Empowered Girls Change the World

It's not like I've ever needed proof that women are incredible, but my experience this past Friday absolutely blew me away! Daudi, one of our leaders at Mwangaza is married to Kellan, the area director of Empowered Girls East Africa, a nonprofit that leads club programs at local schools. Kellan and Daudi arranged for a group of us to attend an Empowered Girls meeting at a nearby secondary school so that we could do a Q&A session with the students. Each week Kellan leads meetings with seminars about empowerment and confidence, guest speakers, and creative expression through music, dance, and comedy. The goal of the organization is to empower young girls to speak up for themselves and change their communities for the better.

Kellan met us at the entrance to the school, and right away we knew we were in for a great afternoon. She radiated warmth and excitement, and told us more about the organization as we made our way to the meeting space. When we walked into the room, we were taken aback when we saw over 200 girls there for the meeting - and that was a smaller turnout, according to Kellan! The eight of us sat down in the front and Kellan introduced us. MeiYi shared that she was studying to be a doctor, and the entire room cheered! Many of the girls were studying to be doctors too and were so excited to see another person like themselves pursuing this field. The sense of joy and excitement in the room was palpable, and I felt like I was back at St. Mary's during Women's Empowerment Week again!

Our conversations centered around what made the girls feel empowered, what they had learned about themselves through Empowered Girls, what they would change if they had the power to change anything to make their society better for women and more. The responses we got were amazing. There are so many things I wish I could remember perfectly, but these were a few of my favorite quotes from the meeting:

"I am beautiful!" (Said with so much vigor and sass)

"I have learned that I have something in my heart that matters and means that I am important."

"That I can say what I want to say and I am allowed to say NO."

"I feel empowered when someone offends me and I stand up to them."

"I feel empowered when I share my thoughts without fear."

"I am proud to be a black girl, because being black means that I come from a strong community that I will fight for. I am proud to be a black girl because black is beautiful!"

"I feel empowered when I perform and stand in front of a crowd."

"I have learned that I can be just as strong as a man and do anything that a man can do."

Then the girls asked us some questions about our experiences with struggle and empowerment. They wanted to know about the challenges we faced as women, what made us feel empowered, and what we wanted to be when we grew up. We talked about the issues that women in the United States still face and made it clear that just because Tanzania and the United States are different it doesn't mean that it is perfect for women by any stretch. We've definitely noticed throughout our time in Tanzania that the United States gets idealized and we wanted to make sure that when we were talking about our experiences we were honest about the situation at home. While we've made a lot of progress, there is a lot of work we still need to do.

At the end of the meeting the girls did several performances for us! There was a beautiful ballroom dance routine, two dance crews, a short play, and a super inspiring speech about what it means to be a Tanzanian woman. Thankfully our little group had practiced a few songs in the car on the way, so we sang Lean On Me and Brave. Even though we were not nearly as good, we still got lots of cheers of encouragement and a big round of applause at the end! I literally could not stop smiling. The feeling of women supporting other women is so tangible, and that energy filled the entire room.

We've talked about the many issues that Tanzanian women face throughout our time here, and this organization gives me so much hope. These girls were so intelligent, well-spoken, and full of conviction that they would make a difference. This is the generation that is going to change the culture and make things better for women in years to come.

Our group with Kellan (center) as well as some of the participants in Empowered Girls!

Before leaving we bought t-shirts from Kellan! The proceeds from each shirt pay for two months worth of menstrual products for one girl. Many girls in Tanzania are not able to attend school during their periods due to lack of menstrual products, so increasing access to these supplies makes a huge difference in the ability of girls to succeed in school. If you felt inspired by this post, consider making a donation or buying a shirt! https://www.facebook.com/pg/EmpoweredGirls/photos/?ref=page_internal

-GMH