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

Leadership: Gender Equality (Part 3)

This is part 3 of a 4 part series (16 Days to end Gender Based Violence Against Women) 

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4

These two ladies continually surprise me.

Tupo and Kattie 

When I first met Tupokiwe (Toopokeeway) she was seemingly shy and had very conservative views of a woman's role in Malawi. She had a habit of rolling her eyes when I would say something like “if a girl wants, she should be allowed to wear trousers without being seen as a prostitute”. Now she's teaching girls the very same lesson! She is able to look at her traditions and customs with a critical lens and determine for herself what pieces she finds important to keep and what pieces should change.

On the other hand when I met Kattie she was outspoken and seemed hopeful that a world of equal rights for women was just around the corner. She's from a city and already knew that wearing trousers didn't make you a loose woman, it just meant you didn't want to wear skirts all the time. From the beginning I could look to her when I wanted a varied opinion from the girls. I would ask “Is it okay to hit a woman”. Most girls would answer “yes” and have very few exceptions. Kattie would say “Well, our culture says it's okay but I want that to change”. Like all the girls I've worked with she has also had a shift in perspective, hers was less drastic than others. At the end of the first girls group her take away was “I really can do what boys can do but more girls really need to know that as well. We're all told what we cannot do, not what we CAN DO.”

Both of these girls are intelligent, passionate leaders. They have different strengths and personalities and they have learned to work together even in the midst of their differences.

I started working with both of them about a year ago and after their interest and dedication to the program I asked them, and a few other graduates, to join me as mentors to co-facilitate lessons for future groups. They rose to the challenge and took their role so seriously. We had workshops for facilitation skills and leadership and during sessions with me they would practice these skills and help me with translations as difficult topics arose.

Based on their commitment I sent them to Camp GLOW to learn more about teaching topics of gender equality to their peers.

In the next post I'll fill you in on their progress and work.
Spoiler: They've rocked it!!  

Read Part 1, Part 2, and Part 4

Independence: Gender Equality (Part 2)

This is part 2 of a 4 part series (16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign)

Read part 1 here, Part 3 and Part 4

Malumbo Kalua Age 21 Form 4 

Here is Malumbo. She is a talented seamstress who has taken it on herself to train girls at school to make their own reusable menstrual pads. She is also teaching it with an income generating component so if they want to make and sell pads on their own they know where to start. Oh, and one more thing. She is writing me a business proposal so that on the school holidays she can have her own business. For about $5-10 she can have the start-up money she needs to get her own reusable pad business going!

Breaking the chains of financial dependency is a huge step to being independent. In Malawi it can be difficult for anyone to find a successful path that allows an individual to rely on themselves or employment for self sufficiency. For women it can be even more challenging. I have heard too many stories from women who feel they have no other option than to take money from another person, most times a well-to-do man or uncle. As you can imagine, this puts them in a vulnerable position. When it comes time for “repayment” many women feel they owe their benefactor some service. A service that can seem as innocent as cooking and cleaning to something as demeaning as sexual favors.

Teaching Form 1 girls how to make reusable menstrual pads. 

It can be so easy for a girl child who wants to pay for school fees to be taken advantage of.

I love that Malumbo wants to teach this skill to other girls. She doesn't see it as competition. She sees it as a way to empower more girls and to give everyone a better chance at life and to feel like a person.

She is one of my Sheroes. She will be a huge agent of change for this country!

Read part 1 here, Part 3 and Part 4

Gender Equality (Part 1)

This is part 1 of a 4 part series (16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence Campaign)
Read Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

We've given you a lot of updates about what we're doing at site...specifically me, Tara, but it's getting to a time where we can proudly highlight what the community is doing for themselves!

I am sooo incredibly proud to say that a handful of the girls I have worked with and trained have started to find their own niche and lead each other! There is no greater success in the Peace Corps business than becoming completely unnecessary!

Over the next two weeks I want to highlight them as a 4 part series in support of the “16 Days to End Gender Based Violence Against Women”. You can learn more about the campaign here. 

This is the first time Peace Corps Malawi is participating in this international campaign. So be ready to see a few posts from me highlighting my SheroesOfMalawi!! 

