In partnership with the Real Life Foundation in Pasig City, our first Boys LitClubs have launched in Manila. Special thanks to Boys LitClub facilitators Mike and Joe of the Real Life Foundation for helping us make it happen!
Mike facilitating a read aloud inside the Community Center...
While Joe's Boys LitClub meet outside!
A new beginning, with stories abound.
Submitted by LitCorps Ambassador Ruby
After two and a half months of building relationships & meeting with organizations on new and fertile ground here in the Philippines, I’m excited to say that LitWorld has made its first official partner with the Real Life Foundation, and has debuted our first Boys and Girls LitClubs in Manila! (We’ve had a Girls LitClub launch in the Philippines before, but in the city of Baguio.)
This past Saturday, I headed to the Real Life Foundation Community Center in Pasig City, where the youth of the surrounding neighborhoods gather every Saturday to take advantage of Real Life’s weekend feeding program. The youth don’t often have proper nourishment with their daily meals, so Real Life helps by giving them balanced, nutritious foods on the weekends. The only thing missing from their weekly gathering with youth was a productive program to get them engaged, so implementing the LItClubs was a natural and perfect fit.
I arrived to a big group of boys and girls all curious and full of energy, staring up at me as I did my best to communicate with them in the best Tagalog I could. (Luckily, I also had a Real Life Staff member help me with translations!) When we broke up the girls and boys to form their clubs, I finally had a chance to meet the girls and introduce the LitClubs concept to them.
We started with the Name Game to warm things up, a practice all LitClub facilitators do to make sure we know each girl’s name. This is very important in our LitClubs, to make the presence of each girl known, welcomed, and valid. I also asked them what they’d like to be when they grow older, and an overwhelming bunch of them aspire to be teachers! (A good sign, no?) We talked about building a community of sisterhood, and exercised their connection with each other by facilitating the identity web activity, where they are able to see how much they have in common with each other by connecting their common traits.
The girls may have been shy at first, but behind all the hushed giggles, I can tell they were excited. When we brought out the read aloud, they all gathered close and were completely into the story. I can tell that this is a good beginning, and I will continue updating you all as this new story for LitWorld in the Philippines unfolds!
---Ruby
Last Sunday we read the book Stuart Little by E. B White, a book that explores the life of a mouse pet named Stuart who lives with a human family in an apartment in New York City, and loves adventure. His best friend is a bird named Margalo who disappears, making Stuart experience the most amazing adventures in trying to track down his missing friend.
The girls were so captivated by this book. We reread the first three chapters; this was to accommodate those who were not there during the previous reading session with Pam. How we wait to see what happens next in the life of Start in the upcoming chapters!
On the same day, they met Njugush (John Njuguna) a TV presenter on a show Rauka ( a gospel show) that airs every Sunday morning from 6am - 1pm on one of our local channels (Citizen TV). The girls love the show and what better way to inspire some of them to follow their dreams than to get them their favorite TV presenter! They attentively listened to the advice Njuguna had to offer their young minds. “We all have to start from somewhere and let nobody make you feel like you are worth less!” These were words of encouragement from a man they look up to. We look forward to working with this TV icon in continuing to enrich the lives of these young girls.
Today we completed our food drive. Our boxes were so heavy we had to ask for help getting them to my car!
The GirlsClub members of City Neighbors Charter School decided they wanted to do something to help people who suffer from hunger. They made beautiful posters and hung them around the school. Families brought in donations, and today we delivered them to The House of Ruth. I'm so proud of them for putting kindness into action!
pictured: Ashley from House of Ruth, Virginia, GirlsClub Leader, and Luca, GirlsClub representative
Submitted by: Virginia Crawford
The Broadway Housing Boys LitClub in New York City send a BIG thanks to Hachette for their wonderful book donation for this week's LitClub.
We read together the opening chapter of the Frequenaut! series featuring Ignatius MacFarland, and the boys loved signing the books with their names, cementing them as their own.
All three New York City Boys LitClubs joined together for the first time yesterday to watch the Lions of Columbia University face off against conference foe Brown. The teen LitClub and younger LitClub from the Polo Grounds Community Center enjoyed meeting their new friends from Broadway Housing Communities, sharing stories with each other, playing games in the stands together, and witnessing a mighty comeback from the home team in overtime.
We share an incredible bond as LitClub members in New York City, one that was strengthened when we all united in the beautiful Lawrence A. Wien Stadium in northern Manhattan.
Recently, some special vistors arrived in our Girls LitClubs in Kibera, Kenya- including our LitWorld team! Thanks to our Girls LitClub facilitator, Prisca, for submitting this entry:
The girls with the books they received from Pam!
