Camp GLOW/GROW

This week was amazing, wonderful, exhausting and crazy fun! Camp GLOW and GROW are officially finished for 2013. (We'll start planning in February for Camp GLOW/GROW 2014!). Here's a recap of what went on over the last week, but before I jump into that I want to say how grateful I am to work with these people. These girls amazed me every day with the way they treated each other, went above and beyond and were there to help whenever anyone needed it.

Highlights from camp:

1. New friendships. These girls came from different high schools throughout my island and many of them didn't know each other before coming to camp. It was so great to see the difference a week made - they started very ma (shy) and ended it by all hugging each other and sharing contact information so they can see each other after camp!

2. New skills. We learned about women's empowerment (the rights of women, domestic violence, where to turn for help if needed), decision making (what makes it hard/easy, what steps do we take to make decisions), goal setting (short-term and long-term), career choices (post-secondary options, local opportunities, etc.) and healthy choices (reproductive health, healthy lifestyle choices, etc.). 

3. Adventures. Even in the pouring rain we had fun adventuring out to a local beach. We even had the opportunity to talk with the owner (who did his studies abroad but returned home to open a successful business) about his journey and love of Tonga.

4. Team building. In order to learn our best, we spent a lot of time building community so that we were able to establish a community where the girls and guys felt comfortable sharing with each other.

5. Community. By the end of the week the girls (and guys!) were a lot closer group. They are excited to take what they learned back into their communities.

Many of the campers told me how excited they are to start Club GLOW at their schools so that they can teach other students about what they learned. I'm excited to check in with them next year to see what they accomplish!