The Harlem Teen Girls Club Celebrate Belonging

 

Aisatou (center) celebrates her birthday along with Tiffany (left) and Stephanie (right)

Our Harlem Teens at Polo Grounds just begun their third cycle of Girls Club, so there is much to celebrate! Aisatou turned sixteen a few days ago, so our Girls joined her in honoring another year of life.

 

The strength that we focused on during this session was Belonging, and I asked the girls to reflect on their relationships belonging to their families, culture, and heritage. We celebrated the presence of our mothers, and how they taught us all to be the women that we have become. We remembered the places we were born, and the cultures we were all raised within. We honored the sense of belonging and pride we feel as those descending from beautiful legacies and (her)stories. All of us coming from different places in the world, yet finding a parallel in our experiences as daughters and young women finding ourselves.

 

We read a poem by Korean American writer Ishle Yi Park, entitled "Jejudo Dreams", a poignant piece of a first generation immigrant daughter trying to find peace and reconciliation balancing the two worlds she comes from: America and Korea. She writes,

"I wonder: will my ancestors not hear me when I die?/Because of my accent? Will all the history I embody unravel with my time because this tongue/cannot recall the words braided into my bloodline?"

The girls reflected on this, recognizing their own experience in discovering where they belong.

As Aisatou so eloquently and powerfully writes:

I belong to a mother of strength. A country full of sorrow. A painful history. I am proud to be from a land that has fought back. I am proud to be from a mother so strong the sky will surrender to her.

As we ended, I know the girls are proud to know that at this Girls Club, they will always belong. 

-Ruby


Girls Club Book of the Month: Tess's Tree

As it is the beginning of 2011, we thought it would be great to start a new category on our Girls Club blog: a book of the month feature. This month, we want feature a book called Tess's Tree, which was recently reviewed by our Executive Director Pam Allyn on a site called Parenting Pink. Head on over to see what she has to say!

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Red Rose School in Kenya Connect with Girls Prep School in New York City!

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Recently, the Girls Club in Kenya (Red Rose School) and the Girls Club here in New York City (Girls Prep School) got a chance to connect on real time through the power of technology! The Girls Clubs for Literacy aims to create a global sisterhood, so this opportunity for the girls to see and speak to each other face to face builds a bridge between nations, no matter how far apart in distance. The girls were able to communicate at 9 AM New York City time and 4 PM local Kenya time. Check out their photos below!

 

 

 

We look forward to connecting more girls across the world! This is a great beginning to the adventures to come in the new year.

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Video: Eve Ensler on 'Embracing Your Inner Girl'

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In this passionate TED talk by "Vagina Monologues" author Eve Ensler, she declares that every one of us has an inner "girl cell", a cell we have been socially taught to suppress. Our Teen Girls Club in Harlem watched this video and reflected on the importance of finding courage in vulnerability, and overcoming adversity through the shocking strength and intution of being a girl. Eve Ensler delivers an important message that speaks for young women all over the world:

New Girls Club Launches at Brooklyn Heights School!

It’s a new year, and already, we’ve got a lot of new projects going! Our Girls Clubs have certainly been growing, and we’re happy to announce that another site in New York City has launched in Brooklyn Heights. The new site is at the PS. 8 School, led by teacher Marybeth Gazlay. Here’s what she had to say about her first day:

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The PS 8 LitWorld Girls’ Club launched today, January 10, 2011 in Brooklyn. Twelve brave young ladies listened to their teacher attempt to sing the “Hello Song” and without a blink of the eye, they took the lead and the right tune and were off and running. The Name Game proved to be a dramatic performance with the girls adding movements to their catching adjectives such as “Magnificent Mia” and “Spectacular Schuyler”. Our newest addition, “Excellent Ella” is a twin sister from another class who jumped right in and joined the fun. The read aloud, “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr mirrored many of the discussions we have in class and in our Drama program. Our discussion about how to spread peace throughout the world could have gone on for the entire hour itself. Once I told the girls we could blog and talk with other Girls Clubs especially with our webcam, well, I lost them for a few minutes. “Can we do it now?” They were so excited! As the hour came to a close, we were knee deep in poster making trying to find the right words and images to appropriately model the Girls Clubs’ Seven Strengths. The girls filed out singing the “Good bye” song and greeted their parents with smiles. It was a quite a successful first day and we are looking forward to our next meeting!

