Even though the program was ended once the Obamas left office, we managed to get enough funding to put on a GLOW camp this past December; the first ever in Region Nine of Guyana, although the coast has had several over the years.
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| Gabrielle leading one of the activities |
Sixty-four young girls from all over the Region came, including one of my host sisters. The girls were housed in the dorms at the Secondary School in St. Ignatius, where I became sort of the de facto Dorm Mother, which had me running around like a crazy person making sure all the girls were accounted for, comfortable, and even climbing over the walls whenever they locked themselves out. The kids got a huge kick out of me scaling the walls like some sort of gigantic gecko, and I have the sneaking suspicion that some of those "accidental" lock-outs were just their idea of good fun.
Anyways, the girls did sessions on everything from note-taking, to crafts, to sex ed, to sports, to emotional well-being and all sorts of other things. We held a career fair for them, had a little mini-olympics, and of course a talent show.
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| Crafts |
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| Goofing off |
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| Serious competition going on here |
It was amazing to see the difference in these girls in just five days. At the beginning, they each stuck to the same village girls they already knew, were homesick, and couldn't be coerced into saying a word out loud for the most part. By the last night before they went home, they didn't want to leave, they were putting on skits or dance routines with their new friends from every which way in Region Nine, and were yelling at the top of their lungs. The next morning when they all loaded up to go home, they were happy and exhausted, which is exactly what you want at the end of a camp.
Already the girls and parents are asking if there will be another one next year, or if we'll run one for boys. The answer to both is "I don't know, but I sure hope so."
Good times.
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