Before we get into the amazing work that the girls are doing I want to take a moment to give some statistics to frame why the work they are doing and a campaign like this is so incredibly important in Malawi.

UNICEF: 

Child labour (%) + 2002-2012*, , total 25.7 Child marriage (%) 2002-2012*, married by 15 11.7 Child marriage (%) 2002-2012*, married by 18 49.6 Adolescents currently married/ in union (%) 2002-2012* , male 2.2 Adolescents currently married/ in union (%) 2002-2012* , female 23.4 Births by age 18 (%) 2008-2012* 34.7 Adolescent birth rate 2006-2010* 157.1 Justification of wife-beating among adolescents (%) 2002-2012*, male 20.7 Justification of wife-beating among adolescents (%) 2002-2012*, female 16.4

UNWOMEN: MalawiCountry 

The following are some of the setbacks / reversals Malawi has experienced from 2008:

1. Reduced number of women in Parliament from 22 percent in 2009 elections to 16.7 percent in 2014.

2. Reduced number of women Ministers from 28.1 percent in 2013 to 15 percent in 2014.

3. Between the IHS of 2004/5 and 2010/11, poverty levels for female headed households in rural areas increased by 3 percentage points, while those for male headed households remained static.

4. The HIV prevalence gap between men and women doubled from 3 percent in 2004 to 6 percent in the 2010 Malawi Demographic Health Survey.

5. The Penal Code Amendment law of 2011introduced a new provision to criminalise lesbian behavior, in addition to an already existing provision penalising men who have sex with men.

Numbers don't tell a whole story.  But they do help start the discussion.  I don't want to spend too much time on the "What".  We've done the "What".  We've done the "So What".  Now we're at the "Now What" part of our time in Malawi.  So the next 3 parts of the series will focus on WHAT the girls are NOW doing.  

If you want more info on gender stats in Malawi checkout the JICA: Malawi Gender Profile: http://www.jica.go.jp/english/our_work/thematic_issues/gender/background/pdf/e07mal.pdf

Read Part 2, Part 3, and Part 4

Abuse By Tulupi Gondwe

This is one of the poems written during our Create Your Voice Camp in March.  

Tulupi on top of Lunjika Mountain

Abuse

-Tulupi Gondwe

What is abuse?

Mama Africa

Papa Africa

what is this crying am I hearing?

the cries of the children,

the cries of our women,

is this abuse?

what!

Is this still happening in our communities?

Papa Africa,

every morning instead of going to work

you go to drink beer

and when you come back

you beat your wives.

what is this crying am I hearing?

Mama Africa,

what is this cries of our children am I hearing?

you want them to be educated

but instead of them going to school

you send them to go and sell mandazi in the market

Mama Africa,

Papa Africa,

this is abuse!

if you want our land to be in peace you stop this abuse!

lets stop abuse!!

*Mandazi--is a local sweet, fried bread.  Almost like a doughnut.  

Create Your Voice Take 2

Our first camp in March was such a HUGE success and the girls loved it so much that we decided to hold another camp in July between holiday breaks. The boys had been howling so much about not being involved in the first camp that we decided it was time to try a gender empowerment approach that was co-ed. After all, how can there be equality between gender if both sexes are not a part of the conversation?

We had a different set of outstanding PCVs this time: Cody Reed, Beccy Burelson, Justin Krohn, and Shelby Spear. It's kind of insane how great Peace Corps Volunteers truly are!

This camp was a lot like the last one. We used a GrassRoot Soccer curriculum that focused on HIV. We added some gender empowerment components, and of course kept the most successful part of the camp: creative arts.

We should never take even our "smallest" experiences for granted. 
In the US, knowing how to use scissors is a requirement to pass kindergarten. 
In Malawi, this might be the first time a student has used them. 

Having a co-ed group provided some challenges, however, not quite the challenges we were expecting. Due to cultural norms and anecdotal data from teachers we expected girls to act a certain way in the presence of boys. Girls would be more shy, have less English comprehension, and not work as hard as the boys. 

 FALSE. All of these things were false!

