Baguio City's First Girls Club Meeting
Reported by Crystal Catalan, Girls Club Facilitator in Baguio City, Philippines:
“Magandang hapon sa lahat!(Good afternoon everyone!)” And so officially began the Girls Club in Baguio City, Philippines. On Saturday, March 12th, we were able to officially launch the Girls Club, with the high school girls who are members of the NGO, Save Our School Children Foundation, Inc. At our first meeting, we had 15 excited and enthusiastic girls! Beginning our day with our energetic “Hello” song, the girls were able to learn each others’ names, think of creative adjectives, and help each other out with fun gestures!
After introducing ourselves to each other, we read the poem, “All We Want Is Peace (Please)” by Gordon David and processed the meaning of peace in our lives. We brainstormed ways that we could bring peace to those around us, in our homes, at our school, when spending time with our friends, and when in the presence of people who we have difficulties with. We ended this time by agreeing to bring examples of ways we were peacemakers this week, to our next meeting.
We had a great time exploring and understanding the 7 Strengths, as well as defining what the 7 Strengths meant to each one of us. After a thorough discussion, the girls started making their collages and included the Strength that they wanted to especially focus on during our Girls Club sessions:
Girls Club in Baguio City had a great time and is looking forward to communicating with other Girls Clubs around the world! Salamat po! (Thank you!)
World Read Aloud Day is Celebrated in Kenya!
The enthusiasm to read is clear on these girls' faces.
They agree that illiteracy is inability. They join the world in celebrating WRAD!
Their answer to this day's question is; 'no education no life.' They appreciate the power of words.
They happily read the book 'Brave Girls' to Litworld Girls Club Kibera on phone. They have the confidence to read. Though they have never met, they have one bond, LitWorld.
From Rose Mureka, Girls Club in Bungoma, Kenya.
The Birth of Another Litworld Girls Club in Bungoma, Kenya!
A Message from Rose Mureka, Girls Club Facilitator at Bungoma Kenya:
This came as a surprise and a blessing to these girls in a small village school. Lubunda Primary School, in Bungoma, Kenya is where our new LitWorld girls club was born, a club embraced by teachers and pupils of the school. It was all cheers, laughter, and smiles during the opening ceremony as we launched the club in the school early this year. We began our sessions last year on a slow note, but we are up to go this year!
This is a reserved community where girls suffer in silence. They have a lot of responsibilities on their shoulders by the time they step in school, thus regarding themselves mature and ready to be parents even as early as 12 years old. They sighed to know that they have someone to give them an ear, no dying in silence anymore!
They have been using torn pieces of rags during their monthly periods and to them, it's embarrassing to talk about it. They are all receiving sanitary pads every month from LitWorld girls club sponsors now! They think Pam Allyn is heaven sent. Some of these girls are not able to communicate in English in Sixth and Seventh grades! They don't have story books in the school, let alone a library!
We hold short sessions twice a week and am greatly impressed by the progress. They are slowly learning to appreciate the power of words and are looking forward to joining the world in celebrating the read aloud day by reading a short story I borrowed from a friend!
*****
Thank you so much Rose, for all your great work. We look forward to hearing more from the girls in Bungoma, Kenya!
Harlem Teens Make Dream Catchers with Special Guest Lauren Blum!
" Use the web to help your people reach their goals, making good use of their ideas, dreams and visions." - Lakota Dreamcatcher Legend
Yesterday evening, special guest and LitWorld friend Lauren Blum came to our Teen Girls Club in Harlem to make dream catchers, a symbolic piece derived from Native American culture that are believed to bestow pleasant dreams, good luck, and lifetime harmony. Lauren Blum introduced the concept of the dream catcher, and brought materials for the girls to weave their own. Suddenly, our room was turned into a space where the girls could debrief their day, and inspired a refreshing calm. The girls were so proud of their work, and beamed when they finished their dream catcher at the end of the session. Thank you Lauren for coming up to visit us! We hope to see you again soon!
LitWorld Girls Club at Kensington Celebrate World Read Aloud Day
The LitWorld Girls Club at the Kensington School celebrated World Read Aloud Day by taking time out of their lunch period to read to the younger Kindergarten students! The 4th and 5th grade girls came in to read to their younger peers, reading books like Madeline and Swimmy. The bubbly kindergarteners welcomed in the Girls with enthusiasm and excitement, celebrating the power of reading out loud with joy and a lot of smiling faces!
