Uganda 2011: Girl's Retreat Weekend

Girl's Retreat

June 26

Lyndsay here,

We were down one Kristen Fischer this weekend thanks to the gastrointestinal ups and downs, ins and outs (literally) of Uganda.

We were in Mbale Saturday morning through Sunday afternoon (the big city about 1.5 hours away from our village) for the weekend running a Girl's Empowerment Retreat for the P7 level girls at Arlington Academy! With the way the school system is organized here, these girls can range anywhere from 11 to 16 years old. We have been planning this retreat since our arrival and could not believe how quickly it came upon us. Carolyn, the volunteer who works at Arlington Academy (the school in partnership with the FIMRC clinic), had done the same retreat last year and wanted us to help her plan/lead the retreat this year. We couldn't have been more excited! We have been working over the last few weeks planning a schedule, talking to the girls and teachers, making 35 workbooks/journals by hand with pens and crayons for the girls (made us really appreciate being able to create a document on WORD and print it off x 35 back at home). In the workbooks we included inspirational quotes, pages for them to take notes, topic pages with questions for the girls to answer in regards to each topic, for example: Delaying Sex & Marriage, Menstruation, and Careers & Goals. The girls were divided into small groups for some games and discussions, led by myself, Michelle, Katie, Leenisha, Carolyn and two of the teachers from the school, Teacher Grace and Teacher Miriam.

We stayed at St. Andrew's Cathedral, which supplied us with a great mixture of African Gospel music in the backround all weekend. The girls were given the choice of single, double, or triple rooms with community bathrooms.. needless to say as a group of teenage girls, they were all over the double and triple rooms. It was like summer camp. Mind you these girls live in Bududa aka the midst of nowhere up in the mountains, use pit latrines, do not have running water, and their only guaranteed meals are at the school during the day. So this weekend meant "catered" rice, beans, greens, metoque, and various forms of meat; one big sleepover with meant laughing and screaming until the wee hours of the night and running water meant it was time to bathe ALL the time. We limited the girls to a bath a day, and when it all went down, it was a wet, bubbly mess of crazy screaming Ugandan girls, butt naked. No modesty whatsoever, running up and down the halls. Again, like camp. We decided to step back and simply let the girls have fun. These are the moments that made the weekend for them.

We organized activities, games, and speakers for the girls. Teacher Jessica came Saturday morning and spoke with the girls about being a women in Uganda and the importance of education. Teacher Justine came Saturday evening and spoke with the girls about menstruation, sex, the importance of abstinence until marriage, and hygiene. We played so many games from our childhood that were such a hit, again, summer camp. Picture 31 young Ugandan girls in skirts trying to play the human knot, 3 legged race which just ended in a puddle of girls, red rover (so pretty much we taught young ugandian girls how to clothesline each other when running full speed….more stories to come), wheelbarrow races, water balloon toss, and move your butt. It was great! The girls loved working together as a team, competing, learning new games, and simply enjoyed being kids.

At the beginning of the retreat the girls were quiet, would look out a window, or out a door when they spoke, and upon speaking, it wasn't any louder than a whisper. Eye contact was non existent. By the time we left, they would look at you when they spoke, voice their opinions in groups, ask questions, lead songs. It was amazing to watch the growth that occurred over a mere 48 hours. We wish so much that they did not have summer term and that it would have been feasible to make the retreat a week long.

We really wanted the focus of the weekend to be empowerment amongst all the girls. We wanted them to focus on their self esteem, their intelligence, their abilities, the fact that they are capable of achieving whatever goals they set as long as they work hard. We never missed an opportunity to tell them that they were "able to succeed", that they are "equal to men", that they "deserve a good education", and most importantly, "no goal you set for yourself is too high." It was so wonderful to simply wrap our arms around these girls who require so much support and so much love that they do not get in their homes or in their communities, tis the nature of being a woman in Uganda. There were enough hugs, high fives, smiles, and laughs to last a lifetime in these past two days.

We did a closing activity where each small group had a poster on which they had to outline the body of one of their group members. They each then had to help fill in the picture with words that pertained to "The Ugandan Girl". After completing their posters, all of the groups were given a chance to share the words they wrote. Determined. Kind. Compassionate. Caring. Giving. Helpful. Dedicated. Persistent. Resilient. Hardworking. Beautiful. Sweet. Intelligent. All these words that these girls came up with on their own, after a mere two days of discussions and activities. I stood there with tears in my eyes, taking in how much these girls had grown during the retreat. Taking in that THIS is the reason why where are here in Uganda, and trying to figure out how I will find it within myself to leave in two weeks.

These girls wear no makeup. Many of them don't even wear a bra, not because they don't need one, simply because they cannot afford one. They all have their heads shaved to prevent lice. Few to none have their ears pierced. They do not wax their eyebrows. They own one to two skirts, maybe three if lucky. They wear shoes two times too big because it is all that's available, and they are lucky if they are even girl's shoes. They brush their teeth with sticks or their fingers. They do not own perfume, or fragrant lotions from Victoria's Secret or Bath and Body works… All of this combined, and they are single handedly the most beautiful girls I have ever laid eyes upon. They are the future of Uganda. If we have touched even one life, one girl, this weekend, even if just for a brief moment, then we will have succeeded.