Empowering young girls as future leaders

Plans already underway for 2013 Camp GLOW

Every Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) around the world aspires to educate and empower young females to lead initiatives to create productive and healthy communities. Leadership skills are critical for people to initiate positive changes, but these skills sometimes need to be supported and developed. Camp GLOW Guyana empowers girls to recognize their potential to create change and be in command of their contributions to society.
Camp GLOW was first started by Peace Corps Volunteers in Romania in 1995.  Since then, volunteers in more than 60 countries have established similar programmes, all of which believe that young women can and will make a difference in their communities if given the opportunities and skills to succeed.
Its inaugural camp was held Dec. 2011, although the planning process was started two years before by Peace Corps Volunteers in the Gender and Development (GAD) Task Force.  In less than a year, two large Camp GLOW and four mini-Camp GLOW programmes have been held throughout Guyana.  At the Dec. 2011 camp, held at Pandama Nature Resort in Region Four, there were 25 young women, 5 Guyana counsellors, and 6 PCVs.  In 2012, the second annual Camp GLOW, held at the Kuru Kuru Training College, there were 43 young women, 8 Guyanese counsellors, 12 PCVs, and  many influential Guyanese women who came as guest speakers.
The objectives of Camp GLOW are to instil self-esteem and confidence through activities that require campers to recognize their talents and self-worth; build leadership skills through small and large group sessions to allow female youth to act as leaders within their communities; introduce campers to girls from differing regions and ethnicities who are perpetuating positive changes in their communities; conduct sessions on behaviour change and how to make healthy lifestyle choices; promote an understanding of career options and goal-setting through sessions with successful Guyanese women; assist campers in forming healthy relationships among their peers and mentors, and train host country nationals to be successful leadership counsellors, mentors and session facilitators.
In an interview with PCV and Community Health Education promoter Emily Johnson, she said so far Camp GLOW Guyana has been very successful in achieving these outcomes. Johnson said based on pre and post camp assessments, campers reported having greater self-confidence, liking themselves more, feeling more empowered as women, believing that women can work in places other than the home, having greater hope in the future, increased knowledge of sexuality and human reproduction, increased ability to name signs of an unhealthy relationship, and a greater ability to verbalize feelings and deal with stress.
U.S. ambassador in Guyana, Mr Brent Hardt, visited the second annual Camp GLOW leadership camp, held at the Kuru-Kuru Cooperative College, Linden Soesdyke Highway on Aug. 10, as the campers wrapped up a week of activities.
During Ambassador Hardt’s interaction with the participants, he emphasized the importance of young women taking steps to embrace their potential as future leaders and strong women. He encouraged them to use the skills they learned at the camp to make a difference not only in their own lives, but also in the lives of members of their communities.
He highlighted the outstanding achievements of Alexie, Triveina, and Adelie, three GLOW girls who participated in the first camp last December. These three young women not only met the challenge of improving their community, but surpassed everyone’s expectations; proving not only that youth can make a difference in their communities, but that young women can be leaders, and change the world around them if given the opportunity and skills.
To ensure the success of this mission and Camp GLOW, the Peace Corps Volunteers collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and local non-governmental organizations, including Hope for All and Guyana Business Coalition. Prominent women leaders, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, Linden Care Foundation and Hope for All, and the Region Two National Democratic Council were invited to share their experiences in a series of inspirational talks with the girls.
“At the large Camp GLOW, the girls were encouraged to take what they had learned back to their communities and apply what they had learned, and utilize their leadership skills.  At this prompting, some of the campers desired to hold weekend-long mini Camp GLOW in their communities.  From September to December 2012, four mini-Camp GLOW have been held, with the support of the original Camp GLOW girls, and help from the communities in various villages. In Essequibo, ten Camp GLOW girls helped to organize a walk and rally on November 25, “International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women”, in order to raise awareness about domestic violence,” Johnson recalled.
While Camp GLOW is currently organized and run primarily by Peace Corps Volunteers in the GAD Task Force, Johnson hopes that in the future, the camp would be able to identify a Guyanese organization or partner to help organize, plan, fund, and run Camp GLOW, so as to make it a sustainable camp that can continue for years. The third annual Camp GLOW planning is currently underway and would be held in August 2013.  Those interested in applying, look out for applications which would be opened up in April.  Visit www.campglowguyana.org for more information.