Check back in for photos and more reflections from Marybeth and PS.8. There will be more to come soon, and we can’t wait to share!



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LitWorld Girls Club Harlem Meet Arianna Huffington!

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The Teen Girls Club with Executive Director Pam Allyn and Arianna Huffington


Earlier this month, the LitWorld Harlem Girls Clubs had the pleasure of meeting Arianna Huffington. Ms. Huffington's warm spirit was so inspiring and contagious, that the younger girls wouldn't leave her side! She was elegant, welcoming, and approachable all at the same time, a demeanor that many of the teen girls admired. She listened intently to the girls' stories, and shared her own.

She offered stories of courage and fearless pursuit of dreams, and, joined by our Executive Director Pam Allyn, they both reminded us all of our power to become the best women we can be.



Joining hands for the Farewell Song


Ms. Huffington with Executive Director Pam Allyn and members of the LitWorld Board


We hope to see Ms. Huffington again soon. Until then, we'll keep you posted on our next cycle of Harlem Girls Club, starting again January 2011!  - Ruby


LitWorld Girls Club in Erbil, Iraq, Rise as Leaders.



After the first meeting for the Venos Girls Clubs in Erbil, Iraq, most of the young women now have the spirit to be leaders and to make change.

I asked them, "What is the thing that made you happy last week?" , and all of them responded that participating in the Venos Girls Club is the most important thing that makes them happy. They think about their Girls Club all week until their next meeting arrives.

When they were asked about what they benefited from since the first Girls Club meeting, this is what the young women had to say:

Arazo: When I told you about my story, I felt happy for the first time because you shared my story. This pushed me more and more to be active and make a change in my life. Even when my family saw that I started to think in a different way , they encouraged me to attend these workshops till the end, and they also encouraged my sister to participate in this program.

 
Aisha: I told my colleague in the hospital about this important workshop, and we started to make a group to help keep the hospital clean. Now the girls there want to participate in these workshops with me!

 
Marwa: My family was so interested when they saw the change in the way of my thinking. After I told them the details about the program, they sent my sister with me to benefit from it.

 
All of the girls also established an environmental group in their school and led a cleaning campaign  for the school yards and garden, and also donated different books and stories  for their school library.

 
Renas: One of the girls in the school (not in our  club group) made fun of me when she saw me cleaning the school yard, but this behavior pushed me more and more toward my goal to make my school clean and better.



The girls in the program are already becoming transformed, feeling proud to be a part of this global movement for girls. Surely, there will be more positive change to report for the next one!

- As reported by the Erbil, Iraq Girls Club Facilitator, Saadia F.Hassoon

Harlem LitWorld Girls Club Meet Arianna Huffington Tonight!

We are very excited! Thanks to all your votes, the Harlem LitWorld Girls Club won a spot on Arianna Huffington's book tour, and she will be arriving tonight at the Polo Grounds site for a personal appearance.

LitWorld Girls Clubs Harlem Preparing for Arianna's visit!


This Fall session has been filled with a lot of amazing discussions, new perspectives, and of course, exposure to new literature. The girls have grown so much, and their thirst for reading has only gotten more potent. They are filled with new visions and new personal missions of how they can affect the world around them. It arrives at such perfect timing then, that our closing ceremony for this Fall session will include a visit from a powerful female role model, Arianna Huffington.

We've spent the past few sessions preparing for her visit, rehearsing their written pieces to read aloud to Ms. Huffington, and practicing their introductions. I am very proud to introduce these remarkable young women to a woman who has achieved many things with confidence and courage.

Stay tuned for more photos after tonight's event. We will be uploading them shortly!

-Ruby
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Give to Girls All Over the World.

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If you have visited this blog before, you are familiar with LitWorld's work in empowering young women in countries such as Kenya, Iraq, Ghana, Liberia, and in various locations in the U.S.

This Holiday season, we have decided to engage our international community in a gift that lasts a lifetime:  launching five new Girls Clubs sites throughout the world. LitWorld Girls Clubs for literacy provides mentoring, literacy & leadership workshops, health & safety information, and lessons on female empowerment & the importance of education to girls in vulnerable communities. We equip these young women to become literacy leaders, thus allowing them to be more self-sufficient, educated, and empowered.