The boys needed HUGE amounts of coaxing to join conversations, they had a much harder time understanding English, and the girls and boys worked equally as hard.

Discussing facts and myths about HIV

At some point I have worked with most of these girls doing gender empowerment lessons; driving home the point that they are just as important as boys, can be just as smart, and they deserve to have a voice among all people.

I guess it worked! The girls rocked the show. They brought meaningful conversation and questions to the table and by the end of the week were leading games and praises.

Gender Stadium: Girls and Boys take turns listening to
challenges that gender roles present to both sides.

There are times during a Peace Corps service that you KNOW you are doing good. You are doing what you came to do and you are proud of your service. July 23 to 27 was a distinct example of knowing I'm in the right place at the right time.

I could not be prouder of my learners!

Students viewing their work at the gallery walk during graduation

Create Your Voice Girls Camp

Awesome PCVs!!!

During the school holiday, in March, Matt and I hosted a female empowerment camp called Create Your Voice, with some awesome PCVs Betsy Holtz, Tim Hainley, Amy Oppfelt, Jackie Wille, and Kelsey Smith. We were also joined by Kisty Mtambo, a local Primary School teacher.

In the morning we had interactive lessons about female empowerment and HIV prevention using an outstanding program called GrassRoot Soccer. In the afternoon we taught creative art classes that emphasized how we can use visual, performing, and written arts to share an important message with our communities and friends.

Betsy demonstrating how to use various art supplies. 

During the week we were able to reach 46 girls age 11 to 19 about HIV prevention and management, child rights, family planning, self-confidence, reproductive health, and goal setting. These are things that are not often discussed in Malawi, and rarely in a safe space with other girls. They really had an opportunity to open up and ask hard questions that in other settings might make them uncomfortable.

The camp culminated in a public graduation in which all participants shared with the community what they felt was the more important message from the week of camp. Using the visual and preforming art skills gained during camp, 4 groups of 10-12 students created and preformed messages for the community. The students created songs, posters, poems, and short dramas.

Each group came up with their messages independently, but in the end it was clear that they had one common message to share. Every group wanted to let the community know that the way to a better Malawi is stopping violence against women and promoting gender equality.

When asked about the camp one girl responded,

"We've learned so much and I feel like I can do what I am told is not possible. I want other girls to know that they too can achieve their goals."

Another girl, form 3, said 

"I must dream big to achieve big!"

Girls preforming a skit about gender based violence
for the community

Since the camp several girls have asked to continue to learn art so they can spread important messages to their community. Other girls have asked to help teach lessons on gender equality and HIV. The camp was not only a success in the sense that there was a severe improvement in knowledge (11.3% increase from pre to post-test) but there seems to be a fundamental drive from the participants to let other girls know that they have a voice and deserve to be heard.



Due to demand from the students, in July, we did another Create Your Voice camp.  This time Co-Ed.  Stay tuned for more photos and stories!!! 

Malawi Music Project

Donate to 2016's project https://www.youcaring.com/kids-between-7-and-16-517278

Malawi Music Project was an absolute BLAST!  I had such an amazing time reconnecting with my musical roots and was even more thrilled to share that passion with talented youth from Malawi. 

A brief back ground of Malawi Music Project: It was started in 2008 by a few volunteers and each year since it has been taken on and developed by a new group of volunteers.  Unlike GLOW  this camp is unique to Malawi and is a partner with Music Crossroads in Lilongwe.  PC Volunteers work with professional musicians and teachers to lead sessions on: song writing, traditional music, drum circles, hip hop, music fusion and music theory to name a few.  The youth were broken into bands and given a week to use these lessons to write, produce, record, and perform an original song about HIV awareness.  To help with content of their songs and personal awareness we also held HIV sessions that taught about transmission, prevention, healthy living after contracting HIV and provided an opportunity for testing and counseling.

Just Jammin'

Drum Circle

The week ended with a celebration and a battle of the bands where six newly formed bands preformed their original songs for the local community!  It was quite the show!  The energy was electric and the bands shared not only their passion and talents but how HIV effects them on a personal level.  They learned that they can use their talents as a voice to empower others and to educate the community on important topics.

