Often times in Peace Corps
you find yourself with so much free time you are able to discover a new
television series you find yourself searching the next season for among the
hundreds of filled hard drives from other Volunteers.
This was my case about two
years ago when I got into The Big Bang Theory.
Now in no way, shape, or
form am I like Leonard or Sheldon, filled with knowledge of quantum
physics. You might say I am more like
Penny… Filled with random facts about celebrities and pretending to understand
the content of a very scientific conversation by nodding along, all the while I
have no freaking clue.
Well immediately following
Camp
LION, I headed to another youth empowerment camp called GirlTech, a science
and technology camp for you guessed it… Girls!
I felt like I was happily trapped in an episode of The Big Bang Theory,
where everyone around me had a PhD or was like real life Google, able to come
up with answers to questions off the top of their head, whereas I would have
had to spend all day looking for them.
Since this was the third
GirlTech, it was fittingly referred to as GirlTech 3.14159.
If only we had real pie…
Instead of being a
counselor at this camp I opted for staff, which allowed me the opportunity to
teach my favorite session, Re-Usable Menstrual Pads and play a greater role
facilitating training and working with the In Movement team.
The week was
phenomenal. The classes were intriguing
and got the girls to think more deeply about our impact as humans, what lies
beyond, and reaching for our goals.
Given that this camp was focused on science and technology, there was
also this underlying foundation of female empowerment, which you could see
among the campers.
We had morning mad science
experiments were we made bottle rockets, goo out of water and corn flour, and
saw how you could puncture a filled balloon with a skewer without popping it!
Before take off...
...and after!
The sessions ranged from
neuroscience and the history of space flight to geology and computers.
The way the classes were
designed meant to be practical and hands on, something so many of these girls was
not used to.
I sent six of my In Movement
girls to GirlTech, with the hopes of them expanding their knowledge. Many of the youth I work with in Kampala are
into the arts and creative expression so I was interested to see what they
would take away after a week at camp.
As we waited for the
coaster to take us back to Kampala my girls said that their eyes are now opened
to a field they never thought of pursuing.
One said that even though she knows she never wants to be a doctor or
study ICT: Information and Communications Technology, she sees the importance
of them in our world. Another of the
quieter ones said that she became empowered through her week at GirlTech. I asked her how since there were no sessions
on self-esteem or self-confidence.
She replied, “The mere
fact that a woman was the world’s first computer programmer (Ada Lovelace) means
that I can do anything!”
One of the greatest surprises
during the week was when my girls decided to compete in the pi
competition. The campers who willingly
participated had to memorize as many digits of pi as possible. My little lady Sharon won… Correctly reciting
65 digits! This was after she broke the
bar set by my other girl Rachel with 63 digits memorized.
#bestyouthever
I loved being able to play
the part of Penny the week of GirlTech… Opting to lead sessions on reproductive
health and lifeskills, leading the hard science classes to my super smart
friends!
I loved being able to
continue to grow into my role as a facilitator with the In Movement dream team.
I loved watching the girls
come into their own and recognize their individual potential.
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