Role Model: Gender Equality (Part 4)

This is part 4 of a 4 part series (16 Days to end Gender Based Violence Against Women) 
Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3

In August I was able to send Kattie and Tupo to camp GLOW where they were trained in how to start their own girls group in their village. They came back energized and with a training manual of their own. Similar to the topics we had covered in previous girls groups they had 10 new lessons to share with girls. Exactly what they were looking for!

Girls Group 

I watched one of their first lessons. Let me tell you...nothing made me prouder than watching these young women lead their peers. They were confident in the material and both had found their own facilitation style. It would have been so easy for them to follow my example and try to imitate the way I lead sessions but they were confident enough in themselves to lead in a way that fit their own personalities!

Tupo was asking plenty of probing and open ended questions and Kattie went around to each small group to make sure they understood assignments.

They rocked it!! and the best part was...it was like I wasn't even there!

It is so important for girls in Malawi to have role models. It's one thing for a person from the United States to come in and say:

“YOU CAN CHANGE GENDER!”

“YOU CAN CHANGE CULTURE!”

“YOU ARE JUST AS IMPORTANT AS A BOY!!!”

Kattie Leading

It's something entirely different for them to see this role model in themselves! We can only change something if we identify it as something that needs changing.

When I start these conversations about changing violence against women it is not met with “Yeah! Violence against women is wrong!” It's met with “Violence against women is the way things are and our culture says it's how we learn and how we improve our lives”.

When a Malawian, with the same cultural understanding as her peers, starts the conversation about changing violence against women it is met with “I would love that, but how?”

And she can respond with 

“Well, let me tell you how I started.”

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 3