world has opened up, through her friends. Adel now has a sense of identity, of confidence and of belonging. The group refer to her as 'le chef' - the chief.

The way she talks about her girl gang might take you back to the characters you went to school with: 

As she hangs out with this brilliant group of girls, it’s hard to believe that a year ago Adel didn’t have any friends. Her father's sporadic work as a diamond miner meant there wasn't enough money to put her, as well as her older siblings, through school.

 Adel was stuck at home, but she didn’t give up. She spent her days at home doing academic exercises set by her dad.

The programme has rebuilt Adel’s old school, adding six new classrooms (and toilets), where before they used to learn under trees or corrugated-iron shelters. It has also trained teachers, including Adel and her friends’ favourite teacher Mr Kandu, set up SRH Clubs (sexual and reproductive health) and provided school kits and menstrual hygiene kits to the students. 

It’s fair to say, Adel’s seized the opportunity she’s been given with both hands. She excels at her studies. And now, with a maturity far beyond her 13 years, she has her sights on secondary school and dreams of becoming a nurse.  

Thanks to AXE-Filles, Adel and her friends get to laugh, play games, grow in confidence and enjoy the education they deserve. And as for the future:

Chouchou's story

The bullets weren’t meant for Chouchou*, but they would forever change the course of her life.  

It was 2017 and political violence was engulfing the Kasaï region of the DRC where she lived. Chouchou's parents had just been shot dead in front of her - and stray bullets had lodged in Chouchou’s knee. She was just a year old.  

Her grandma, Deba* fled with Chouchou and other family members, to Angola, where Chouchou’s left leg had to be amputated.  

Fast-forward to 2024.  Chouchou and Deba have long since returned to the DRC (in 2018), but the loss of her leg – and a lack of money – means Chouchou is essentially immobile and at the age of nine, hasn't ever been to school.  

But then came Patience, a truly extraordinary headteacher employed to run a catch-up school as part of Save the Children’s AXE-Filles programme.  She was running one of the AEPs (Accelerated Education Programme) centres, that have been set up across Kasaï , to help children catch up with lost learning.  

Patience was going house-to-house recruiting out-of-school children, when she came across Chouchou, sitting on the ground outside her hut. 

“When she told me her story, it touched me,” says Patience. “I didn't want to leave her.” So Patience decided to take matters into her own hands: “The next day I took Chouchou to school on my back,” she says. 

For the next six months, Patience carried Chouchou to school and back home again almost every day. It was a three kilometre walk that took the pair thirty minutes. Save the Children made sure Chouchou had everything she needed: a school bag, uniforms, pens and notepads – and later crutches, and then through partner Handicap International (also known as Humanity & Inclusion): a prosthetic leg.   

“I'm very happy as I received my plastic leg,” adds Chouchou. “I play games with friends. Me and my two friends, Carene and Marie, we play games on the floor.” 

Had she never met Patience, Chouchou still might have been isolated from other children, with nothing to do and no chance of a future. Now she’s learning, building friendships and dreaming of becoming a tailor when she leaves school. 

Bea's story

These are the words of 16-year-old Bea. Growing up in the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Bea had always dreamt of becoming a mechanic: “I’d never seen a female mechanic and wanted to be the first,” she explains. But when her mum died, Bea had to move in with her grandma, who didn't have the means to send her to school. Bea was forced to drop out. 

For three long years – from the age of 12 to 15 – she just stayed in the house “doing nothing”. 

Then one day she heard about Save the Children's AXE-Filles programme, who were looking to help girls with vocational training. Bea jumped at the chance to sign up – first for an initial literacy course, and then six months of mechanics training. 

Today she is a qualified motorbike mechanic, working at a roadside garage (where the rent is paid for by AXE Filles), with her friend Mado*, 16, the only other female mechanic in the area. Mado*, a single mum of one, has also been supported to train and now work through the AXE Filles programme.  

It's clear that Bea's found her passion.

As for the future, “I want to master the work and make lots of money and grow, so no man will bother me ” she says. And she hopes other girls will follow in her footsteps.

