Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Girls Leading Our World :: Camp GLOW


Last September as Noxolo and I were coming up with the goals for our Alexandria Girls Clubs one of them was “to hold a Camp GLOW”.  That goal finally became a reality this October 1st – 5th as six counselors and twenty learners from Ukhanyo Secondary School and Alexandria High School joined us at Bushbuck Adventure Camp for a week like nothing we had ever experienced! 

Planning Stages
As soon as I heard of Camp GLOW (a program that was started by PCVs in Romania in 1995) I knew it was something I wanted to do with my time in the Peace Corps – and I knew it would be my biggest project.  I worked in the Leadership and Service office at ISU – leadership development is kind of my nerdy thing.  After participating in a life-changing week long leadership program myself (and then working as the Student Coordinator of it for three years) I knew how immensely impactful, wonderful, and fun a week long leadership camp could be – and my standards were set high.  Using my experiences in the Leadership and Service office, including things from Alternative Spring Breaks I began the task of putting together a week long leadership camp focusing on four things: leadership (obviously), HIV/AIDS & wellness, personal discovery and growth, and female empowerment.  These four overarching themes directed each and every lesson and activity that we did. 

The week was put together to follow daily themes: community, the value of you, challenging the status quo, leading with your values, and taking it home.  Each day we had a goal which correlated to the daily theme as we worked through our lessons and activities.  The Camp GLOW curriculum took me a looooooooong time to put together and in total was 144 pages.  The counselor’s manuals were a detailed, step by step guide for staff.  They included: facilitator training, the daily to do list, the daily curriculum, inspirational materials, and ice breakers and energizers. 

The Camp GLOW [Rock Stars] Staff
Starting in June the planning committee (aka the Camp GLOW staff) started meeting to prepare and plan.  Putting together our staff was something that came together amazingly easy.  I needed a group of committed women, who were already positive role models in their community that would be willing to not only spend an entire week working for free, but also spend four full months planning and meeting.  I had my eyes open for good counterparts and was able to find an AMAZING group of women for the camp.  Our lead facilitators would be Noxolo (an employee of the local Department of Social Development, and Alexandria Girls Club leader) and me.  One of my best friends in the Peace Corps Sam offered to come down and help out and she served as our site coordinator.  She was my right hand woman throughout the whole week and helped to make sure it all went smoothly (which it did thanks to her!).

Our Sister Leaders – the women who would be interacting with the girls on a much more personal level as their small group leaders (aka Sister Teams) were all made for this job!  Phindiswa and Nelly both work for the Department of Education as “learner support agents” comparable to social workers at the local schools.  Elgene works as a monitor at the Alexandria Christian Academy and runs the youth programs at the church I attend.  She got her sister Kaylynn to fill in as our fourth Sister Leader – unfortunately Kaylynn was unable to actually come because she got a new job that began on the same day as Camp; but she was an invaluable asset to our planning committee in the months leading up to GLOW. 

Something that makes me really proud of our GLOW is that not only was it empowering the learners we had from the schools, but also our staff.  This was such a unique opportunity for them to learn and grow professionally and personally.  These women are passionately committed to seeing the people of their community empowered – and it is truly inspiring to see all the hard work they put into their roles as Camp GLOW staff.  I am so grateful, blessed, and inspired by them continually!  My expectations of them were extremely high and they were there ready to rise to each and every challenge I put in front of them.  They did an outstanding job and I’m so proud of all of them!

The Camp
After four months of Saturday planning committee meetings, me stalking the participants and their schools, three shopping trips to Port Elizabeth for supplies, and endless hours of preparation the week finally arrived – Camp GLOW!  All of our participants showed up (I was worried that someone would forget despite my mass text messages of last minute reminders) and the camp began!

At first the girls were shy and quite, a little apprehensive and not quite sure what to expect.  That quickly changed and by day two we could see the girls coming out of their shells.  By day three we were astounded at some of the transformations we were seeing.  Girls that hadn’t said a single word were suddenly speaking up in the big group discussions – it was so encouraging.  The following are some of the highlights of the week…

Day Two:
A LOT of girls cited learning about their values on day two as one of their favorite things about Camp GLOW.  The focus was on learning about who you are, what you value – your “core values” and then congruence between your values and actions.  I think this message really impacted them! 

