Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) is a program run by Peace Corps Volunteers around the world. It is a weeklong camp that focus’ on gender equality, imparting health and guidance, and sharing knowledge and ideas in a safe and secure environment. Each Camp GLOW around the world focuses on issues pertinent to their specific countries’ needs and desires.
Swaziland has never held a Camp GLOW before and so 2 years ago, upon first coming into Swaziland and bearing witness to this heavily male dominated society where to be an outspoken, smart, and confident woman is discouraged and very rare to find, my friends and I decided to bring Camp GLOW here! Being that Swaziland has the world’s highest HIV prevalence rate, we focused our camp on educating young women to make healthy decisions, to take control of their body and mind, and to empower them so they might become a leader in their communities. It took 2 years of planning and coordinating for this camp to happen but on April 23, 2012- it came together and we did it!
Our camp consisted of 11 PCVs (8 people in my group-G8, and 3 leaders selected from the new group-G9). Each PCV brought 1 Counterpart (a leader in their communities) and 3 girls from each community. Though there were a lot of hitches and room for much improvement in the future, I cannot be happier with the outcome. It went better than expected, and went smoothly for a first ever Camp GLOW!
Each day held a specific theme. On April 23rd, our girls arrived to camp, settled in, got to know each other, and we went over basic rules and expectations.
The 24th was Art Day where we had some wonderful guests assist us. Yebo! Art Gallery was the highlight of the day (and even perhaps of the week)! Yebo! brought in 3 artists from Swaziland and South Africa who showed the girls creative outlets in which they can express themselves through painting, drawing and collage making. They also taught them how to screen print t-shirts. It took some time for the girls to hone in their creative side, but once they got going, it was hard to stop! We had creative writing sessions and TUSEME, a drama group, work with the girls in expressing themselves and opening up.
The 25th was our Health Day. Our Peace Corps Medical Officer (PCMO) came in and led our session on Grief and Loss. This is where the girls opened up about their lives, experiences, and the pain, loss, and heartache they’ve been through in their short lives. Some girls have HIV, most have family members who have died from AIDS, and all have experienced death of some sort- from a friend, family member or someone in their community. Following this we had guests talk about Substance Abuse addressing drug and alcohol abuse here in Swaziland. We took a break and hiked at Mabuda Farms giving the girls some fresh air and time to contemplate. Closing off the day we held our sexual reproductive health sessions talking about everything from the body, to using tampons and pads, to learning how to use male and female condoms.
On the 26th we had our Conservation Day! We had a conservationist come in and talk about volunteering, what it means to volunteer in the communities and in our daily lives, and how we can protect and conserve our surroundings. We then left for Hlane Game Park where the girls went on a nature walk. 5 of us PCVs parted ways and went on a game drive. :D
The 27th was Futures Day- going through everything regarding their future. We had a lawyer come in and talk to the girls about women’s rights in Swaziland. Most people are unaware that women legally have rights and this was a very important session for them. We had SWAGGA come in and talk about abuse (physical and sexual abuse) and what the girls can do about it, who they can talk to and what their options are. Later in the day we had a career fair as well as a female and male panel. The female panel consisted of 5 powerful women in Swaziland who hold jobs otherwise deemed as “male leadership positions”. They talked to the girls about their struggles, the obstacles they overcame, and how they made it that far. The male panel was just as inspirational and possibly even more needed as the female panel. It consisted of 4 men varying in jobs, who told the girls that they believe in women, they value women’s education and health, they admire and respect the strong and independent women in their lives and they hold to the understanding that Swaziland will not succeed until girls learn to respect themselves and are respected and valued by others. The girls were touched and highly moved by all presentation panelists.
The 28th was our departure day. We talked about setting personal goals, goals for their communities, and what they want to teach to their GLOW clubs in the communities.
All in all it was a fun filled, information packed week. Despite the exhaustion (going from 6am-11pm daily) and terrible nights of sleep (our Swazi counterparts were incredibly excited keeping us up until 2-3 am and waking up around 4-5am), the outcome was worth it. My girls had never left the community before and they soaked everything in like a dry sponge. Just seeing them smile made it all worth it.
