Time for another update. I've been gone for close to two weeks and they were busy busy. First, like I mentioned in my last post, it was finally time for our GLOW-BUILD joint conference on gender. This project has been in the works for a long time and it was great to see it finally get off the ground.
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| Lazare and Ana leading a session in the conference room |
For the conference we brought in 10 boys from our BUILD camp, 10 GLOW alumni girls, as well as 2 former counselors from each. The kids were chosen from towns across the country and paired up to be able to work on projects together after the conference. It was nice to see a project that we've been working on for so long so go so well. We had sessions on: Gender vs. Sex, and gender roles in Georgia, how to transform Georgian society, gender based violence, tolerance and diversity, teamwork and problem solving, and a guest panel. We were nervous that the kids wouldn't be mature enough, or that they wouldn't care, or that they wouldn't even come- all proved to be untrue.
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| The Country Director chatting with youth during a coffee break |
The kids were engaged from the very beginning. They had a lot of great comments and were full of ideas. We talked about the idea of toxic masculinity and how it often puts men in boxes which cause them to feel trapped and often behave poorly. We also talked about the problems with putting women on pedestals and the pressures that that puts on them. Each of these were issues we presented to the youth during summer camp, but it was their first time hearing about the issues facing the opposite gender. They took time to share how they felt when they were confined to strict roles, it was really interesting to hear them share their feelings and then also speak about ways to help the other gender.
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| Youth discussing ways to help each other break harmful gender stereotypes |
This conference was a first for us. Talking about gender equality and other related issues isn't new but holding a mixed gender conference on it was. Most issues related to gender are fairly taboo here, especially as a topic among boys. However, the level of interest and engagement from the youth showed that things are changing. The second half of the conference was devoted to brainstorming and project planning. At the end of the conference they all took turns presenting their ideas to us and we were really impressed.
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| Let's be honest these are just candid shots and I have no idea what they are really talking about |
One more project down, and several more to go. A few days after the conference I was in Tbilisi when the Country Director sent out an email with our close of service (COS) dates. The official date was scheduled to be July 7 but per PC rules we could COS up to 4 weeks early. Most PCVs applied so the office had to sort out the dates so too many people weren't leaving on the same day. Much to my surprise I was assigned to June 16th- the day after school ends. It's crazy to think that my time here is ending so soon (three months is still a ways away though). This conference was just a great reminder of the great work that we are empowered to do here in Georgia.
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| Boys hard at work listening and not running their mouths |
P.S. One final shout out to Michele Obama for creating the Let Girls Learn fund that funded this project. Hopefully this program will be continued under the new administration.
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| The whole group of Georgian youth and counselors |
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| The GLOW camp girls |
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| My BUILD camp boys |
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