The challenge course – was not only hilarious but a great workout!  A lot of girls enjoyed this part of the day and working on their team building – doing activities like the human knot.  The key message of the day was that each of us has our own value that we bring to the table but it’s also critical for leaders to be able to work well on team!   

Know Your Epidemic – this was one of the only times that we actually discussed HIV/AIDS at Camp GLOW.  Part of the reason is – all of the youth in my community know what behaviors are risky and put them in danger of contracting HIV.  They know what HIV is, they understand how it can affect you, and that it can’t be cured.  What they don’t know is exactly what HIV looks like in South Africa as a nation.  It is not widely understood that HIV is actually a pandemic in South Africa and exactly how widespread it is here (and that it is not how it is in the rest of the world).  In my opinion – you cannot fight something if you don’t really understand it.  If the youth of this country don’t understand that they have a unique challenge to overcome in regards to HIV they will not be able to see an HIV free generation.  We showed the comparison to statistics on HIV in the United States and South Africa.  The small group discussions that took place as part of this session were amazing!

Day Three:
Why Gender Matters: we talked about the difference between sex and gender, did an activity that demonstrated how much influence gender stereotypes have on us, and discussed why this is important for us to talk about and relevant to them. 

Dream Big: Vision and Goals Development: Each participant went through the process of developing a vision and goals.  A vision was something that was “others focused” – an improvement that they wanted to see in their community.  The focus was not on individual desires and goals – by going through this process they could apply it to their own personal lives, but we wanted to encourage community involvement and active citizenship.  This was very powerful to many of them, especially at their age (15-19) as they generally aren’t used to thinking about how they can impact their community.  The visions and goals that they developed were so incredibly inspiring!  These ladies have big dreams and hopes for their community!

Challenging the Status Quo: The main activity addressing this was group discussions on the following things: women’s rights in South Africa, caring for the environment, racism in South Africa, and HIV/AIDS.  These discussions got them thinking about the tough questions and the attitudes and circumstances that people generally just accept as “how things are” here.  The conversations that ensued were extremely interesting.

Women Leaders in Our Community: Guest Speaker Panel.  Three women from Alexandria that are leaders in their community were invited to speak about what it’s been like for them as women leaders in the community.  The HIV/AIDS Coordinator of Ndlambe Municipality, the Ward Counselor of Alexandria, and the Project Manger of Ikhwezi Support Group all attended and shared their knowledge with us.  The girls engaged the guest speakers by asking insightful questions.  Having living examples of women from their community that have become leaders was so important for the girls – and I think made a lasting impression on them. 

Day Four:
Outdoor Adventure: Hiking.  Part of our day consisted of a two hour hike through the bush.  It was along a stream and so much fun!  Several girls’ citied hiking as one of their favorite things about the Camp.  Most of the girls don’t ever get to go hiking so it’s a rare and fun opportunity for them! 

Embracing Failure: in their Sister Teams the girls talked about new ways to look at failure.  We were encouraging them to dream really big with their visions and goals - “great leaders have a healthy disregard for the impossible” after all.  In order to prepare them for the challenges that lay before them we wanted to provide them with a new outlook on failing.  The following quotes were just some of the inspiration we provided for the new viewpoint: 

“Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly” – Robert F. Kennedy, former United States Congressman

“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.”  –Nelson Mandela, former President of South Africa

“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm” – Winston Churchill, former Prime Minister of England

Juggling Life: Stress Management.  This was a session that a large majority of girls cited as being something they had learned at Camp GLOW – how to manage their stress in positive ways. 

Seeing the Possibilities: I Can’t Funeral.  After their final sister team reflections where participants got to meet one on one to share each others positive qualities we held an I Can’t Funeral.  Each of us wrote down things that others have said to us, or that we say to ourselves that are negative.  We each then read these things out loud to the group (it was optional but everyone chose to participate) and then threw the paper into the fire “burying” those negative messages.  This turned out to be an extremely emotional activity with a lot of girls letting out things that they had clearly been holding in for a long time.  Sharing these deep things with each other allowed them to finally release that burden and find the support that they needed to prove their own self worth to themselves.  It was extremely touching and empowering.

Day Five:
Taking It Home: we discussed the different ways they can apply what they have learned at Camp GLOW at home, the potential challenges they thought they might face, and how they could address each one of those challenges.

