Camp GLOW 2012

 This last week has been one of the best for me here in Kenya. I've been so inspired by all the girls at Camp GLOW and have really felt like I've made a serious difference in their lives.

Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) is a week long girls camp we hold in Kisumu every year. Each volunteer involved nominates 2 girls to go to the camp. It's an amazing experience because my girls had never been out of the village and they were able to meet girls from other parts of Kenya. Besides learning about health and business, the camp is empowering and stands up for the idea that every young woman can make a difference in their communities. The girls had the chance to do mock income generating activities, arts and crafts, condom relays and condom balloon toss, see a women's shelter and even go on a walking safari. We took the girls to the airport because many of them had never seen a plane!

 Everyday had a different health topic ranging from HIV/AIDS and STIs to Self Defence to Goal Setting and much more! There's no creative learning in Kenya so it was a great chance for the girls to learn other ways then to just simply get lectured at and memorize things. They got real life experience!

We also had a talent show which was so fun! My friend David and I were the MCs and we did our own little dance from the movie Dirty Dancing. The girls talents were really good too! Some sang songs, some did poems and others danced. It was adorable!

The best part of the camp for me was working with the deaf girls. Peace Corps has a Deaf Education sector and they mix with our camp. By the end of the week the hearing girls were using sign language and hanging out with the deaf girls! The deaf girls even did a play for the talent show. It was just so awesome to see because disabilities are not supported in Kenya like they are in America. Deaf girls get hidden away in their villages because the parents don't know what to do with them. They get denied education and normal lives just because of ignorance. So, if anything, the hearing girls learned that deaf people are no different than themselves. It was seriously incredible!

It was sad to leave camp at the end of the week! You really start to get to know some of the girls well and they've all made so many friends. My plan now is to work with the girls I brought to camp to be ambassadors with me in the village. I want to do my own small scale camp and my girls can be teachers for their friends. This was probably the best thing I've done so far and hope I can be involved more. I love working with the youth and empowering them on how to make good life decisions.


If you are interested in donating to Gender related projects such as Camp GLOW, you can make a 100% tax deductible contribution at https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=615-CFD

In the comment section make sure to write that it is for GAD (Gender and Development). Remember ALL the money goes directly to volunteers, no admin fees! Yay!