Please visit our Global Giving page on how you can give your gift to girls , and please tell your friends to pass the word along. You can also watch our video below, and go to this link for more information!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVR0Mix201Y&fs=1&hl=en_US]
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Introducing the "Venus Girls Club in Erbil"!

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Girls Clubs in Iraq have officially launched in Erbil,with 13 young women in participation! When the girls were asked what to expect from the program, they replied that they expected Girls Club to "empower our personality in the right way, have an opportunity to know more about others". One of the other participants also offered, "I have goal to  achieve, and I hope this program will help me get on the right steps toward this goal".

When we asked the girls about their goals , their replies were as follows:
- To be a journalist not only on Iraq level, but on the world level, in order to let the world hear an Iraqi woman's voice.
-To be a police officer, in order to enforce and apply the  law.
-To  explore the world by traveling and learning the people's customs and traditions.
-To be an Arabic teacher in order to help other Kurdish people to know the language of their partners( Arab people) in Iraq.

The girls felt so empowered, they elected club officers to create a more formal organization of the club and spread its mission even further to other young women. They've even officially named the club as the Venus Girls Club in Erbil.

The girls exchanged their stories, and were so pleased to have the right of speech and to have the freedom to express their ideas. Our second meeting is set for the earlier part of 2011. More to come soon!

As reported by Girls Club Erbil Leader, Saadia Hassoon
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Girls Club Kibera is on a Roll!

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The Girls Clubs of Kibera have been on a roll all year, participating in numerous uplifting projects thanks to the leadership of Joscelyn O. Truitt and Jeff Okoth. The photo above shows the girls with a remarkable quilt made especially for them by the Children of Kibera intern, Jackie Espana, after the girls participated in knitting lessons. The fabric in the quilt are made from their first pieces, a reminder of all their time spent together during lessons!

Aside from their quilting project, the girls in Kibera have also been discussing peaceful tactics for conflict resolution, and dialoguing about peer pressure and self-respect. Talks on health and hygiene have also been important topics, resulting in their story project, "Nesla's Dillema".  As you might remember from our previous post, the Kibera girls have also been exploring ideas of esteem, and celebrating the multifaceted beauty of black women through their photo shoot project, "A Girl Is...".

We can't wait to see the new adventures the upcoming year has in store for the Kibera girls. We thank Joscelyn and Jeff for their inspiring leadership in Kenya!

Nesla's Dilemma: Stories Written by Red Rose Girls Club Members

Nesla's Dilemma is a combination of stories written by Red Rose Girls Club members. After a series of talks and lessons on hygiene and the female menstrual cycle, the group decided to write about our periods. Some girls decided to write a fictional story and others recorded their thoughts on the issue.

Using bits of each girls stories or reflections, their facilitators combined them all into one story. Nesla is a poor girl who lives in rural Kenya. One day, she suddenly gets her period and is unsure of what to do. But, after an enlightening talk with her mother, she learns that she is experiencing a normal change. However, Nesla's family is too poor to afford buying sanitary pads.

Her mother finds a Girls Club for Nesla to attend and it is there that she receives sanitary pads. The pads allow her to be in school every day so is able to finish and excel in her education. This story reflects how the Girls Club affects its members, as many girls are not able to afford pads nor are they comfortable talking about their periods with a mom or aunt. This story is informational, as well, and the Red Rose girls hope to use their stories to inform other girls about menstruation and how to handle it.









LitWorld Girls Club Harlem Sends a Video Message to Accra, Ghana:

A few weeks ago, the girls of Accra, Ghana, sent the Harlem Girls a letter to introduce themselves. Instead of writing a letter back, we decided to make it a little more personal and create a video, so that the girls can have a more interactive way of communicating, even across continents.

Hello from Harlem, Accra! We hope to meet you soon :)

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sMlRj06pGKc&fs=1&hl=en_US]

Virtual Training with Kenya: LitWorld Embraces the Future!



Live from the Red Rose School in Kenya

Because we are a global organization working on an international platform, we aren't always able to meet with our partners face to face. Well, actually, yes we can! We at LitWorld love technology and the way it allows us to connect, work, and build together, no matter the geography or time zone. This morning, LitWorld Executive Director Pam Allyn in NYC led a virtual training on the Girls Clubs for Literacy Project to the teachers at the Red Rose School in Kenya.

