Linguère’s Annual Girls’ Leadership Camps
In response to gender inequity in education and limited opportunity for advancement for females in the area, for the past two years volunteers in the Department of Linguère in north-central Senegal have collaborated to organize girls’ leadership seminars for female middle school students. These seminars coincided with the distribution of SeneGAD’s Michele Sylvester scholarships.
The first seminar was held in November 15, 2008 at the Centre Polyvalent de Linguère and was a full day event drawing participants from Dahra, Linguère, Nguith and Barkedji. The day included introductory remarks by a Linguère SCOFI (Scolarisation des Filles) representative on the importance of girls’ education; a screening of Elle Travaille, Elle Vit—a film created by Peace Corps Volunteers about working women in Senegal; a leadership workshop led by Peace Corps trainer Awa Traoré, and an HIV/AIDS awareness session led by Anne Langdji and Mariame Hanne, representatives of the Lutheran Health Project in Linguère. The participants were provided with lunch and a pause café. Volunteers concluded the seminar by congratulating all of the participants and announcing the scholarship winners.
On November 14-15, 2009 volunteers held seminars in Barkedji and Ouarkokh, the two communities where volunteers facilitated Michele Sylvester scholarships. Each of the morning sessions, which took place in the villages’ community centers, began with a malaria-themed icebreaker followed by the filming of Elle Travaille, Elle Vit. The subsequent dialogue segment included presentations by prominent local women about their educations and careers along with Awa Traoré’s leadership workshop, which consisted of large-group and small-group discussions. The closing ceremony included the distribution of participation certificates and school supplies, the recognition of the Michele Sylvester scholarship candidates, and the delivery of the scholarships to the two winners.
Thirty-five female middle school students participated in the 2008 seminar. In 2009 51 females participated in the seminar held in Ouarkhokh and 56 females participated in the seminars held in Barkedji.
The goals of the project were to give the girls an opportunity to envision and plan for their futures, to help them acquire confidence and decision-making skills that will help them overcome future challenges, including early and forced marriage, violence (including harassment and rape), poverty and a lack of resources, and to encourage them to continue their studies and strive to meet their potential.
Observation and community and participant feedback has shown that the seminars were successful not only in providing the individual girls with new skills and information, but also in creating awareness within the communities of the importance of female education and leadership. For some of the girls, this was the first time they were able to participate in an open dialogue with their peers and village leaders about the challenges they face.
Individual volunteers have followed up on the seminars by working with the participants in their villages through gender development activities and youth groups. In future years, area volunteers will continue to facilitate Michele Sylvester scholarships for middle school girls, and will also run the annual leadership seminars.
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