Camp de Conaissance et Croissance

Group Photo, campers and counselors

At the end of June the volunteers of Kaolack region hosted a summer leadership camp for 40 local teenage girls who had just completed 5eme (8th grade) and were in the top 10 of their class. The purpose of the camp was to empower and inspire local girls and open their eyes to opportunities for their future beyond, or perhaps in spite of, early marriage. Each day involved leadership and team building games, crafts, sports and educational workshops that related to the day's theme. My main job at the camp was to work with the Seereer women in the kitchen managing the pantry and making sure meals came out on time, but I escaped the heat of the cooking fire to teach swim lessons and lend a helping hand with other sessions where needed. It was a long week, but worth all of the hard work to help provide such a unique and valuable experience for the girls. 

 Monday's theme was Identity, and journal prompts, discussions and sessions focused on how the girls viewed themselves and how they identified their roles in society and in their families. Individuality is stamped out of kids by the school system at a pretty early age, so sometimes it can be tough to get Senegalese people, especially women, to view themselves as unique. Group think is extremely influential in this culture and sometimes it can be difficult to get a girl to step outside the box and express original view or opinions, even about herself, that might be different from the crowd. The girls started off the morning with yoga (a daily occurrence at the camp) and then spent an hour personalizing journals with photos cut from magazines that expressed something about their personality. These journals were used each morning to record the girls thoughts, prompted by several questions relating to the days theme, and then again in the evening as part of group discussions with their Senegalese counselors. The first day went really smoothly, and as the day wore on the girls began to adjust to the rhythms of an American-style summer camp and really started to open up and enjoy themselves. We ended the day with a big camp fire and sang songs and taught the girls how to make s'mores.

The journal of Ami Mbodji, one of the girls from my village

Tuesdays theme was Health, and the big session of the day was an anonymous Q&A with several volunteers and a local midwife. Girls wrote questions on pieces of paper about everything from rape and violence, to sexual health and birth control, to pregnancy and periods and then they were read aloud to the group and answered. In a culture where sexual education is severely lacking and "general knowledge" is mostly just myths and superstitions, opportunities for women to receive accurate information about their own bodies are rare. The girls also attended sessions on making neem lotion (a natural mosquito repellent), fitness and exercise, and healthy cooking. The day ended with a spa night. Pedicures and facials and nail polish galore.

Tug-of-war

Wednesday was all about the Environment. In the morning we sent the girls off on a pirogue (boat) ride through the mangrove forest to a protected island with a local environmentalist, earning those of us who got up at 5am to cook pancakes for all 60 people at the camp a much needed break. In the afternoon the girls learned how to make a tree nursery and a container garden, and then participated in a team Olympics. We topped the day off with the movie Fern Gully, dubbed in French and projected onto a bedsheet along with popcorn and juice.

Counselors taking a hard-earned break

Thursday we spent the day talking about Gender. Girls were asked to contemplate what it means to be a woman, and were pushed to challenge conventional gender roles in society. In Senegal being female, especially in a small village, makes you little more than a baby-making machine. Many girls are pulled out of school early and married off at a young age, to men typically 10-15 years older than them. My 15 year old sister in Sambande has been married for over two years now, although she doesn't yet live with her husband, and my 29 year old brother just married a 17 year old girl. Women are the ones who cook, clean, work in the fields, take care of children, wash clothes and cater to the husbands every whim. Men are the ones who "provide for the family" by farming during the three rainy months of the year, or working as masons, taxi drivers or shop owners. We asked the girls to re-think traditional gender roles and consider the possibility that girls might be able to play sports and men can do laundry and cook. The girls spent the afternoon making friendship bracelets and tie-dye Tshirts and we taught them how to play softball and ultimate frisbee. In the evening a local drumming group came in and we held a Sabaar (dance party) for the girls.

 

A Fire eater at the dance party on Thursday night

Friday, the last day of camp, was career day. Building on the foundation of the day before, we examined opportunities for girls to do something other than pop out babies for the rest of their lives. We had several guest speakers talk about their own lives and careers, including teachers, midwives and business owners. One of the first questions the girls always asked was "are you married?" They wanted to know if it was possible to be someones wife and still have a career as a strong, independent woman. The answer was an inspirational "yes." The girls also discussed various jobs that were seen as either for men, for women, or for both and counselors gave examples of women performing and succeeding in male-dominated professions. The girls talked about what they wanted to be when they grew up, and there were some surprising answers. The most popular answers were teacher and midwife, but girls also expressed the desire to become lawyers, doctors, policewomen, firefighters and entrepreneurs. At the end of the day each group of girls performed a skit that they had worked on with their Senegalese counselors all week, based around one of the themes of the camp.

I think the girls that attended camp got a lot out of the week. They made some good memories, lasting friendships and learned valuable lessons, but most importantly they had fun. Girls in this country rarely get the opportunity to just have a good time, because as soon as they get home from school they have to take on the responsibilities of a grown woman...cooking, cleaning and collecting firewood while their brothers run off and play. It was nice to give these young women a chance to get away from their responsibilities and give them time to learn and grow and think about their futures.