GLOW CAMP!
This past month was GLOW Camp, and what a month, and what a camp it was! This was and is by far the most rewarding thing I have done in Moldova, as well as the most fun!
Maybe you have heard me mention it before in an email or something, since I have been occupied by the planning of this camp since January, but if you don’t know G.L.O.W. stands for Girls Leading Our World.
GLOW Camp was a joint effort between Peace Corps and The Forum of Women in Moldova. And of course, the camp is only for girls—aged 14-17. The goal of the camp is to help girls develop into leaders by providing them the tools, information, and skills to do so. While we say camp, it was really more of a summer school. We had lessons about first aid, sexual health, leadership, self-defense, dental hygiene, nutrition, breast cancer, music, drama, art, Frisbee, creative writing, domestic violence, communication and conflict resolution, team building, human trafficking, academic honesty, self esteem, STDs etc.
Before the camp started, we had each girl take a “knowledge survey” on each of these topics. We then made them take the exact same test at the end of the camp so we can measure what exactly they learned at GLOW camp. While we have yet to analyze their responses, we know that some of the answers that showed up on the first round of surveys such as “getting hit in the breast can give you breast cancer,” or “paying a teacher for a better grade in school is not cheating” are close to non-existent on the second round of surveys, good job teachers!
We ended GLOW camp by giving each girl a manual, (classes, as well as everything in GLOW was done in both Russian and in Romanian, in order to be inclusive of every girl in Moldova—to try and promote unity in this country), in her language of choice with all the information we taught at GLOW. This year we encouraged the girls to go back to their villages, where access to the internet or this information may not exist, and share what they learned with others.
GLOW wasn’t just lessons though. We had a lot of fun! A talent show, a disco/Halloween night, and of course, no American-influenced camp can be without SMORES! Delicious. When I think about American culture, I am glad we shared with the girls two of my favorite parts: Smores at the campfire and HALLOWEEN!
My particular role in GLOW was a co-director. Besides running around after supplies, people and campers—and settling disputes, working in 3 languages really lends itself to communication mishaps--- I taught classes in Art and Leadership, as well as ran the team building/spider web stations!
Next year we are looking to change GLOW a little bit to make it more sustainable (we ran this year off of grants, because we want to keep the cost down for the girls who come), and we aren’t sure how we will change it. But I am sure as long as it keeps the energy it has this year, it will be fabulous.
Below are some pictures from GLOW this year. The jam and bread mess was a demonstration we did on giving directions—how precise you have to be! The body painting was a free time activity I supervised—the girls LOVED it, and, because we had extra paint, many used it again on Halloween to improve their costumes. The night of Halloween I felt like I had many little art works running around the disco! Next to the display of artwork are myself and my co-teacher. We had the girls draw what they thought their life would look like in 10 or 20 years. So interesting! The spider web, go teamwork. And Halloween! (I was Stefan Cel Mare—the national hero of Moldova, while Anastasia was the Statue of Liberty--- we went as dates, of course!)
All in all, so fun, but so exhausting. More updates will come when I get more photos, and throughout the year when we track what these girls are doing in their individual villages—hopefully using the agency we tried really hard to instill in them!
Maybe you have heard me mention it before in an email or something, since I have been occupied by the planning of this camp since January, but if you don’t know G.L.O.W. stands for Girls Leading Our World.
GLOW Camp was a joint effort between Peace Corps and The Forum of Women in Moldova. And of course, the camp is only for girls—aged 14-17. The goal of the camp is to help girls develop into leaders by providing them the tools, information, and skills to do so. While we say camp, it was really more of a summer school. We had lessons about first aid, sexual health, leadership, self-defense, dental hygiene, nutrition, breast cancer, music, drama, art, Frisbee, creative writing, domestic violence, communication and conflict resolution, team building, human trafficking, academic honesty, self esteem, STDs etc.
Before the camp started, we had each girl take a “knowledge survey” on each of these topics. We then made them take the exact same test at the end of the camp so we can measure what exactly they learned at GLOW camp. While we have yet to analyze their responses, we know that some of the answers that showed up on the first round of surveys such as “getting hit in the breast can give you breast cancer,” or “paying a teacher for a better grade in school is not cheating” are close to non-existent on the second round of surveys, good job teachers!
We ended GLOW camp by giving each girl a manual, (classes, as well as everything in GLOW was done in both Russian and in Romanian, in order to be inclusive of every girl in Moldova—to try and promote unity in this country), in her language of choice with all the information we taught at GLOW. This year we encouraged the girls to go back to their villages, where access to the internet or this information may not exist, and share what they learned with others.
GLOW wasn’t just lessons though. We had a lot of fun! A talent show, a disco/Halloween night, and of course, no American-influenced camp can be without SMORES! Delicious. When I think about American culture, I am glad we shared with the girls two of my favorite parts: Smores at the campfire and HALLOWEEN!
My particular role in GLOW was a co-director. Besides running around after supplies, people and campers—and settling disputes, working in 3 languages really lends itself to communication mishaps--- I taught classes in Art and Leadership, as well as ran the team building/spider web stations!
Next year we are looking to change GLOW a little bit to make it more sustainable (we ran this year off of grants, because we want to keep the cost down for the girls who come), and we aren’t sure how we will change it. But I am sure as long as it keeps the energy it has this year, it will be fabulous.
Below are some pictures from GLOW this year. The jam and bread mess was a demonstration we did on giving directions—how precise you have to be! The body painting was a free time activity I supervised—the girls LOVED it, and, because we had extra paint, many used it again on Halloween to improve their costumes. The night of Halloween I felt like I had many little art works running around the disco! Next to the display of artwork are myself and my co-teacher. We had the girls draw what they thought their life would look like in 10 or 20 years. So interesting! The spider web, go teamwork. And Halloween! (I was Stefan Cel Mare—the national hero of Moldova, while Anastasia was the Statue of Liberty--- we went as dates, of course!)
All in all, so fun, but so exhausting. More updates will come when I get more photos, and throughout the year when we track what these girls are doing in their individual villages—hopefully using the agency we tried really hard to instill in them!
This entry was posted
on Saturday, July 28, 2007 at 5:54 AM.
