As I sit hear knawing on corn just off the fire (literally just off the coals), I thought it was about time to write about the Kigali-Bugesera Camp GLOW (girls leading our world) which took place from November 28-December 2. This was a 5-day camp for 48 girls from seven schools in Kigali and Bugesera District. They spent everyday learning about HIV/AIDS, gender based violence (GBV), and life skills. We hosted the camp at my school, G.S. Rango, which made the week even more special and stressful for myself.
As the title says, this was the greatest experience I have had during my service here in Rwanda and I am finding it hard to express the overall pride and sense of purpose I felt during the planning and implementation of this project.Working with ten other PCVs, it was amazing to see the camp grow from just some ideas on a piece of paper to a full blown camp, full of campy songs, campfires, s’mores, arts and crafts, team-building activities, and more. The greatest challenge was trying to organize an American-style camp in a Rwandan environment where things don’t happen on time and leadership hierarchy must be respected. We tackled the issue of a major bed bug infestation in the dorm (they were in the bedframes, not our brand new mattresses which was good) we were sleeping in and ended up sleeping in our office on top of tables for the week. We overcame exhaustion and stomach bugs and battled through. It was so worth it.
I won’t go through the daily schedule, but basically the girls got up every morning and went to life skills lessons in small groups for a few hours. There were six groups of eight students facilitated by Rwandans and PCVs. Each group was named after a female leader (Oprah, Wangari Mathaai, Mother Teresa, Zora Neale Hurston, Michelle Obama, and Jeannette Kagame) and came up with a group chant. Some days we had guest speakers in the morning, which were probably the girls’ favorite part. They were strong local leaders and women who came to talk about how they achieved their goals and touched upon GBV. In the afternoon the girls got to sign-up for campy activities like sports, crafts, yoga, Zumba, salsa dancing, and more. Every night after dinner we had an activity for everyone: dance, talent show, s’mores and campfire, and t-shirt signing. Every day was packed and by 10 PM (way past our usual Rwandan bedtimes) we were exhausted, but it was so worth it.
The best part of camp was watching the girls grow from Monday to Friday. So many showed up in their school cliques and were very quiet, but by the end of the week they had made new friends and were not shy about asking questions, sharing ideas, or screaming their chants. I had 9 girls from my school attend (7 campers and 2 jr. facilitators) and I have been so happy to see them come back to school this year ready to start a GLOW club and teach others about what they learned. They are ready to go to other schools and teach the girls there and also do sessions in the village to teach older women about what they learned. I could not be more proud of their motivation and drive to touch as many people as possible with the GLOW message. This Friday we will be presenting to the whole school to recruit other girls for the club and to teach the students and teachers about what they learned. Their presentation is great and I am so excited to watch.
As for Camp GLOW 2012 – I’m not sure if I will still be in Rwanda when it comes time for camp. This year the schools have a 6 week vacation in July and August, so we might have camp then. If we keep the same schedule as last year, I will be on my out of Rwanda and may not be around. I think it would be a good way to end my service with such a powerful camp, but we’ll see what we are offered in terms of COS (close of service) dates. I might just have to hang around for a couple extra weeks to see this through :)
Check out my Picasa Web Albums – I have some great pictures from Camp GLOW