This Sunday we were delighted to have two guests. One of our own: Zainab, a pioneer High School Scholarship Beneficiary. She has just completed her national KCSE examinations at State House Girls. She came to share her experiences in high school with the girls club. From the conversation and millions of questions asked, it was obvious to note that the girls litclub students were quite eager to know about high school life. I must admit that listening to some of Zainab’s advice on peer pressure as well as how to maintain one's identity even when in a group, was an eye opener. To top it all off, they got firsthand experience of how to conquer the several trials and tribulations they may face in their teenage years.
The second guest was Barbra Guantai, a musician who leans towards the genre of afro-fusion. Taking a look at her picture, you can almost tell immediately that this is someone who is passionate and not afraid to follow her dream. Listening to her music, a blend of traditional African rhythms and the modern contemporary one, is a testament that following your heart does pay off. She had a glow; right from the moment she picked up her mahogany coloured classical guitar, to plucking that first string and singing that first note, the glow spread. The girls had it too.
In a few minutes that glow changed to excitement the moment the girls joined in the singing. From the start I realised the girls wouldn’t easily let her go, and in the end I almost had to drag her away. Did I mention Barbra didn’t come alone, she was accompanied by her mother: a retired nurse who previously worked at Kenyatta National Hospital, as well as well her two cousins, who were all too eager to join in the fun and games.
Her mother tackled all the questions the girls threw at her gracefully. It was easy for the girls to relate to her considering she also grew up in Kibera. The girls listened intently as she mentioned the need for the girls to remain principled as well as being focused on education as a “ticket out”. She is currently running a clinic based in Kibera. She is definitely a living example of her own advice.
The LitWorld team also came to visit the Girls LitClubs in Kibera, and the girls were so happy to see them and play dress up with the wonderful costumes they brought! See the photos below:
LitWorld Executive Director Pam Allyn with the Girls Club
LitWorld friend Denise Ortiz came along for the visit!
The girls playing dress up!
Confidence. Something you need to be successful, to accomplish your goals. Not being afraid to say what you think or do what you think is right. But not in a way that would put other people down or hurt them. These were some of the thoughts my GirlsClub had on confidence.
I introduced the concept of "slam poetry" and the award-winning poet Gayle Danley. We listened to a recording of one of her poems where she describes winning the National Poetry Slam Championship. The poem's narrator describes a few experiences of people putting her down, but she doesn't listen to them. She believes in her talent, so she borrows a car and goes to a poetry competition in another city. Even though it is an unfamiliar situation, she is confident and leaps in and does her best.
Then we read Phenomenal Woman by Maya Angelou. The girls pointed out the speaker's confidence in herself as she is - that she didn't need to change herself to please anyone else, that we can all have confidence in ourselves just as we are.
We discussed things we feel confident about in ourselves and things we would like to see in our future. The girls then made Confidence Boards to represent these personal strengths and hopes. One girl selected and image of people in what appears to be a hanging tent made of strong see-through netting. She said, "This represents me and my bird's eye view of the world." There was also an image of a bird and another of a handprint pattern. "And this represents me not being afraid to go out and make my mark on the world." May we all share our talents and make beautiful marks on our world!
Submitted by our Girls LitClubs Facilitator in Maryland, Virginia
The challenges of boyhood are at times tricky, or even traumatic. It is also how we carry out ourselves at this stage that would determine our fatherhood stage (a dream every boy harbors). This was very much evident when the boys club met four gentlemen; Eddy, Jeremy, Billy and Jim.
Eddy, a taxi driver, and a successful one for that matter, told an inspiring story about his boyhood dreams and obsession with cars. He fantasized an adulthood of driving fancy cars from one place to another across Kenya. He nurtured this dream to a successful realization. He now drives people as a delightfully chosen career.
Jeremy, of the Children’s Village in New York also told his story of a tempting boyhood. It is for this reason that he has vouched help young men as he understands the confrontations that come with being a boy. He helps to model them into achievers.
Jim, a lawyer by training only practiced law for a few years and embarked on a mission to help young children (boys included) at LitWorld. He, together with his wife Pam (founder of LitWorld) are out to build a society united in reading. The three stories from these gentlemen are an inspiration to the boys and whenever they (boys) chant the songs they learnt from them (the men) their hearts are filled with joy and hope. Hope that a brighter fatherhood is beckoning.
“We are the boys”, they bellow in unison.
Thank you.
-Jeff
This entry was submitted by Girls LitClubs facilitator in Virginia Beach, Molly.