Mbombo*'s story

It was just an ordinary day when some guests arrived at Mbombo*'s home.

Her father asked her to bring them some chairs. She did as he asked, but as she approached the group, she was told that one of them, a man in his 50s, was to be her husband.  Arrangements had been made, money exchanged. In that pivotal moment, Mbombo* did an incredibly brave thing.

She said "no".

This was the sadly not unusual situation that the 16-year-old found herself in, in the Kasaï region of the DRC, where she lives.

But 2024 was also the year that Mbombo* started attending classes as part of AXE-Filles. At the SRH lessons (sexual and reproductive health) she learnt about puberty, gender and her rights:

Her mum Mputu* had also started learning about the very same issues - through the AXE-Filles' outreach events and sessions in the community - in particular those led by Papa Francis, a social worker and safeguarding lead at the local primary school. Papa Francis had already completed multiple Save the Children training sessions as part of the programme. And it is his help that Mputu and her daughter quickly sought. 

Papa Francis attempted to speak with Mbombo's father but it was futile. So he got the local chiefs involved and eventually the police. The dowry was returned to the man, and Mbombo's father left in shame, to live with his second wife.  

" I received training from Save the Children last year where we learnt all about child marriage.  We sensitise the community against it. We go out and raise awareness in the market and in the church." 

Today, Mbombo has managed to complete primary school and is now in the first year of secondary. She dreams of becoming a business woman and spends any spare time she can helping and learning from Papa Francis in his tailoring workshop. 

THE SRH CLUB KIDS

We all know that female empowerment doesn't start and end with girls. It takes a whole community.  

And that's where the AXE-Filles outreach and SRH (Sexual and Reproductive Health) clubs have come in.  

Every week in schools across Kasai, teens have been coming together to learn about their bodies, their relationships and their rights. Using puberty books co-written by Save the Children, the AXE-Fille trained mentors lead the young people in open discussion. 

The club offers somewhere to explore not only puberty and the physical changes they're experiencing - but also concepts around gender and children's rights. Old fashioned ideas are challenged and myths dispelled. No question is a stupid question.  

The result of these clubs is boys and girls who are starting to understand and respect one another, for both their similarities and their differences - and even taking their knowledge home to their parents. 

And from this, some beautiful ideas and friendships have been born... 

Mariam, 13

Mukongo & Bakase, 14

Mukongo: "In the past, we saw that only boys were attending school. We were told that girls should get married while their brothers should go to school. After joining the SRH Club, we understood this isn't true."

Bakase: “Before the SRH Club, I noticed that he started to push me away. He was afraid of our classmates who were saying that I was his wife, just because we were sat together at the same desk."

Bakase: "Now that we're friends, when I'm preparing fufu he helps me in arranging cassava leaves."

Mukongo:“When she goes to the market, I start by collecting cassava leaves in her family's farm, I put the cassava leaves on the stove. When she comes back home, then she thanks me.” 

Mimie & Joseph, 14

Mimie: "What makes me like Joseph is that when I get sick he goes to draw water for me."

"When he comes back from the river, he washes dishes, sweeps the house, and will get money from my parents to buy products from the market in my place."

"That's why I like him very much."

Joseph: “What makes me like Mimie is that when she comes home every day, we play card games, and set of six.

"When it starts getting late, I tell her I'll accompany her home."

Kabala, 14 & Mamie, 13

Mamie: "During an exam, if I don't have a response, Kabala always tells me the answer and vice versa.

"We're always working together as a team to find out the answers to give to the teacher."

Kabala: "I like Mamie as a class-mate because we are sharing skills and knowledge."

"We walk together and exchange ideas."

Mamie: "Before SRH Club we were embarrassed to play with boys. Now we hang out, go to the river together."

REACHED

Girls 34,155

Children 65,363

BUILT

Classrooms 174

Toilet blocks 58

AEP Centres 42

Handwash stations 805

TRAINED

Teachers 719 

Girls (vocational) 388 

DISTRIBUTED

School kits 40,761 

Hygiene kits 11,290 

SET-UP

SRH Clubs 456 

IDENTIFIED

Children with disabilities 927