Girls Leading Our World

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=637-105

While I hate to so quickly move past the fun I have had in the past few weeks with Christopher here, I do feel compelled to get back to life in Moshupa in terms of my on-going projects, particularly the GLOW Camp (maybe to even help me revive my spirits after having to say a tough goodbye for another few months). While the GLOW Camp is still three months away, we are in the process of raising funds from friends and family back home to make this activity happen. The grant has been processed and is finally posted on the Peace Corps website.  I am posting the link above and below if you are interested in seeing what exactly I am up to, what I hope to accomplish with this project, and how you can help.

***If the link is not working, please go to www.peacecorps.gov.
Click on "Donate to Volunteers Projects" on the left menu.
Click on "See all Volunteer Projects" on the right menu.
Scroll down until you see a listing for Botswana titled "Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World)".
You can make donations via this project listing. 

If you do not remember from my previous mention, GLOW stands for Girls Leading Our World. It was a program started in the 1990s in Romania and has since spread throughout many countries where Peace Corps Volunteers serve, particularly because in many of these countries we are dealing with comparable issues relating to female empowerment and gender inequalities.

The camp will be held at Moshupa Secondary School (in my village) from September 29 to October 3, 2012. The camp will include 45 different girls from 9 different villages around Southern Botswana. During these 5 days, Peace Corps Volunteers and community counterparts will be facilitating activities and discussions on topics like peer pressure, goal setting, money management, drug and alcohol abuse and other life skills to empower these girls to make healthy lifestyle choices. In a country with the second highest HIV prevalence rate in the world, it’s vital to incorporate discussions that address the behaviors and lifestyle choices to protect these girls from contracting HIV. Teenage pregnancy and sexual abuse are social issues particularly relevant to Batswana females and further complicate and exacerbate the spread of HIV. 

While one of our goals with the GLOW Camp is to empower these girls with the information necessary to lead healthy lives, we also intend to make it a fun and social atmosphere for the participants to see new a new village and to have them interact with girls from different villages that they might not otherwise have access to.  We are inviting Mothers for All (mothersforall.org) to teach the girls about bead-making and entrepreneurial endeavors. In addition, we are sharing a bit of our own means of recreation in tie-dying t-shirts, making smores over an open fire, and watching a movie with freshly popped popcorn.  As you can see, we are trying to gives these girls an opportunity to experience the fun atmosphere of a camp setting while also sharing valuable information and cross-cultural opportunities.

The grant was written through the Peace Corps Partnership Program (PCPP) and requires that the community raise at least 25% of the total budget for the proposed project. This 25% is accounted for in the way of in-kind donations with providing things like paper and pens and even granting us access to the facilities to host the event. In addition, local offices (such as the District AIDS Coordinating Office in which I work) is loaning a projector for a film screening and transportation to gather all other necessary supplies. Even by donating $28 USD (P225 Botswana Pula) it will pay for the cost of one representative from the Mothers for All organization to attend the camp. Even $7.50 (about P60) will cover the cost of one t-shirt for a participant at the camp. Any contribution that you can make would be helpful and know that there is no middleman in the implementation of this project. If you are interested in seeing an itemized budget, please email me.

Personally, I did not plan to do an activity that required any kind of solicitation from home. However, I discovered this GLOW Camp project and found it to be a fitting endeavor to address many of the needs of my community. It is just that it happens to be one of my largest, most encompassing projects here, requiring more funding than other activities.  I also sought to use the Peace Corps Partnership Program because I know many friends and family would like to contribute to my service by way of support in care packages or monetary donations. This is a means to support me and to donate to a project that is important to me.

https://donate.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=637-105

I am including some photos from the GLOW Camp I attended last year in Nata, Botswana to give you an idea on the kind of atmosphere and activities that make the camp such a success. It was also funded through a PCPP Grant and facilitated by local Peace Corps Volunteers.