This week, I was finally able to begin my first Girls Club in Virginia Beach. Being new to the city myself, it was a challenge to organize a group of girls. Through networking, I met three parents of teenage girls in the area who felt that their daughters would love to participate. The girls were beginning to get very anxious as I continued to attempt to find additional members, so I decied that perhaps a group of three could be a very special for the girls. We had our first meeting at a clubhouse in the Town Center.
One of the parents suggested taking turns sending food and snacks because we are holding our meetings after school close to dinner time. As the girls gathered, they sat at a round table and shared pizza while immediately beginning to socialize and bond. There was no hesitation in communication between any of the girls. As they were finishing up eating, I spoke to them about the background of LitWorld and how our typical meetings would go.
Each of the girls took turns introducing themselves and how they each came to be here. When I was explaining the “Hello” and “Goodbye” songs, they decided that they wanted to create their own. This coming week they are going to share their ideas they come up with and we will generate one as a group. We read “The Peace Book” by Todd Parr. Each girl shared what her idea of “Peace” was and how this book truly did a wonderful job at presenting it in so many ways.
Next, I introduced the 7 strengths and wrote them on chart paper. I posted the chart paper around the room and allowed the girls a few minutes to think about what each word meant to them. Then they rotated to each paper had 2 minutes to write their thoughts and ideas. We then put the papers together and discussed the responses. We were nearing the end of our time together so I chose to close for the evening and we are creating a poster next week that will encompass the 7 strengths. One of the girls asked if we were going to be reading a novel during our sessions.
I suggested perhaps if we could all agree on a title, we could extend our meetings and have a small book talk each week as well. The girls decided that we will all read “The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” because it would be the most relevant. I thought this was a wonderful idea!
A few days ago my club focused on kindness. We discussed our thoughts about the word and listened to the poem "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. The girls connected with the idea of feeling trapped and limited like a caged bird, and they also wanted to expand, to be of help to those who are in some way "caged" by difficult circumstances. We made a list of issues that we care about and would like to change for the better. That list included bullying and under-supplied schools, homelessness and poverty and hunger. Several girls mentioned hunger in particular, and considering that Thanksgiving is nearly upon us, we decided to hold a food drive in our school and donate what we collect to a local shelter for women so they too might have a feast. The girls were very enthusiastic, so much so, that in a matter of 15 minutes they had created beautiful posters letting their school-mates know about our food drive! In the coming days we will place their posters and donation boxes around the school. The girls were very excited by this kindness-in-action - doing something that will help people they don't know. How very inspiring they are!
Virginia
This afternoon the girls and I considered Sisterhood. We reviewed what we'd written on our poster several weeks ago and expanded those ideas. One member pointed out that we don't actually have to be related to share sisterhood with each other - that we in our club were like sisters because we're kind to each other and share things like stories and writing. Then we read a beautiful story of girls sharing and caring for each other - Four Feet, Two Sandles.
The girls were captivated by it and the very different world it presents. They were touched by the way the girls shared a single pair of sandles and the friendship that developed between them. I asked them to describe each character in just a few words, then to consider themselves as a character in the story of their lives. I asked them to describe themselves, then work in small groups to write a story or play where each character says or does at least one thing. They were invited to begin: We went for a walk and saw the most amazing thing... One group imagined a magical tree that had crystals hanging from it and a playful puppy waiting for them beneath its branches.
Another group decided to exaggerate certain of their qualities to make a point about how some friends interact. I was a little surprised by everyone's reluctance to work with their own "characters." Everyone wanted to exaggerate certain things or deal with entirely fictitious situations. After a rather tumultuous writing period, we read/performed for each other complete with applause at the end of each piece - sisters through and through.
Submitted by Virginia, our Girls LitClub Facilitator in Baltimore, Maryland.
LitWorld friend Ali Smith shared her photos from her visit with the Girls LitClubs in Kibera not too long ago, and this follow up post is from the work of the girls during her time with them. Here, they reveal their thoughts, their aspirations, and their hopes for the future. We are proud that they are part of this movement. Look how strong their voices are. These are tomorrow's leaders. The future is bright from here!
Thanks for visiting Ali!
The LitWorld Boys Club had four sessions in the month of September. On the first week of that month they were re-introduced to the seven pillars of the Boys Club curriculum. They had a general overview of the whole curriculum after which they set on discussing one of the pillars-Esteem (Confidence). Participants were able to define esteem, explain its importance, characteristics, how to develop self-esteem, the contributing factors of positive self-esteem and the importance of high self-esteem. They also had a weekly test which involved self-esteem assessment test. This scoring purposes to get a general idea of where their self-esteem is at the moment.
