Dear Friends and Family,
As I’m sure you’re all aware, I’ve been living in Benin for over a year serving with the Peace Corps. For the last few months, I’ve been working on a grant for a girl’s summer camp, called Camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World). The camp started in Romania in the early 90’s and spread to Benin in 2000. Since then, it’s been held every year in various parts of the country.
To put it bluntly, Benin is a very male dominated society where unfortunately, women are not granted many of the same opportunities. Antiquated cultural norms and traditional beliefs still permeate the country, especially in the remote villages where many volunteers work. Girls often quit school at a young age to help take care of their multiple younger siblings at home. Many of them become market vendors, are forced into marriages, or even worse, become prostitutes. In extreme cases, those that do manage to stay in school but do not have the proper marks can advance by sleeping with their professors. Polygamy, although outlawed in Benin, still occurs and the numerous wives, unfortunately, must tolerate their husband’s actions as they lack the power or the education to do anything about it. On the grassroots level, many are still illiterate and do not even know French, their national language.
As for my own personal experiences, you know that I teach 7th and 8th grade English as well as doing tutoring with other students. I try to empower the girls that I work with on a daily basis as well as doing things like tutoring in the market on market days, when they must work for there mothers and had never thought of studying at the same time. I tell them that it is important for them to study all the time, when they can catch a few moments, because generally girls are given more work to do and therefore less time to study for school. The males outnumber the females by about three to one, and as the levels progress, the disparity increases. Last year’s 6eme class (5th grade level) of 400 students had about 100 females. In the 1er class (11th grade), there were only three females in a class of fifty students, and not one of them passed onto the final grade, terminale. I’m more than confident that this discrepancy is not a singular occurrence with just my community. In addition, after elementary school, there’s a fee to go to school, regardless of public or private institution. The price varies depending on location and size. At my high school for example, it costs 35,000 CFA/year (roughly $70 USD), which is more than many people make per month. With multiple children in the family, it’s often only the boys that get to continue with their studies, leaving the girls behind with just the bare minimum education.
As you can see, there is a great need in this country to educate women and young girls about the importance of staying in school. That’s what Camp GLOW strives to do. It’s a week long girls empowerment camp where they can acquire the skills and knowledge necessary to become better students and more powerful leaders in their communities. Throughout the week, various topics are discussed including financial planning, sexual health, computer and Internet literacy, goal-setting, HIV/AIDS awareness, study and leaderships skills, and malaria prevention techniques. The girls also participate in arts and crafts, sports and games, and take excursions to national government institutions and museums. All sessions are held by respected successful Beninese women who serve as excellent role models for the girls. To illustrate how important this can be I will tell you about a conversation I had with some girls in 2nd (10th grade). I asked them how many girls were in their class of 63, they told me 9, which is about average in their grade. When I asked them why there were not more girls in their grade, and what had happened to their former classmates they told me, "Elles sont parents." "They are parents." When I think about this it makes me sick to think that if some of these girls had just had some education about sexual health and reproduction, they might still be in school. I know that in the US there is a lot of debate about teaching healthy sexual practices vs. abstinence only education, but here there is NO sex-ed at all, and many of these girls are taught by their culture that it is unacceptable to say no to men and even boys.
I know that many of you donated last year, and I thank you for your contribution. You can see what your money did in these pictures! These were all taken at our camp last year.
The budget for this year’s camp runs close to $6000, so I ask your support in please providing as little or as much as you can. Even a dollar in Benin will go a long way. The camp isn’t slated to start until June, but the sooner we have the money, the quicker we can start planning, organizing, and finalizing all the details. There are about 20 volunteers involved in this camp, and if we all ask our loved ones to donate a few dollars then we can reach our goal easily, so anything that you can spare will be very much appreciated! And don't forget that your donation is tax deductible!
If you are interested in donating, please go here: https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.donatenow and search for projects in Benin. The grant was just recently sent to Peace Corps Headquarters in Washington D.C. for final approval, and should be online within the next week or two. Please continue to check periodically if you do not see anything. The project is called Camp GLOW – Porto Novo.
Thank you for your continued support and warm wishes. I hope all is well back home, as trust me when I tell you that there is no finer place on earth than the United States of America.
Thank you so much for all of your support!
