GLOW stands for Girls/Guys Leading Our World and is a camp
usually put on by peace corps volunteers focusing on leadership, self-esteem,
gender roles, puberty, and HIV/AIDS education. This particular camp I have been
working on with 10 other PCVs since March. Together we brought 60 boys from all
over the Southern Region for a long weekend.
Working on this camp has been the most rewarding work
experience I have had here. I co-taught two lessons on gender-roles and risky
sexual behavior (that increase the risk of HIV infection). In the gender-roles
session, one of the boys admitted that he babysits his younger sister, which
sparked a lot of discussion and some of his peers to make fun of him, since as
a young man this was not a role that he should have. The courage of this boy to
be honest with his peers warmed my heart and reminded me that this is how
change happens. I feel lucky to have created a space where that boy felt
comfortable sharing because I know that his peers got more from what he said
than all of the other things I taught. On the contrary when I asked other boys
what they learned in the session, they replied, “Men eat more than women.” Haha
you can’t win ‘em all.
Overall the camp was revitalizing. I had the privilege of
working with other motivated PCVs, teachers, and students, can’t wait to start
planning another!
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