Naja's mud-brick house is 100 feet from the main highway that bisects Tanzania. Her front window has been filled with cardboard bearing the words Bridge Hair Tonic. In the courtyard is a pig the family has named Atukombwe, or "let him save us".

The fact that Naja, 15, is being funded to go to secondary school by Camfed, the charity the FT is supporting in its seasonal appeal, will have a far more profound effect on the families' fortunes than the sale of one pig. Naja, an orphan, is a small, shy girl, who giggles into the sleeves of her school uniform. She lacks confidence but her tentative voice belies her determination.