It is truly incredible what technology can do to bring the world closer.

And even within the US, technology helps keeps our national staff connected every week! No matter how far, we can communicate on real time. Wow.



 
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LitWorld Girls Club Launches in Erbil, Iraq!

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Young women from the Together organization in Erbil, Iraq


As you may remember from earlier this season, we at LitWorld launched a campaign to benefit students in Iraq called "Change is in the Air", a campaign to send school supplies to Iraqi children. Our efforts to build with Iraq doesn't stop there. We've also partnered with an organization called Together to launch a Girls Club in Erbil, Iraq. Recently, we got a chance to interview our Erbil Girls Club Leader, Saadia Hassoon, so she can properly introduce the Girls Club. Read on to see what it's all about!

1.)What is the learning environment like at Erbil? Can you describe what the schools and classrooms are like for the children there?

There are three types of learning environment in Erbil, I will describe them below.

*Private Schools (one American school –Shwaifat ):  This is very expensive, and only rich people can send their children. They are very good schools, and the teaching language is English for all levels.

*Less Expensive Private Schools (Turkish school- Ishiq,): The teaching language also English, as well as Turkish. Also Media school is a good private school.

*Typical Public Schools –These types of schools accept only high scoring students, and are also very good schools, with no fees from students.

*Schools for talent students, only one school in Erbil, one in Mosel, and more than one in Baghdad.


Then there are many other public schools with many needs like:

Bad bathroom facilities and a lack of healthy drinking water, no labs for physics, chemistry, biology, language, painting, music, or art, and no entertainment activities. Teachers who teach here are in need of new training in their teaching practices.


2.)What are some of the greatest needs of the girls in Iraq? What are some of their most pressing challenges?

Girls in rural areas present the greatest needs. Their greatest challenges are illiteracy, tribal habits, violence, and early marriage, which prevents them from continuing the studying  process.


Among these, the most pressing challenge is illiteracy, because we realize that when we combat illiteracy, then we can go forward and fight for other women’s rights.
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Forbidden Love: A Discussion About the Nature of Love in Society by Harlem Girls Club

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Above: Aisatou Bah shares her thoughts on the politics of love.

By: Ruby Veridiano

Like many teenage girls, my girls in Harlem are always eager to talk about love. And why shouldn’t they? Love is both exciting and exhilarating, a new frontier to explore. After all, aren’t we all going to remain forever young on the inside, like giddy girls with budding hearts eager to welcome that magnificent thing called Love in? Especially around these girls, I know I most certainly do.

A few weeks ago, the girls and I spent time talking about love. More than just a feeling, we also recognized that in a world of injustice and inequality, love is also it’s own politic. To spark discussion, I brought in a song from one of my favorite artists, Janelle Monae. We listened to her song “Metropolis”, a song about a cyborg robot who faces the threat of being violently disassembled because she fell in love with a human.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LAQajrmrho&fs=1&hl=en_US]
Her lyrics read, “How can a wired thing understand/Love is too deep; too wide to feel/when your soul is a button/and your foot glows in heels”



Above: Tiffany Collins writes an ending to Janelle Monae's song

After listening to her song, I asked the girls if this concept of “forbidden love” told through the metaphor of a robot is something they could recognize in the real world. Immediately, we launched into a deep and profound discussion about love and the many politics that surround it. The girls brought up the forbidden love that sometimes taints relationships: from race to class, sexuality to religion, age and arranged marriages, the girls engaged in a deep, multilayered discussion about our country’s heaviest issues.

"A Girl Is..." by LitWorld Girls Club in Kibera, Kenya



By: Japheth "Jeff" Ochieng

"A Girl Is..." is a self-esteem project. The facilitators felt that the girls harbored negative attitudes and perceptions about the physical beauty of black women. In response to this, we discussed what influences young girls to feel that skin color determines beauty.



Then, we pointed out each other's beautiful qualities and talked about the positive images that black women represent. We finished with a photo shoot- head shots of each girl.



Before each girl's turn, she was to finish the sentence: "A girl is... " Each girl was to think of a positive quality that isn't related to physical beauty, but rather, why girls are special and unique on the inside. Below each girl's photo is her thought.

You can also check out the rest of the photos on this LINK HERE.






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