Celebration: Silent Thanks – as one of our last activities we all got a chance to anonymously thank one another.  With our eyes shut and back facing the inside of the circle five girls came into the middle at a time and touched the shoulders of people for statements like “someone that always makes you laugh”, “someone you liked getting to know better”, and “someone you want to thank but haven’t”.  It’s a very feel good activity! 

Acknowledgements and Certificate Ceremony: I surprised the staff with gifts – picture frames, water bottles, and bracelets for all of their hard work.  To our huge surprise the Sister Leaders and the girls had organized gifts for Sam and me – also pictures with an African scene and really cute necklaces!  It was such a surprise I couldn’t believe it!  We all got our certificates and then it was time for the final activity before Camp was over. 

Touchstones: everyone got a small glass pebble to remind them of their time at Camp GLOW.  I gave a final speech which ended with the quotation by Robert Kennedy: “It is from numberless acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped.  Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends out a tiny ripple of home, and those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.”

Feedback
One of the great things about such a long program is you can see the transformation in many of the participants.  Yet it can be very difficult to actually assess how successful a program was besides qualitative stories.  As part of our monitoring and evaluation of Camp GLOW each participant filled out a pre and post camp survey to assess their knowledge and skills gained.  We also had feedback forms which asked: what did you learn about yourself this week at Camp GLOW, and what was your favorite part of Camp GLOW.   

I’m proud to report that there were great improvements on the post Camp surveys which showed that after the Camp all of our objectives were successfully met.  Yay!   

Feedback Forms:
The following are a few examples of what the participants of Camp GLOW had to say…
What did you learn about yourself at Camp GLOW?
I learned how to make healthy decisions for my self.  I learned how to resolve conflict, about leadership, and my values.  I also learned about how HIV/AIDS affects my country and the youth. 

I learned that I can achieve my goals and visions and I can be what I want to be in life.  I learned how to make important decisions and that I can be a leader in my community and I shouldn’t let anyone discourage me.  I should have faith in myself if I want to change the way my community is.  I can work with people and everyone should be respected no matter what our age group is.

I have learned how to: communicate with people and teammates, my values as a person, how to look at failure, and how to manage my stress.  I have the ability to be a role model for my peers, and finally I have learned that I can be a leader and I will be a leader. 

In this week I learned everything about community.  I learned how to manage stress and how to live with my values.  Mostly I learned about how to behave as a girl, how to make good choices, and how to handle peer pressure.  As a young teenager you must follow your dreams.

What was your favorite part of Camp GLOW?
My favorite part was the challenge course because there I faced my fear of failing and heights.  So I enjoyed it a lot and it has taught me to not fear failure because it is how you learn and it makes you stronger. 

My favorite part was when the Sister Teams were together.  We learned that everyone is special in different ways, and we laughed together. 

My favorite part of Camp GLOW was the making and understanding of new friends.  The best part of Camp GLOW was the learning part because I was asking the Lord, let this Camp give me something to live for and instead of something you guys gave me a lot to take home and apply in my own life.

My favorite part of Camp GLOW is when we were talking about our values because I never thought our values are so important and that they make you who you are.  You should respect others values and you have to lead with your values as a person so that you can succeed. 

The following are notes I wanted to share that I got in my Happy Bag.  Two of them make my life and two of them are just hilarious:

“I want you to know you are the best thing that ever happened to me I LOVE YOU!!!”

“You have a lot of energy you don’t get tired, you always teach and talk but I like you……..”

“You’ve showed me what humanity means in so many ways.  I have changed as a young person: Thank u”

“Thankz to you & Noxolo this camp is very nyc [nice] I thought it would be boring love u a lot”

: )

I want to say a HUGE thank you, dankie, and enkosi to the following people and organizations for making Camp GLOW possible:

Noxolo, Phindiswa, Nelly, Elgene, Sam, Kaylynn, Almare, the Bushbuck staff, Ukhanyo Secondary School, Alexandria High School (special shout out to Mr. Meyer and Mr. Wentzel), Ikhwezi Support Group, Life Christian Center, Sunshine Coast Charity Trust, SA Chicory (thanks Henry!), all the local businesses who donated (there were lots!), all of my lovely friends and family in the States who after countless times of me harassing them for money for this or that - they STILL donated, and last but absolutely not least the participants!  I’m so grateful to all of you – a thank you will never really express exactly how much I appreciate a community coming together to try and make a positive change in the world!

After all…

"We must be the change we wish to see in the world..." - Gandhi