A Week In Review

Eight days later and it is  safe to say that all of our wonderful campers and wacky counselors and staff have made it back home to share all that they learned throughout the week.

The remainder of camp went off without a hitch... The boys from BUILD visited us along with Mr. Ambassador, tribal dances were performed, certificates were handed out, dances commenced under the African sky, and our campers broke out of their shells with confidence and energy that exuded all expectations!

I for one did not want GLOW to end and truthfully speaking it is just beginning.  The girls left camp empowered for their future and excited to share all they learned.  The message is starting to spread like wildfire and I have extreme faith in our GLOWing girls to be the agents of change for their country.

In true Tara fashion, I broke down at our closing ceremonies.  The girl's wanted each of us to give a speech and I was eager to do so.  I simply explained to them all that as a Peace Corps Volunteer it is easy to get unmotivated... From the language barrier and lack of appreciation to the daily requests for money and cultural differences.  But then comes Camp... A week where you can see the growth and change in the future of this country.  A week where hard work and planning are much appreciated and the knowledge is being used to help others.  A week that puts every other week and our whole service into perspective.  A week that re-motivates, re-energizes, and re-connects us as to why we are here.

Written by one of your GLOWing Co-Directors, Tara

Air, Water, Flour and Dreams. Day 3 at Camp GLOW!

Day 3 at Camp GLOW, the girls learned the significance of assertiveness and decision making.  Being aware of how we project ourselves when interacting with others and how that can elicit very different responses.  Our goal is to teach our girls to be more assertive and that it is not synonymous with being rude or threatening.  Counselors demonstrated the difference between being assertive, aggressive, and passive so they can visually see and hear how words can convey different meanings based on tone and body language.  We are trying to empower our girls to speak up for themselves and to be confident so that they can ultimately grow up to be our future leaders.

In the business development session we encouraged girls to save money in fun, creative ways.  Sewing their own money pouch is a simple activity that can be especially motivating for our girls.  Most already know how to sew, so we used that existing skill and simply showed them how to create and design something new and exciting while also serving as an income generating activity. 

In our goal setting session we asked the girls to imagine their future.  What will they study?  What career will they have?  Where will they be in 10 years?  What will they be doing?  We then had them draw what they wanted to accomplish by 2023.  Along with explaining what goals are, and the importance of both short term and long term goals, we tried to get them to imagine a future that they wanted—not one that someone else wanted for them.  This was actually a difficult task as many of them have never really considered what they want to do in life; their culture tells them that their desires are irrelevant, and so many of them have begun to feel irrelevant.  But we have been prodding the fire of imagination, creativity and desire, and it is quite remarkable to witness the result—to see the girls dare to dream.  We asked the girls to stand up and answer the question, “Who are you?”  Though in the beginning they stumbled awkwardly and whispered timidly to the class, some of them began to find their voice.  They are women.  They are strong, independent, confident.  They have dreams.  And they have the ability to change the world.   

And as always we had a healthy dose of fun.  We played a game called Air, Water, Flour, where three girls sat down and three other girls danced about behind them with buckets filled of one of the above substances.  When the music stopped, the girls dumped the contents of the bucket onto whichever girl was in front of them: air, water or flour.  The reactions were fantastic.  Take a look:

Teamwork Tuesday!!!

Today has been an incredible day.  By the evening the girls were really bonding.  They chanted their team names at the top of their lungs as they swarmed into the cafeteria; during announcements cheers erupted over even the most insignificant details.  It is amazing to see the connections that have been forged in just two days.

Inspiring Ugandan girls to follow their journeys is no easy task.  In a culture where the norm for women is to be in the background and stay at home, overcoming this social subjugation can be especially isolating and taboo.  Day 2 at camp G.L.O.W we dealt with this head on.  Counselors led sessions on healthy living, RUMPs, the environment and teamwork.

Building upon and reinforcing yesterdays message of self-esteem, we discussed the biological mechanisms of the menstrual cycle and that this natural phenomenon should not be feared or ashamed but embraced.  Teaching girls how to sew RUMPs (Re-Usable Menstrual Pads) is particularly empowering; it allows them to attend school without fear of staining their clothes and learn a new income generating activity enabling them to start building their foundation for independence.

We continued to focus on teamwork today as well.  Our obstacle course was designed to challenge the girls to think creatively and work together.  

Even though the girls had to start over numerous times because they would forget about the team and focus on individual performance, the celebration of success was all the sweeter when they finally finished together.  

Our First Full Day of Camp GLOW!

Good morning Camp GLOW!!!  This is the view we woke up to looking out over Lake Victoria.

We are still in the middle of our first full day of Camp GLOW 2013, but when the day starts at 6:00 am, a lot can happen by mid-afternoon.  The theme for today has been Self Esteem, which was incorporated into each of the four sessions: Lifeskills, Business Development, Teamwork and Healthy Living.  The girls split up into different classrooms depending on their ‘bird group.’  By the end of the day, each session will have been taught four times.  To encourage active participation and so each camper will have opportunities to speak, we kept class sizes as small as possible. 

