Girls Club, If you know the secret handshake you're in...

The lovely ladies of "The Girls Club"

I’ve started a girls club. I’ve creatively named it, “The Girls Club” so hopefully soon they’ll rename it something more original. We’ve had 2 meetings so far. The first consisted of laying out mats in the courtyard, learning names, and playing with play-dough (scented and flavored with a Kool-Aid packet!). We also played a name game that required the girls to think of adjectives starting with the first letter of their name. For English being their 3^rd language they did well with a little help. I now will remember the girls by one of their adjectives; it’s sort of like a nickname for them, which makes them feel special. I am Terrific-Tricia. We then played with the play-dough. I tried to explain it before handing them all a chunk, but after a few moments of awkward silence, they said, “please, madam, we don’t understand.” Maybe it was because the staple of their diet is a food called fufu, which the play-dough resembles. Maybe it’s because as children growing up in this village, they didn’t have time to play, let alone be creative. So, I taught them the word mold, and showed them how to mold the play-dough into a shape or an object. Eventually they understood, and giggly and excited conversation ensued. One of the girls had a pretty severe creative block, showing me each of her creations, an orange, a rock, a ball, a ball of fufu, a mango… while another impressed me by making a watch and flip-flops. It was a lot of fun. Our next meeting I invited them to watch a movie for fetching a barrel of water for Kris and me. Luck had it that a projector, rented for an HIV/AIDS workshop, was not in use that evening. We were able to watch the episode “Pole to Pole” of the Planet Earth series on “the big screen.” They were amazed, not speechless, as they were trying to help each other figure out what amazing creatures and landscape they were viewing. They saw polar bears, ice, snow, wolves, elephants, penguins, elk, millions and millions of birds in a single frame, and brightly colored dancing birds.

Why did I start a girls club? Most girls don’t even finish primary school here. Most women in my village have never gone to a single class of school. Many girls are married by the time they are 17 or 18, and they have a child right away. Teenage pregnancy is an epidemic here, and there is no choice but to drop out of school and raise the child; their education is over. Many parents won’t bother with their girls’ education, because of the last three reasons, “it’s a waste of time and money.” I believe if anything is to change for the better in my village, it will be because the girls and young women are educated. If all they know is cooking, farming, fetching water and baby making, that is the life they will lead and teach to their children, a never changing cycle.

My 6 girls range in age from 14-17, they range in class from Primary 4 (4^th grade)—Junior Secondary School 2 (8^th grade). They have between 4 and 7 siblings. At the end of our first meeting, I taught them what the word goal meant. I then had them write what their goal for 2011 was. All of them mentioned going to school. My main objective for the girls club is to keep them motivated to go to school; to model for them that they can do more than become a young wife, mother, and farmer if they want. I also want to teach them about health, safe sex, and HIV/AIDS. We only meet once a week, but every day at least two of them come to the house to “greet” me. I ask them about school, and the subjects they were taught that day. I offer them help with questions and schoolwork, fully aware that they will be asked nothing about their school day at their own home.

This week I plan to play Apples-To-Apples Junior with the girls. (Brief description: Select the card from your hand that you think is most like the card played by the judge. If the judge picks your card, you win that round. And, everyone gets a chance to be the judge! For example, if the judge picks Loud, which card from your hand would you choose to describe it best: Parties, My Mom, or Doing the Dishes?) I thought it would be a good way for them to expand their English vocabulary. Before I brought out the cards, I thought I’d open them up and look through them to make sure they were relevant. Unfortunately, 75 were things unknown and mostly unexplainable. Of those, I’ll share 25 with you.

1. Grassy Hill

2. Cleaning your room

3. Going to a movie

4. Cinderella

5. Fireworks

6. Cotton Candy

7. Mittens

8. Mail Carrier

9. Going to the Dentist

10. Root Beer

11. Macaroni and Cheese

12. Finger Painting

13. Babysitters

14. Jell-O

15. Flying a Kite

16. A Fairy

17. Playgrounds

18. Picnics

19. Pajamas

20. Summer Camp

21. Recess

22. Lifeguards

23. Gummy Bears

24. Treehouse

25. Sledding

In addition to the 75 that will not be played here, I adapted some like, Hot Chocolate==Cocoa Drink, Birthday Cake==Birthday (still a stretch), Grocery Stores==Market, Baking Cookies==Baking, and Cherry Pie==Meat Pie. It’s easy to take your childhood for granted. I no longer do, at least I try not to. I played a lot! Often I even played with homemade play-dough and until recently my mother thought I didn’t snack on it, I played dress-up (I had a bin of clothes just for that purpose!), and had time to think creatively and to be inventive. More importantly, I had parents who cared a lot about my education. If you are looking for an inspirational story about girl child education, read Three Cups of Tea or Stones into Schools, both by Greg Mortenson. Sorry if this post is a downer, it wasn’t meant to be. It’s realizing the true root of many of the issues of this area that is most important to my village’s steps toward better health, education, and prosperity.