Male Condom Demo! 

We believe in equality! Female Condom Demo! 

All of this was amazing to witness and to be apart of but the thing that will stick with me the most was the creativity that was flowing all week!  In the United States most youth are given the opportunity to practice or learn the arts in school and to be with peers on a regular basis who have the same interest.

These youth came from all over Malawi.  All of them were musicians from vocalist to violinist, however, few of them had any training at all.  Most of them are self taught and are not used to playing with other musicians.  The schedule had a lot of free time built into it and from my past experience with camps I saw this as a potential nightmare.  I imagined youth leaving the premises, drinking alcohol, and general mischief.  The youth proved me absolutely wrong and used EVERY SPARE MOMENT to make music and just jam with each other.  I had never experienced something so organic in my life.  It was like something had awoken a completely new beast within these youth and the energy in the area was so vibrant.  There was not a quiet moment but there was never a need for a quiet moment.  The air was full of joy, music, and recently tapped potential.

I expect wonderful things for these spectacular youth and feel so privileged to be apart of this experience.

 

Soo Many Friends!! 

So proud of my band "Crazy Colors" who won 2nd Place at battle of the band! 

Camp GLOW 2014

In August I had the honor to participate in one of the most amazing, humbling experiences of my life. For a week and a half there was no place that would have rather been. I was given the privilege to to be a camp counselor to 11 secondary school aged girls at Camp GLOW! (Girls Leading Our World).

Camp GLOW is an international Peace Corps initiative that targets high school aged females and focuses on empowering these young women to be leaders in their family, communities, and in society. The camp looks different in each country, however, they all have the universal theme of empowering girls in cultures where being a girl has the potential to make your opportunities much slimmer than if you were a boy.

Our camp covered topics like self esteem and beauty, gender based violence, HIV/AIDS, malaria, careers, professional development, leadership skills, and how to share this with other girls! This is a lot to cover in a week, but we had a blast doing it! By the end of the week, even the quietest of girls, were laughing, having fun and were completely different than when they had arrived.

The camp targets secondary school girls (high school). In Malawi, secondary school girls can range in age from 14-24. We had girls from all sorts of backgrounds there. Some were from a more privileged background, some were from really rural villages, some spoke excellent English, some spoke little to none, some had children, some were pregnant. By the end of the week it didn't matter where these girls had come from or where they were going to, they had leaned the importance of supporting and empowering each other to be the best versions of themselves.

It was amazing to see these girls understand that one empowered woman does not change make, but we must encourage and empower each other as we climb. Hence the theme “Lift as You Climb”. We covered a lot of topics but the coordinators tried very hard to make sure that the theme of empowerment was through out every topic and included the element of empowering others. (the coordinating team for 2014 did an excellent job!) I cannot explain how powerful it was to see these girls from various cultural backgrounds and circumstances hold each other up.

They showed so much courage and perseverance. Out of my 11 campers over half of them had a story of someone mistreating them at some point in their lives. Sometimes it was family, a teacher, or a community member. As these girls began to learn of opportunities and see examples of other Malawian women who were successful you could see the shift in their attitudes. For them to know that women, just like them, from similar backgrounds could achieve great things was a game changer for them, especially those from the rural villages.

The challenging part for them moving forward is that they have transformed and literally have a GLOW about them, but their communities have not changed. The people and communities of Malawi, did not come to Camp GLOW and realize that all people are important, that all people have the same rights, and that all people deserve to be respected. While these beautiful, strong, courageous, intelligent girls have learned all of these things, they have a hard battle ahead of them.

BUT as we speak, these strong, motivated, empowered young women are starting clubs in their own villages and sharing this message they learned at GLOW. There were 66 girls in attendance and already a handful of them are starting clubs of 10 or more girls.

This is going to be a hard and long battle but the beautiful thing is that no one is alone, and these girls understand the importance of bringing others with them. As they improve and empower themselves they are being conscious of the fact that this is a big task and no one can do it alone.   

Shine Girl SHINE!!!!

In case you have not seen the GLOW 2014 youtube check it out!! 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YbIjZ-Kwj9g