GLOW Camp

In October, the PCVs in my region began planning a Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) camp. This is a very popular Peace Corps project that is done all over the world creating opportunities for travel, education, and leadership for young girls. My region decided to split into two GLOW camps: team lycee (high school) and team CEG (middle school). I joined team lycee as there are two lycees within 15km of my site. Another volunteer headed the grant which was submitted last March and we were the second project in ALL of Peace Corps to be included in the Let Girls Learn (LGL) initiative formed by Michelle Obama and Peace Corps.

In June, I held two mini camps at my site and invited 20 lycee seconde girls across two Saturdays. The first day we talked about goals setting and action plans lead by a good friend from my banking town. She was so full of energy and games for the girls which seemed to really motivate them. The second week the Ministry of Forestry spoke about the environmental situation in the region which is something the girls are not taught in school. My counterpart and I chose one girl from each fokontany (5 total) to attend the regional camp held in the capital. This was the first time for 3 of the girls to ever travel to Tana.

Our GLOW camp was comprised of just people from our region and there were a total of 20 girls, 4 counterparts, and 4 PCVs from three different towns that attended the week long Tana camp. On the first day, the girls were shy and sat with other girls from their same town but by the last day they were crying because they didn't to leave their new friends! We visited the Queen's palace, the US Embassy, the zoo, observatory, teacher's university, radio station, TV station, an orphanage, Youth First, and taught the girls softball and held a talent show in between. It was a tight schedule! The girls learned so much about leadership opportunities, volunteerism, education, and career paths. They were so motivated all week participating in activities and asking many questions! The activity they seemed to enjoy the most was volunteering at the orphanage for an afternoon. The girls lead short English lessons in small groups then lead games. They bonded so quickly with the children and asked to go back again the next day. I was so proud of them.

GLOW camp was one of the most impactful things I have been apart of in service so far. The girls learned so much and created lasting memories. They made made plans to present at their schools about what they learned at camp to spread the message of opportunities and programs available. A huge thank you to everyone that donated to our GLOW camp project! You helped these girls participate in a very memorable program and impact their lives through learning opportunities they may not have had otherwise. Misaotra indrindra!

With my girls and counterpart at the Queen's palace

Presenting action plans for long term goals with Youth First

At the zoo

Leading games at the orphanage

At the teacher's university

Learning to play softball

At the TV station

The certificate of GLOW Camp completion ceremony