One of the projects in Peace Corps I am the most excited to be taking part in is Camp Glow (GLOW = Girls Leading Our World). This is a worldwide activity that PCV’s around the world put on every year. It’s a girl’s empowerment project, which is something I think is very important for so many young women around the world. This year I came as a sort of helper/observer, next year myself and 2 other volunteers in my province will be in charge of organizing the camp (yay grant writing!).
This year’s camp focused on so many topics. Unfortunately in Africa girls are lowest on the totem pole. There are a lot of opportunities denied to them, usually their education. Worse is that many are in sexually abusive environments and have no one to turn to for help or even understanding. Things are getting better but it is still a huge issue. On top of that, they have to deal with all the same issues American teens do; acne, boys, getting their period, and weird body changes. This camp is a safe environment to discuss it all.
This year we talked about sugar daddies, prostitution, HIV, STI’s, hygiene, self-esteem, puberty, did condom demos, counseled them on sexual abuse, talked about staying in school, offered STI testing and on top of it all we got to do some rock climbing and canoeing.
It’s a really brilliant program and it is a pleasure to be a part of it.
Video of our slideshow!
No comments:
Post a Comment