And this is why we have Camp GLOW

The taxi driver pulled the car to the right side of highway right after the checkpoint in the road, marked by a car with a police helmet on top of it and several men standing around in uniforms that make them look more important than they actually are.

The police walked to the car with the swagger of law enforcement officials. His was more accentuated than in the US, but he also carries an AK-47 as part of job.

He covertly took the 500 CFA coin out of the driver’s left hand and bent over to peer inside the open window. The volunteer sitting next to me and I directed our eyes elsewhere.

We shouldn’t have worried. It wasn’t us he was interested in. Doing a remarkable portrayal of a man in front of a meat counter choosing a cut of steak he regarded the five middle school girls we were taking back to our villages after a weeklong girls camps.

“Those are some pretty girls you have there,” he said before pivoting on his back foot and signaling to the gate operator to let us pass. 

The most meaningful compliment I've ever received

My student, Florentine, raised her hand to share what she had written during our “Black is Beautiful” session today. (Skin whiteners have a huge market in Benin, and the desire to have skin that is the color of my skin is strong. This, though, is not the post to talk about that.) The instructions for the final question on her worksheet was to write what two internal aspects of her partner’s character she admired.

She chose me.

When she was called on, she stood up strong and proud. Stronger and prouder than I remember standing when I was 15 years old. 

“I love Madame Emily’s beauty,” she says. “I love her strength. I love her bravery.”

Sometimes camps are as much for the counselors as for the campers.

Summer project #1

Like all good teachers, I’m looking forward to three months of no lesson planning, no quizzes to grade and having my voice a majority of the time due to a significant decrease in the time it is raised.

I’ll be filling most of my time with my students at various camps. (two for female empowerment and one English spelling bee where my students will be competing against students of other Peace Corps volunteers.) The one that I’m most excited for, and the one that I feel can influence the most amount of change, and the one that I feel is most necessary in this community, is Camp GLOW Parakou, a weeklong camp for girls where we try to share as much knowledge as possible to help these girls live successfully. (Malaria, nutrition, relationship advice, sexual health and images of beauty are all things about which we will be talking.)

Camp GLOW, like all the projects in which I’ll be participating this summer, is volunteer run, which means we have come to the unfortunate part of my job where I have to solicit funds from my friends and family because the $3 I’m paid a day doesn’t really allow for big things to happen. (And unfortunately, I already know this is not the last time I will need to do this.)

And unfortunately, unless the project is fully funded from people like you, it will not happen. My sincerest gratitude for anything that you are able to give.

Link and official project description are below. 

Camp GLOW

Since 2004, Peace Corps Volunteers from Northeastern Benin have coordinated with local organizations to run a girls’ empowerment camp in the capital of the local region. This year Peace Corps and the University of Parakou, the prestigious local university, will invite 50 girls from villages in the regions to participate in this opportunity. In addition, 6 girls from Camp G.L.O.W. 2012 have been invited back as junior counselors to help with the camp this year. Six model women will be selected from the communities to accompany the girls. These women, called ‘tutrices’, will act as a role models, facilitators, and chaperones for the duration of the camp and ultimately as a more permanent resource for the community. Throughout the week, the participants will be led through sessions on how to bring their new skills and the ideals of Camp G.L.O.W. back to their villages, specifically to other girls of the same age group. Each day is filled with sessions on leading a healthy lifestyle, the rights of women and children, health education, nutritional gardening, goal setting, and effective study skills. All of the sessions are to be co-led by tutrices and their Peace Corps volunteer. By targeting girls of this age, the ultimate goal is to motivate them to continue their education and develop the skills necessary to grow into successful, confident, multi-talented women in a developing country.