LitWorld Girls Club at JFK Elementary in Port Chester, NY!
The Girls Club in Port Chester, NY has finally begun! 4th and 5th grade girls of JFK elementary have been doing some exciting things in the past couple weeks! In the first session, the girls learned all about LitWorld and the fun things they would be reading and writing about this cycle! They also arrived to find personally decorated notebooks for each of them, made by their Girls Club mentors, high schoolers from Convent of Sacred Heart in Greenwich, CT! The girls were excited to have their very own place to express themselves through writing! Comprised of both old and new friends, these girls are excited to learn new things!! A great start to our Girls Club:
After talking together about what LitWorld and Girls Clubs are, all the girls, LitWorld facilitator Alyssa Dudzik, and JFK teacher Yvette Vera-Pignato created an amazing Seven Strengths Poster! On joyful yellow paper, the girls wrote and drew what they feel each strength means to them: Belonging, Curiosity, Sisterhood, Compassion, Confidence, Esteem, and Hope! This poster will be hung up during every Girls Club meeting!
The JFK Girls Club have most recently created Heart Maps. After reading “Whoever You Are” by Mem Fox, the girls talked together about what they feel belonging means. The girls then created Heart Maps to help them begin to think about the different ways we all belong to groups and individuals in our lives. The more of our heart the relationship takes up, the more important it is to us! The girls used markers, colored pencils, crayons, construction paper, and crazy scissors to each make their very own heart maps! Some things the most girls included in their heart maps were friends, family, being a girl (and of course, Justin Beiber!!)
Happy Valentines Day All Girls Clubs from P.S. 179
The girls at The Kensington School in Brooklyn had the pleasure of having Girls Club on Valentines Day!!!
Ruby the facilitator of the group decided to read the book Ruby Valentine Saves the Day by Laurie B. Friedman.
This book had her name in it, but also spoke about how we do not need flowers, candy and presents to appreciate Valentine's day. All we need are warm friends and family around us!!!
With love in the air, the girls decided to write valentines day cards to all the girls in Girls Clubs around the world...
HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE :D
The LitWorld Girls Club in Erbil, Iraq Visit the Kurdistan Parliament
The Venus Girls Club in Erbil, Iraq have been quite the leadership role models. Recently, they visited the Kurdistan Parliament to meet their local leaders, and got a chance to meet the people who actively take part in their government's decision making policies. See below for their photos:
They've also held their own cleaning campaign, promoting environmental health in their school and at a nearby children's hospital. They are really making a difference!
The Girls Club in Iraq is a very inspiring group. Congratulations to facilitator Saadia F. Hassoon for being an excellent role model to these young women!
Our Special Guests @ the Polo Grounds, Teen GirlsClub
We had the honor of having two wonderful ladies visit us at the Polo Grounds, Joy Solomon, a meditation expert and yoga teacher, and Caitlin Fiss, a women's health doctor . Our program started with the girls telling our guests what exactly they do in girls clubs, but also shared a fun thing about their week. Our girls then took part in a meditation.
The girls found this experience at first very difficult to focus, but after a couple of times, their focus was found, and the end result was a sense of tranquility. Thank you so much Joy! You really helped us learn about how powerful our minds can be.
Caitlin then began to speak with the girls about what exactly they knew about women's health. The girls were very educated on their health, but were eager with questions to further their knowledge. We were shown many ways to preserve our health and take good care of ourselves. We stressed the importance of maintaining good physical health, as it contributes to our mental and emotional well-being as well. When we change the world, we need to be as healthy as we can be, so we can give our all to others. Maintaining our health is a form of self-love, and we need to be as knowledgeable as possible about how to love and care for ourselves better. As the saying goes, change starts with us.
Thank you Joy and Caitlin for your valuable visit to our Harlem Girls Club!
Our Brooklyn Girls Club in Kensington is Featured on News 12!
Kiara getting her interview with reporter Alecia Reid
Last week, our vibrant girls club from the Kensington School was interviewed by Brooklyn News Outlet, News 12, and were featured on television! The girls did a remarkable job being interviewed, and made us proud as they poised themselves on camera as the well-spoken young ladies that they are. Our executive director Pam Allyn, and staff members Jen Estrada and Ruby Veridiano joined the girls in their first television debut, making for a fun and exciting school day. Thank you to reporter Alecia Reid, for coming out to the Kensington School and interviewing our young ladies!
