Camp G2LOW

Hey all,

So right now we education volunteers are in what we call “les vacances” although most of us have been doing anything but relaxing. Camps and Peace Corps conferences have been non-stop and, as always, the time is flying by.

In July I participated in Camp G²LOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World) in Dédougou, one of the four cities around the country where the camp was held this year. Camp GLOW (originally just Girls Leading Our World) was started by Peace Corps volunteers in Romania who wanted to promote gender equality and healthy lifestyles. This is the second year that the camp has been held in Burkina Faso and we were able to reach a total of 480 male and female students from all over the country to participate. The 3 goals of Camp G²LOW in Burkina Faso are the following:

1.       Healthy lifestyles (this includes health topics such as family planning, malaria and HIV/AIDS prevention, and sexual education among others)

2.       Empowering students (this includes goal-setting for the future and good decision-making skills)

3.       Promoting gender equality

All 120 campers with Burkinabe and American staff

Every session was co-planned and co-taught with the help of a Burkinabé counterpart in order to ensure sustainability for the camp. I even got to bring 3 girls and 3 boys from Diarabakoko with me!

The camp started out with a 3-day “training of trainers” in which Peace Corps volunteers working the camp led various sessions for the 15 Burkinabe counterparts- mostly teachers and those who work in the department of youth activities who were donating their time . For the training of trainers, I led sessions on active listening and how to create a comfortable and professional environment when discussing sexual education.

Once the 120 students arrived in Dédougou, we all really got down to business. Just the logistics of transport, lodging, and meals for around 160 people is a lot of work, let alone the lesson preparation and evaluation activities that needed to take place. I was a counselor working with my own group of 10 students who decided to call themselves the “gladiateurs,” or gladiators. In addition to leading sessions on gender equality, hygiene, and how to maintain good relationships, I was the financial director for the camp, responsible for a US$7,000 budget, so I was a very busy girl!

Students working in their manuals

The Gladiateurs



Two students acting a theater piece on the diagnosis of malaria

Of course, it was a camp so there were plenty of camp activities like sports and a campfire and songs. I will never forget walking into the cafeteria one night, completely exhausted after having logged receipts into an excel spreadsheet for hours, to find a room full of 120 boys and girls singing about Camp G²LOW in unison and led by one of our truly phenomenal Burkinabe counterparts, Theodora. It was one of the proudest moments of my service to date and it made all of the hard work up to that point more than worth the reward. Thanks to all of you who donated through the Peace Corps Partnership Program- you should be getting a newsletter with photos and a thank you letter from one of the participants in the mail!

Some of the girls after playing soccer

After all of the Camp G²LOW festivities were over, my stage had to head over to Ouaga for our Mid-Service Conference, or MSC. The conference consisted of medical check-ups, dental cleaning, and too many stool samples. Luckily, I’m actually in better health than when I arrived in Burkina a year ago- 25 pounds lighter and with a resting heartbeat of 62 (down from 90!). Excited to have reached the midway point of our service, we celebrated with a prom, a G24 tradition of sorts, at a local bar.

I headed back to village for a week or so but, alas, am back in Ouaga again to work with the new volunteers during their training again. I’m looking forward to being able to settle back into a routine in village in a few weeks, but until then I’m enjoying speaking English and eating good food. Besides, there was a little bit of a domestic disturbance with some of my closest friends in village which was a bit shocking to say the least, so I’m welcoming a little time away from village to process that situation. I may write a big long post about the whole story at some point, since it deals with one of the hardest things about being a Peace Corps volunteer, namely balancing your personal beliefs with the culture and convictions of those you work and live with in your host country. However, I think some reflection would definitely clarify my conclusions on the matter and probably make a more interesting story to read, too.

Peace,

Marlow

The sun setting on Camp G2LOW Dedougou.