Tuesday, June 7, 2011

Get that summer G.L.O.W. on!

In rural Zambia, women are the foundation of the economic, social, and productive fabrics of the community. They cook, they clean, they collect water, they care for the children, they represent their families in church, they control the health care of their families, and they frequently manage family income generating enterprises. However in Zambia, as in many developing countries (and though rarely recognized, even in developed countries), women are generally (although there are some exceptions to this) considered intellectually and socially inferior as compared to men. Zambian women marry young, usually between the ages of 15 to 20. They are encouraged to bear children immediately following marriage, which has resulted in high rates of obstetric fistula and even maternal death amongst young mothers. Because female education is not generally valued, most rural Zambian girls rarely complete their primary schooling.

Traditionally, Zambian women don't discuss issues of gender inequity with men, especially their husbands. They are encouraged to be sexually subservient and cannot negotiate condom use. It is widely accepted for men to openly have multiple concurrent sexual partnerships; in the face of one of the highest HIV/AIDS rates in the world (around 14.5%), women are being infected with HIV at a startling pace. If a women protests it is legitimate grounds for a divorce. Domestic violence is also widely accepted in the community.

As a result of these issues, three of my PCV friends and I are planning a Peace Corps Camp GLOW event to take place in during the second and third week of August in Eastern Province. Camp GLOW, or Girls Leading Our World, is a camp facilitated by Peace Corps Volunteers in multiple countries throughout the world that focuses upon female empowerment, gender awareness, and youth skills development. Thirty-four girls from 17 schools throughout Eastern Province will be selected by their schools to attend the camp accompanied by 17 teacher counterparts. The camp will highlight: self-esteem building exercises, body image awareness, art education, sports, health education, guidance from Zambian female role models and advisors, and leadership and communication skills development. Camp GLOW will also provide the opportunity for the female students to share ideas and experiences with each other ranging from encounters with sexual abuse to the potential for community advocacy. With the assistance of community-based Peace Corps Volunteers, the teachers will return to their schools to begin implementing gender awareness into school-wide curriculum. The PCVs will also support the girls in creating local GLOW clubs that will continue working on gender equity focused activities and promoting dialogue in village communities. Eventually, we hope future GLOW events will also include young male campers and counterparts as well.

We have received numerous donations from the business community of Eastern Province. Individuals have stepped forward to donate food, conference space, and materials. However, we still need to fundraise $3,500usd  (each week) to provide food, lodging, and educational materials for all particpants; we are seeking the support of our friends and family in the United States to make Camp GLOW a reality. We have applied for a Peace Corps grant through which individual donors can contribute to our project online through the Peace Corps website. If you would like to make a donation, please visit this link:
https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=611-069
or visit the Peace Corps website, click on Donations, and then click on Volunteer Projects. You can search for Camp GLOW by either typing Davidson into the search box or by selecting Zambia as the search country or using the project number 611-069

Gender inequity and the oppression of women in Zambia is preventing development in all sectors, from the economy to the healthcare system. By reaching out to young women and their teachers, we hope to not only impact the lives of the 65 Camp GLOW participants, but to also start a movement of awareness and dialogue concerning positive and negative gender norms in Zambia. We hope to provide young women with a support system that would help them, if they so choose, to live and think differently than those before them. We hope to prove that the problem isn't that women don't have a voice, but that no one is listening....yet.

Thanks for all of your help and support!