The girls with our staff and reporter Alecia:
Mariely getting her interview!
Pam Allyn with our girls:
Saima showing off her heart map:
The girls are having too much fun!
Lady Gaga Makes 10-Year Old Girl's Dreams Come True!
Maria Aragon, the now infamous 10-year old sweetheart from Canada, has become quite the superstar after Lady Gaga watched her charming cover of her song, "Born This Way". After a long and hard day, Lady Gaga came across this video and was moved to tears as she watched Maria's rendition, filled with child like wonder and innocence.
Watching her sing this song, it just goes to show the power of a young girl's voice, how her song can uplift and empower even one of the world's biggest pop stars. With over 9 million views, the inspiring and talented young girl has won the world over. It is so inspiring how a young girl has been given the opportunity to nurture her passion for singing and performing, and how her dreams will now become a reality: she will sing a duet with Gaga herself onstage at Lady Gaga's Toronto concert in March!
We support the dreams of young girls like Maria, and it is our dream to see other young girls have the same passions and opportunities to make their hopes come true.
Catch the story on The Huffington Post!
Harlem Girls Club head to SoHo to visit the Huffington Post!
The Harlem Teen Girls Club and a couple girls from both Tuesday and Thursdays Younger Girls Club at Polo Grounds ventured to SoHo to visit Arianna Huffington’s work place, The Huffington Post. In December, Arianna graciously stopped in to visit our girls, so it was their turn to visit her place of work!
The trip started with some hand-games while we waited for the subway train…
Then, once we arrived at the Huffington Post, her friendly staff greeted us with a warm welcome, and the adventure automatically began. We were given a tour of the website by one of Arianna’s editors, Grace Kiser. The girls not only learned how vast the website was, but also where it started, how it grew, and how they could get involved.
We were then shown the offices, and this began with the most important office of all, Arianna’s. The girls were amazed with the colors and art that filled her workspace. But what amazed them the most was the picture of them from December, when the great lady herself visited the Polo Grounds.
Along the tour we met different staff in different departments. This helped the girls fully grasp how much work actually goes into the Huffington Post.
The tour ended with a token of tort bags and notebooks.
Thank you Arianna and her WONDERFUL staff for inviting us!
Thursday's Session of the Harlem Girls Club
Meet the groovy girls of our Polo Grounds Girls Club!
These girls are new to the girls club program, and full of excitement.
Today we spoke about curiosity. This sparked a lot of interesting discussions on what they wanted to learn more about, but also allowed them to explore concepts and ideas they never considered.
The activity they participated in was "Drawing Their Perfect World", and/or something they were curious about!
Lets see what the girls came up with...
Harlem Teens Head Downtown to the Nuyorican to Watch Sarah Jones Perform
Last week, I took the Harlem Teens down to the historic Nuyorican Poets Cafe, an acclaimed arts venue in the Lower East Side of Manhattan that celebrates the works of multi-cultural artists in all disciplines. Started in 1973, the Nuyorican is one of the most highly respected arts venues in the country, with a purpose to provide a stage for artists traditionally under-represented in mainstream media.
I found out that Tony Award winning actor, poet, and playwright Sarah Jones was performing there last week, so I made sure the girls got a chance to experience her live! We went to see Sarah Jones perform her brilliant one-woman show, derived from her previous play, Bridge & Tunnel (produced off-Broadway by Oscar winner Meryl Streep), where she portrays characters from different cultural backgrounds. Her work effectively brings the voices of diverse backgrounds to life, providing insight towards the human connectivity that we experience across race, class, and gender.
I felt it was important to have the girls see the different perspectives and dynamics that exist in our society, to broaden their awareness. I was thrilled to find how much they enjoyed the show. They felt that her discussions, especially one of her portraying the life of a police officer, interestingly depicted the voice that we don't often see behind the uniform. Below, you will find the picture of Sarah portraying a woman from Jordan, where respectfully and eloquently speaks from the perspective of an Arab woman on the recent protests in Egypt: "In the recent situations in Egypt, we witness that when we come together, we are able to galvanize the impossible".
It was wonderful to watch the girls enjoy and become entertained by Sarah Jones' show, while at the same time be able to soak in knowledge about issues around the world. I felt very inspired by their excitement and eagerness to learn, and especially happy when they told me it was one of the best plays they've ever seen! -Ruby
LitWorld Girls Club in Erbil, Iraq Take Action in Sisterhood
The Litworld Girls Club in Erbil, Iraq, also known as the Venus Girls Club, explore sisterhood, and take action to protect women's issues in their latest Girls Club meeting in the month of January.