The third week was characterized by discussion about values. The objective of this session was to enable them to be in a position to explain what is meant by values and attitudes, identify personal, family, religious and cultural values. They were also able to learn where values come from, know how values affect our behaviors and how it determines our relationship with others. The methodologies that were used included brainstorming, discussions and small group work.
On the last week of September, the boys discussed another element in the clubs curriculum-Curiosity. Again they defined curiosity, its importance, characteristics and how to improve on it. They also read poems and quotes on curiosity from famous authors. Lastly, they made a pin-up chart that contained the poems and the quotes.
In the month of October, the group had enjoyable moments. The following poems were composed by members of the club as an attempt of appreciating some the elements they have discussed during their meetings.
COMPASSION
By Brian
Compassion is a feeling of love
When you show compassion
Many souls are at peace
The world becomes a better place
Compassion, is all the world needs
Imagine of a world without compassion
People harming and killing
It is a lost world
We can avoid this
Compassion is all what you and me need
Compassionate people have
Smiling faces around them
They help the poor
Encourage the weak
Accompany the lonely
And………list is endless
Compassion, is all that we need
HOPE
By the Kibera Boys Club
Circumstances are grim
Uncertainty is the theme
Fear has blurred my vision
Vision to future mission
Left with a wounded eagerness
Despair and other mess
Hope has deserted me
I keep digging
Deep into my intricate being
To ‘exhume’ the little bit
Left to save the soul a bit
Hope is all I need
Belief is all I breed
To regain my normal being
I hear they say
A hopeless man says nay
And lives with despair and gloom
Never lives to bloom
Hope they say
Is essential for a day
It designates the essence of humanity
-Jeff
Entry by Ali Smith
On Sunday I was invited to join a Kibera LitWorld Girls Club session led by Prisca Mawia. When I arrived the session had not yet started and the girls were dashing around the sun-scorched courtyard, quite engaged with their game of kati. I wondered if such energy could possibly yield to composed classroom discussion, but I was wrong to be skeptical. As soon as it was time to begin the day’s session, the girls quickly moved indoors, took their seats and shifted attention to the theme at hand: confidence.
Confidence can be just as hard to describe as it is to possess, but Maya Angelou’s poem “Phenomenal Woman” – which the students read aloud – turned out to be great fodder for discussion. Upon first read, the girls took lines like “the reach of my arms” and “the swing in my waist” as evidence that the author is confident because she is beautiful. Some of the students shared physical traits of their own (hair, nails, etc.) that they like. After further exchange, the students began to see a deeper message in Angelou’s poem: the way a phenomenal woman carries herself is really just the outward expression of inner confidence.
From here, each girl spent some time writing down what she is confident about in herself and what goals she has for the future. For the present, many of the girls cited concrete talents like singing, dancing or playing football. But the girls also said things like, ‘I say what I mean’ and ‘I don’t let anyone hold me back.’ It was great to hear that these feelings also imbued the girls’ hopes for adulthood. While the girls communicated strong preferences for profession, family size and residence, they also shared their passion for less tangible achievements such as being independent, defending Kenya’s laws, and helping to maintain peaceful families.
As a visitor to Kibera (and to this age group), I was struck by how much these girls see their own confidence as a building block in the success of their community. It was also interesting to observe that the girls who felt most uncomfortable reading their reflections aloud to their club-mates were often the same individuals who articulated the strongest desire to serve the public good in their future endeavors. On this point, I think the group learned that confidence comes in many different flavors. Like fingerprints, the ingredients of one person’s confidence will never be exactly the same as another’s. The important thing isn’t to match another person’s gait or style or talent at football, it’s to find and nurture your own source of “phenomenal.”
With that, I extend a big thank you to the students and staff of the Kibera LitWorld Girls Club! What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.
Thank you to our friend Ali for submitting this entry, and for spending your time with the confident young women of Kibera!
This past Sunday, girls at the Girls LitClub discussed the topic of BELONGING. They drew heart maps and shared with the class. The new club consists of twenty girls who are under the tutorship of Brenda.
Heart Map by Diana
The girls get along well and always play together after the club meetings. Their menu has also been finalized, so every Sunday the girls will be provided with lunch. The girls are ecstatic about it!
Heart Map by Mercy
On the November 6th, Barbara, an afro fusion artist, will be coming to talk and spend time with the girls. They are very excited, and are eagerly looking foward to this rare visit.
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This entry was submitted by our Girls LitClub facilitator in Kibera, Prisca. Thank you for all your work with the girls!
