I’ve spent the past week working as a facilitator/counselor/teacher/learner/Wolof speaker/art supply wrangler for a regional Girls Leadership camp organized by myself and other Peace Corps volunteers in my region. The camp is titled ‘Notre Monde/Notre Futur’ (‘Our World/Our Future’), and each day has themed programming (Our Health, Our Future, Our Environment, Our Ideas, etc.) with related “sessions” and activities. Myself and another volunteer led the ‘Our Environment’ day which included short classes on recycling, compost, tree nursery creation and transplanting, and found container planting.
The overall goal of the camp is to motivate a set of outstanding Senegalese girls to continue their schooling and begin thinking about and taking control of their futures early on (the girls are aged 13-16). Along the way we’re encouraging creativity (art every day!), new activities (morning yoga!), regular exercise (races! soccer! kickball!), and plenty of general fun-having (!!!!). In a culture where teenage girls face myriad pressures (early marriage, house work, established gender roles) we were looking to present them with examples of other potential Futures.
Enjoy the photos!
