Alo Alo! Bismillah! Welcome to Girls camp! You will learn about leadership, health, environment, human rights, and potential careers these growing girls can have as strong powerful woman.
This week was the first real project I have had since being in Senegal and has taken months to prep. About two girls at a middle school education came from all around the north-western part of Senegal to meet others and learn about their full potential!
The goal of this camp is to have the girls be led by their future. We invited Senegalese women to inspire the girls and answer any questions that they had about their career paths. Some volunteers also led some sessions about the environment and human rights talks. These sessions included the explanations of a statement where the girls decided if they agreed or disagreed with, for example “when you teach a man you teach an individual, when you teach a woman, you teach the world.” Through this the girls got a chance to show off their public speaking and grow in confidence of their own voice.
We also had a health day led by a local health center talking about sex ed, and theses incredibly smart girls steered the conversation to consent. It made me so proud. The girls also got taught on how to make reusable pads, I taught a session on nutrition, and we ended the day with a nice relaxation spa day consisting of a homemade face mask and meditation.
Finally, the week ended with the invitation of their family members where we explained what was taught to them and explained that these girls have learned so much about determination and their potential. A spark has been lit and their family needs to protect it and help it grow to the flame these girls can be.
One of the best things that happened (besides being forced by our camp team to act as boys getting circumcised for the cross-cultural fair) was the poetry these girls performed. Two girls stood up and started speaking. One girl in French, the language colonized in Senegal, and one in Wolof. The first girl took power in expressing in her perfect French while the second echoed and gave the weight of the message in Wolof. They spoke one after each other commanding the room and making the girls gasp and cheer at certain statements. They were presenting themselves in a way that was not seen by the volunteers and I. The message was clear they were speaking of the wrongdoings their country has done to girls like them, for too long.
The message was something we didn’t even express in the camp, but these two girls needed to express. Child marriage. It is illegal in Senegal; however, it does not stop it from happening. I was only comprehending some of the Wolof spoken but these girls had this presentation about them that they were a force to be reckoned with. They commanded our makeshift stage, made it into an amphitheater. They made everyone quiet for them. Everyone was hanging onto every breath and word they had.
It was a remarkable thing that was not made by anyone there, only by the girls. It was not made by the women leading the camp. It was not made by Peace Corps. It was made by these sixteen year old girls. They had a message that needed to be said and expressed to this group and needed everyone to hear.
And everyone listened to these girls.
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