First I showed the girls this image and asked what they saw. (They saw both the face and the vase.)
Then I showed them this image and asked if they knew where it was. They guessed NY and DC. It's here in Baltimore in front of our train station. Looked at from different angles, it is a man and it is also a woman. At night there is a purplish light in the heart area of both. (I love this statue.)
Then we pointed out that what you see really depends on how you look at it.
We collected our journals and pencils, and Luca asked us to write a few sentences about how we would feel if we were children who had a favorite tree. We could climb it, read under it, rest in its shade, etc. It was the perfect tree, but one day we went to it and found just a stump. We wrote for about 4 mins.
Then she asked us to imagine being the tree, knowing you are loved by many children but you get cut down. Again, 4 mins to write.
Finally she asked us to imagine being a parent of a sick child who didn't have a job or health insurance. But we found a job, and it involved cutting down a beautiful tree. Again 4 mins to write our feelings.
Then we shared what we'd written and discussed how our feelings were different each time. I was delighted by one response in particular from the parent's perspective: I'd be happy to have a job and be able to take care of my kid, but I'd also feel sad about the kids who loved to play on that tree, so I'd volunteer to build them a new swing set and plant new trees and take care of the park.
***
This entry was submitted by Virginia, our Girls Club Facilitator in Baltimore, Maryland. Sounds like you had a great day with the girls exploring how to look at the positive (and multiple) side of things, as this is a multi-dimensional world! Thank you for helping the girls to explore new ideas, and for allowing them to see from different angles.
Our day 3 meeting began with the hello song as usual. The check- in question for this week asked that the girls recount and share one funny thing that happened to them this week. Each girl had a very fascinating moment to share. This moment of sharing was another interesting time for the club, as the girls could not help laughing when any of them shared her funny experience.
I introduced belonging to the club as the strength around which the day’s work will be centered. Girls shared very inspiring ways belonging can be realized as individuals, at the club level, and as communities at large. The read-aloud poem was introduced and read together. In a discussion, the girls mentioned stars, night, faces, eyes, people, and darkness as some of the images that came to mind as they read the poem.
The heart maps were the writing activity for the day, and this kept the girls busy in an exciting mood as they carefully, but excitedly, sketched out their hearts on paper, noting what occupies the biggest place in their hearts.
We then created a chart of all the different ways the club belongs to the different groups and people in their families, communities and the world. The day ended with a review of the day’s work, then we said goodbye and promised to see each other next week.
***
A special thank to our Girls Club Facilitator at Ceinode Ghana, Emefa, for submitting these photos and this entry!
All the girls engaged in an approximately 20 minute’s session to answer the questions in the Index Survey. From what we could gather, most of the girls are scared of being a girl because of what is going around their neighborhood such as rape cases.
However, there were some who were proud of being a girl and were looking forward to being influential in the community with very many kids to take care of.
Some hope to be leaders of tomorrow so that they could stop corruption in Kenya since corruption was the backbone of all evils in the society. Some wished to be successful so that they could change the living conditions of the people living in the slums.
When asked about what they hoped to learn at the Litworld Girls Club, most of them said that they hoped to learn how to be a role model in the community, how to cope with problems that they are facing in the slums, how to assist other girls who are in problems, how to become useful to the community, and others wished to interact and share ideas with other Litworld Girls Club Members.
Thank you to Olivia of the Knights Kenya for sending us your photos and updates. We are inspired by the work you and your girls are doing!
Thank you to our Girls LitClub Facilitator Virginia Crawford for submitting this blog entry about her group of girls in Maryland!
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This week my girls and I considered Curiosity. We read a Shel Silverstein poem in which the speaker observes someone he believes to be upside down, but then he pauses to consider if he himself might be upside down. Then we discussed Mary Oliver's poem The Summer Day in which she asks questions of the universe and describes her close observation of a grasshopper - a demonstration of curiosity in action. I invited the girls to consider questions they might have and also any moments of close observation when they felt so interested in something they couldn't take their eyes from it and then use those questions and experiences to write a poem. They asked some interesting questions like "Why are we here in this world? Why are clouds in the sky? Why are trees growing? Why are lines on my hands?" "What if I looked like a different person? Does it matter how I look?"
Another wrote this poem:
untitled
The wolf's eyes glitter
in the darkness. His paws
fall silently
on the ground.
The birds squawk
in the sky, and the crickets
practice their songs.
I don't know why
the world was built like this.
I don't know why
the trees stand so tall.
I don't know why
we try to grasp
something that isn't there.
Luca S., 5th grader
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We look forward to reading more work from Baltimore. Thank you Virginia!
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