Today concluded a week-long regional girls' camp organized by local Peace Corps volunteers. We called the camp "Girls of the Future" because that is what we were training the girls to be. We motivated them stay in school in order to fulfill their career dreams, and we also taught them about how to stay healthy, be good shepherds of the environment, and more. We are hoping that they will apply the lessons learned to their own lives and also be models for their communities.
Nine volunteers ran the camp and we invited girls from nine villages, for a grand total of 28 girls. Each volunteer invited the top 3-6 girls from his/her local middle school. During camp, I led or facilitated sessions on puberty, reproductive health, pregnancy, nutrition, diarrhea, potable water, hygiene, malaria, the importance of education, careers, sexual harassment, and more. Since it was a residential camp, the girls stayed in dorms and ate all their meals on site.
Overall, I was very impressed with the girls. As corny as it may sound, they made me feel very hopeful for Benin's future.
Here are some photos:
Nine volunteers ran the camp and we invited girls from nine villages, for a grand total of 28 girls. Each volunteer invited the top 3-6 girls from his/her local middle school. During camp, I led or facilitated sessions on puberty, reproductive health, pregnancy, nutrition, diarrhea, potable water, hygiene, malaria, the importance of education, careers, sexual harassment, and more. Since it was a residential camp, the girls stayed in dorms and ate all their meals on site.
Overall, I was very impressed with the girls. As corny as it may sound, they made me feel very hopeful for Benin's future.
Here are some photos:
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| These girls are performing a skit on sanitation practices. The girl on the right is pretending to defecate in a pond from which many others get drinking water, and the girl on the left is explaining to her why she should not do that. |
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| Group photo at the end of camp |
It takes education and the ability and willingness to put what they've learned in practice. Your week will certainly planted ideas that could change what happens in their villages.
ReplyDeleteI saw one of the girls today and she told me that she plans to spend the summer teaching people about potable water and how to use water purification tablets.
ReplyDeleteYea Alex!! Looks as though you have made a difference already.
ReplyDeleteJean Ralley
What a great idea to have a camp like this! I just got caught up on your posts, and it looks like you are truly making an impact there (as well as them making an impact on you). Good luck with your garden!
ReplyDeleteOh, and I've been thinking of you quite a bit recently because I'm home for the summer, and I keep hearing about RAGBRAI on the news practically every day. :-)
ReplyDeleteI wish I could do RAGBRAI this year! It's going through my dad's hometown, the city my sister used to live in, and a lot of other towns where I have close relatives.
ReplyDeleteAre you in Dubai these days? I don't remember.
I'm sure you would have enjoyed it even more than usual since the weather was so nice this year. :-) I'll be moving to Abu Dhabi in a couple weeks, so I'm starting to get both excited and insanely nervous. lol I really hope I like this job and the city well enough to stay for my entire three year contract (and then some). I'm getting annoyed with moving around so often. Fingers crossed. :-) Take care!
DeleteIt looks like most of the young girls have very short hair. Is this because of the heat? Ease of care? Culture? Bugs?
ReplyDeleteGirls are required to shave their heads for school so that they aren't too attractive to fellow students or teachers. Now that it's summer, they'll let their hair grow out a bit or get fake braids until they have to cut their hair again for the new school year.
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