Saturday, April 16, 2011

Camp GLOW

For the past two months I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to work with 3 other wonderful PCV's in organizing and planning a girls empowerment camp called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). Camp GLOW was first started in Romania by PCV's during the 1980's. It has since been picked up by fellow PCV's in countries throughout the world. In Zambia the camp has been going on for a few years in the different provinces throughout the country. However my province, Luapula, has never before planned and held a Camp GLOW. I am not exactly sure why, but it just never happened until this year when three girls who came a year before me and will finish their service in September decided to take on the task of planning the first camp from scratch. In late February, only two months before the camp was planned to start, one of the PCV's had to go home unexpectedly to take care of a family illness. It was at this time that the other two girls asked myself and my friend Tiffany to hop on the organizers committee to help them plan the camp. It was an honour to be asked to be such a vital part of such an important project so early in my service, and it is something that I will be forever thankful to them for. Therefore for the past two months my every thought and movement has mostly been around planning this camp. From getting things sent from the U.S., to going around to local businesses for donations, there was a lot that needed to happen in a very short time. However, it all got done and this past week Luapula province held its first Camp GLOW. It was indescribable.
The girls showed up this past Saturday to a catholic youth center that we had rented out for the week. There were 16 girls and 8 mentors. Eight PCV's were asked to bring two girls from their village, ranging in age from 13-16 ( grade 7 and 8) and a mentor who was a women in the community which was well respected and would continue to work in forming a GLOW group back in the community after the camp was finished. We had everyone from teachers, to Traditional Birthing Attendents to Women's development leaders. It was quite an amazing group of women that I was lucky enough to get to know throughout the week. The week was filled with educational sessions on issues which have been proven to hold girls back from succeeding, especially in Zambia. We discussed boyfriends and peer pressure, early marriage, HIV/AIDS, rape and sexual assault, reproductive health, women and traditional rituals, confidence and motivation, educational goals and ended the week with a career panel filled with women that had grown up in the village and were now working women in Mansa, the provincial capital where the camp was held. It was an amazing week and the girls were absolutely incredible. They participated in a way that I have never seen girls in Zambia perform, they opened up about very personal and sometimes painful issues and they grew close to one another as the week continued. They also were able to participate in the fun camp activities that I as well as my fellow organizers remember so well about our summers at camp. We had a movie night with popcorn, arts and crafts sessions to decorate journals and tshirts, sports which included an intense game of netball, friendship bracelet making, a talent show and finally a bonfire on the last night that was filled with dancing, singing and of course Smores. At the end of the week it was like the last day of camp that I remember so clearly from every summer of my youth. There was lots of hugging, some exchanging of information and all smiles as they all departed with a bag filled with lots of goodies, but more importantly with friendships and knowledge that they will hopefully take back to their village and continue to spread to their friends and peers. It was by far the most impactful week of my service this far. To teach these girls the basics of puberty and how their own bodies work, which they would have never known if they hadn't been to this camp ( because its just not taught in schools or really talked about in home life) is just one of the things which really seemed to hit me hard. It makes you appreciate your upbringing and all of the education and knowledge that we took for granted as well as how important it is to spread that knowledge to others who might not have had the opportunity otherwise. To sum up the camp in one blog is nearly impossible, however my friend tiffany did make a slide show that we showed at the end of the camp which is attached to my facebook page. So please look at that to see all of the smiling faces and wonderful girls and women that I was able to get to know over this past week. Peace Corps has its highs and lows, as does life, however this past week was why I have always wanted to do Peace Corps. To see such a difference that you can make in 5 short days makes you wonder the difference that you can make in two years or even a lifetime of work. I am not saying that some of the girls might go back to the village and ignore everything they were taught, as they are 13 year old girls and that is a reality with anything you do. However with my service I have realized if I only changed one girls mind about staying in school, using a condom, or standing up for themselves in school or at home, than I think it was all worth it. I hope you all check out the slideshow. It is pretty wonderful and tiff did an amazing job on it. So now I am off to Livingstone for a short vacation after a long two months of work, just the next adventure in my service! Thank you all for continuing to read, keeping in touch and being so supportive from near and far.

Lots of love to everyone,

Kelsey/Bupe