The Girls Club Iraq facilitator, Saadia Hassoon, offered this recollection of their most recent meetings:
We started our lecture with welcoming phrases and definitions of sisterhood that we shared with the girls. They each shared their thoughts, ideas, and stories .
Then we started to ask each girl to define herself and give us one adjective that described her best. We asked the girls to make a circle, and to share their names and the adjective they chose. We repeated this until each girl had a turn, and this refreshed them!
This session we had guest from Bagdad: Ghaydaa F.Hasson. She came to attend this club’s meeting, and to share her ideas about the definition of gender. The girls discussed this issue in detail with Ghaydaa.
For the second session in January, a Kurdistan parliament member came in as a special guest. She was a member of the environmental and health committee, and lived in Denmark for 20 years. As a guest, she heard about the girls activities regarding environment.
She started to talk about her experiences, and how the people in Denmark protect their environment. She also talked about Kurdistan parliament, and how the budget allocated for the environment. She then explained how the decisions were made. She asked the girls if they had any questions about about health and environment, and the girls spent 2 engaging hours talking with her! She promised to let more parliament members come to meet them.
One of the most important questions that the girls raised is the loss of the breast cancer center, and the awareness about early detection of breast cancer. The girls started to collect signatures from beneficiaries, and they will give it to parliament through their visit next week.
The girls felt so happy to meet her, and they felt very empowered with the ability to take action!
Our Second Day at Kensington!
Another day full of giggles with the girls at the Kensington Public School, with all this enthusiasm the program is off to a good start. Today we spoke about the strength of compassion. The girls read the book Chrysanthemum.
The book tackles many issues, one of the most important issue it focused on was bullying. Chrysanthemum a young girl is being made fun of due to the uniqueness of her name. This book helped the girls understand how compassion is essential in our daily lives and how without it people’s feelings could get hurt. The exercise that followed the book was to write their name and a positive adjective that describes them. This activity showed the girls how even though we need to show compassion to each other, but we also need to show compassion to ourselves.
Girls Education Project in Nigeria by DFID
We came across this video by an organization in the United Kingdom, Department for International Development (DFID), that explains the importance of nurturing the education of girls. We thought it spoke to the mission of our Girls Club Program, and wanted to share this insightful message. DIFD is doing important work, and we hope more people can participate in causes like these. Check out the video below:
An Exciting First Day at Girls Club Kensington in Brooklyn, NY
Today's Read-Aloud Material, The Peace Book by Todd Parr (with new friends)
As we welcome our new Girls Club in Ghana, we also ushered in the very first day of another one of our new Girls Club in Brooklyn, New York City. The Kensington Elementary School, with its vibrant red doors, houses some of the most buoyant and brilliant young students, including the ten excited girls participating in the LitWorld Girls Club program.
The ten giggling girls had the most contagious, effervescent energy! We played games to get to know each other's names, talked about the importance of supporting and nurturing girls, and learned the seven strengths. Their eyes grew wide when they found they were part of a worldwide community of other young women who were doing many similar things, and it was so uplifting to see how much this program could get them so excited.
We also read The Peace Book by Todd Parr, and talked about what peace meant to each of us. There is nothing more rewarding than being in a room with these bright young girls, laughing uncontrollably and giggling in unison, united under the same roof despite coming from so many different parts of the world. The Kensington School boasts an international community of students, all descending from many different countries.
Thanks to the wonderful staff of Kensington School, we have yet another LitWorld Girls Club site, reaching even more girls. So much more to come!
Welcome Girls Club in Kenyasi, Ghana!
We at LitWorld are proud to welcome another Girls Club chapter in Kenyasi, Ghana! LitWorld has partnered with the Asutifi Graduates and Students' Union Secretariat (AGSUSEC), a local development network organization working to provide opportunities for youth survival in Ghana.
There are ten schools combined to form the Girls Club community, who will meet twice a week serving young women from ages 12-18 years old. Their programs will include topics on sexual abuse, sports tournaments, a Girls arts festival, drama competitions, leadership training, and awareness campaigns. The participants will learn to be young leaders and role models for their community, and have a place for them to belong.
We are excited at this brand new partnership, and look forward to sharing their experiences with you in the months to come!