My favorite week in Senegal? Easy: the week that I go to our Thies Girls' Camp. Last year's camp was the best week of my service, and I fully anticipate this year's camp (September 9-14) to be the same if not better. I’ve
mentioned the Michele Sylvester Scholarship program a few times on this blog
already, and thanks to everyone’s support, I think I’ve met my fundraising
goals for that. But there is still a way
to contribute to that group of amazing girls:
When I visited my scholarship winners over the past month, they were all
grateful to hear that their school registration fees would be paid next
year. But they were all ECSTATIC to hear
that they’d also be invited to their first-ever camp in September, which is the second thing they win when they're chosen. These are all girls who spend their
days cooking and cleaning to “make up for the fact that a family is letting
them live in their house.” The idea of
having a fun week with other girls away from home kind of blows everything else
out of the water. Moreover, the Senegalese love camps - but few outside of a select group, typically those with money, ever have the chance to actually experience one.
Our camp is
a mix of everything, dedicating different days to health, the environment,
money management, and the FUTURE (their future, not the singularity). Peace Corps volunteers lead sessions in
our particular areas of expertise – I’ll be doing things like making spring
rolls to talk about healthy eating and building hula hoops to emphasize the
importance of exercise. I'll also be helping with yoga, quietly, in the corner, just like last year.
Last year we surveyed the girls about yoga. Almost all of them loved it. One girl said that "cadaver pose" was her favorite activity from the entire camp... ha.
But our Senegalese friends and co-workers also facilitate
a lot of activities. For instance, we
invite women to speak on a career panel about living and working in Senegal, and on another day, a local nurse comes in to answer their
anonymously submitted health questions (it’s hard for them to know much about
the body when science classes don’t even start until high school). Ultimately, the girls learn a lot, but in
true American education style, we make sure they have a lot of fun too: camp
games, craft activities, variety shows, and movies are all part of the
curriculum.
But for me,
the best part about camp is getting to know the girls. It sounds crazy, but it’s hard to form good
relationships with girls this age in everyday life, precisely for the reasons I’ve
mentioned before: they are simply too busy, all the time. It’s a Catch-22 – they’re the ones who need
the most encouragement and support, the ones who constantly get the short end
of the stick, but because they’re always sweeping, studying, cooking, or
running around town doing errands, it’s hard to catch them for a minute and
simply talk to them, get to know them.
I'm especially excited to share camp with the girls I'll personally be inviting this year, aka my Michele Sylvester winners. Almost all of them have lost at least one parent, and many are orphans living with extended family members... which, if you read the story of my "host sister" Fatamata, means that they miss out on a lot of perks and must work like crazy for their room and board. Here's a little more about a few of them:
Mame
Mame is basically blind -- she has to read and do her homework with her face nearly pressed up against her books. She's that student who must always sit in the very, very, very front because her family can't afford the eye surgery she needs. But despite this, she was the most outgoing, excited, and talkative girls among my winners. She wants to be an engineer.
Absa and Soda
Absa and Soda are twins whose parents died within six months of each other in 2009. They have some of the best grades in the entire school and lofty ambitions: Absa wants to be a CEO and Soda wants to be a maternity nurse. Both girls have very strong opinions about the necessity of education in creating more powerful women in Senegal, but moreover, they are two of the humblest, loveliest, well-spoken teenagers I've ever met. When I visited their home, their great-aunt knelt down in front of me and thanked me for the opportunity I'm giving her nieces.
Awa
Awa is clearly one of the most popular girls in school, with good reason: she's quick, smart, and beautiful. But when I visited her home, it was obvious that she overcomes a lot each and every day... her family definitely struggles much more than others in the community, and they didn't seem very supportive of her achievements or plans. Awa told me she thinks all of the winners should start a girls' group after camp.
Khady
Khady lives the farthest away of all the girls, making a 20 minute trek to and from school both in the morning and after lunch (the exercise wouldn't be so bad if it weren't 120 degrees a lot of days...). She is quick to help, has an endlessly positive outlook, and laughs at the drop of a hat. When I visited her family though, they made her work the whole time, and she didn't even get a chance to sit down with me. That was kind of depressing.
Arame
Arame confesses that her favorite pastime is reading, a hobby confirmed by her family: “Arame is always sitting with her books!” She lives on a huge compound of people, but seems especially close to her youngest cousin, who follows her around like a little duckling. Arame would like to be a lawyer someday, focusing on early marriage and the mistreatment of young girls by aunts and uncles.
And, in a stroke of amazingness...
Fatamata
Fatamata is the sister I wrote about in my previous blog post. I talked to my host mother, and after a little prodding, she'll get to attend our camp! There is absolutely no chance that the car will be too full to bring her at the last minute this time.
Here I am, sometime before I started making hats and eyeglasses out of paper last year during an art project. If we're lucky, the past will recreate itself this September...
I
hope all of you can help me in making this project a success. It’s the LAST PROJECT I need funding for, so this is your last chance to work with me before I come back to AMERICA! We’re hoping to get funded before July
31. But without funding, the camp simply
will not happen. Which would be awful
because I’ve already told the girls about it.
Not to guilt-trip anyone into donating.
But really, that would be awful.
I’ve seen
firsthand how this camp can really enlighten and inspire these girls. It’s only a week, but the girls keep in touch
with each other, their counselors, and the Peace Corps volunteers long after
camp ends. One counselor has even used
the knowledge he gained to start his own camp in his hometown. All of these things make me really believe in this project.
Please consider donating -- your money will be used to transport the girls, feed them, lodge them, and fund the weeks' activities, because other expenses, like paying our Senegalese counselors, have no fee -- they're volunteering for the week. I've felt extremely fortunate for all of the support I've personally gotten over the past 15 months: emails, letters, packages, good thoughts, encouragement. But here's your chance to help some other young ladies who need it more than me. And if you can't personally help, maybe pass on the word to someone who can.
If you want
more information about the camp, you can also check out the website we've put together here (http://campsenegirl.com).
Thanks for all of your time, support, and love :)
Love,
Lisa (and the other volunteers in my region and our future campers)
Thies Girls' Camp 2011
Another excellent article, Lisa. I just love reading about your life in Senegal as well as seeing the pictures.
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