Today our healthy living sessions focused on Malaria awareness and net repairs.  The girls were able to practice repairing real nets and also have fun playing games and singing songs focusing on the awareness aspect. 

Our other sessions included Financial Literacy, Communication Skills and Self-Esteem.  Though some of these sessions had a more serious tone, all were mixed with games, discussion and interaction.  A goal of Camp GLOW is to help girls think beyond their current situation—to explore, to dream, and to understand that what they may have always considered impossible is actually possible.  Therefore our sessions, such as financial literacy and communication, along with all the other sessions, aim to show the girls that they have the skills, confidence and ability to be independent.  We are trying to show them that they have the power to choose who they want to be.   

Our guest speaker today was Abraham from Breakdance Project Uganda (BPU), an organization that uses hip hop to build leadership skills and promote social responsibility.  The project believes that everyone has the capacity to be a positive role model to others—an idea that Abraham conveyed to the girls.  He also spoke about how we are all teachers and students, that we each have something to teach and something to learn.  He told us, “where you are now doesn’t dictate the rest of your life.”

This is all pretty serious.  But let’s not forget…this is camp, and camp is supposed to be fun, right? Well, we have had plenty of that too.  From playing games within individual bird groups to camp-wide games where all 130 girls participate, today has been filled with laughs, smiles, hugs and team-bonding.  

This afternoon the girls ran through an obstacle course.  They passed water balloons between each other, hopped in potato sacks, jumped over hurdles, guided one another blindfolded, and strapped legs to each other for three-legged races. 

Though each team was technically competing with each other, it was amazing to see the camaraderie between all the girls—even those in different bird groups.  The girls would scream and cheer for whichever team was running the course.  The event felt like a massive celebration.  

There are few things that feel as good as seeing young girls smile and laugh unabashedly.   And that is what camp G.L.O.W. is all about: a place for Ugandan youths to be youths, a safe space where they can let go of all of life’s hardship and let each of their unique personalities GLOW.  

The Day Before the Big Day

The counselors and staff made their way to St. Theresa Girls Primary School in Entebbe on Friday, just a couple of days before the girls arrive, in order to get ready for Camp GLOW 2013.  The group of 44 staff and counselors come from all over Uganda, many travelling over a day just to get here.  After orientation on Friday night, it was clear that the coordinators—Tara, Mikael and Meish—have been hard at work planning this camp for months.  Everything is incredibly well thought-out and organized.

The directors having a powwow

Last night the newly arrived counselors moved into the massive dorm rooms and enjoyed a quiet evening, as they will soon be accompanied by 135 excited girls between the ages of 13 and 17.  They are all trying to keep their excitement in check—some more successfully than others— as they know just how much they will need it for the next week of non-stop fun, learning and empowerment.

Today, the counselors are in training.  

They began the morning with an ice-breaker in the form of a scavenger hunt, each PCV counselor teaming up with their Ugandan counterpart.  Throughout the rest of the day they are running through skits, preparing lesson plans, learning positive discipline strategies and receiving training in sensitive issues and counseling.  

Though it is undoubtedly hard work and makes for a long day, there is no hiding the anticipation all the staff are feeling for the girls’ arrival in just 24 hours.    

GLOWing in The Spotlight

Last week was the grand opening of the Peace Corps Office in Kampala.  The staff wanted to showcase various Volunteer's projects, everything from IGA's and VSLA's to malaria workshops and of course, the camps!

Peace Corps asked if BUILD and GLOW could showcase the work we do with the youth and that I did.  I was provided scrapbook paper, glue, and cardboard... All of which made my post-Resident Advisor dreams come true.  I was able to type up some information about what it is that the camps do, some data on our monitoring and evaluation, post camp success stories, and of course, pictures!

Let me back up a second and talk about BUILD, which stands for Boys of Uganda In Leadership and Development.  BUILD is the sister... Or brother... Or let's just call it a sibling camp to GLOW.  The major difference is that BUILD is for the boys and GLOW is for the girls.  BUILD addresses similar topics, including HIV/AIDS, family planning, reproductive health, gender roles, and teamwork.  The also talk about domestic violence, alcohol use, and other things that are more male dominated.

We are looking forward to our day with the boys at this years camp.

T-Minus 29 days.

Written by one of your GLOWing Co-Directors, Tara

RA "Mama T" Back In Action

Camp Crunch Time!

The countdown is on with three and a half weeks until the most incredible week commences in Uganda.  

The grant money is in!

T-shirts are ordered.

Permission slips are distributed and hopefully being signed... Ahem Peace Corps Volunteers!

Theme is decided.  Drumroll please... BIRDS!  Uganda is known for the 1,061 different species of these animals so why not?!

The Co-Directors are working hard to finalize guest speakers, session facilitators, and how to transport all the kids but it will all come together.  

Hopefully the week of 18th will include bargain shopping in Kampala for fabric and camp supplies and will end with the putting together of 150 RUMPS (Re-Usable Menstrual Pads) and coin purse packets.

Send us your positive energy as we kick it into high gear!

Written by one of your GLOWing Co-Directors, Tara