United States Ambassador Brent Hardt visited the 2nd annual camp GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) leadership camp at the Kuru-Kuru Cooperative College, Linden-Soesdyke Highway, on August 10 as the teenage campers wrapped up a week of activities.
From August 6-11, young girls, ages 13-17 from across Guyana, participated in activities that focused on teamwork, building self-esteem, goal-setting, decision-making, and creating healthy relationships and lifestyles, a press release from the U.S. Embassy in Georgetown stated.
Camp GLOW, a worldwide young women’s empowerment camp, was organized by the Gender and Development Volunteer Task Force of the U.S. Peace Corps in Guyana.
The Peace Corps Guyana Gender and Development Task Force seeks to address issues of gender related to equality, human rights, and access to services; to build capacity and efficacy among women to improve the quality of life for all genders; and to serve as a resource group for all volunteer work related to gender and development issues.
And to ensure the success of this mission and Camp GLOW, the Peace Corps volunteers collaborated with the Ministry of Culture, Youth and Sports and local non-governmental organizations, including Hope for All and Guyana Business Coalition.
Prominent women leaders, including representatives from the Ministry of Education, Linden Care Foundation, Hope for All, and the Region Two National Democratic Council were invited to share their experiences in a series of inspirational talks with the girls.
During Ambassador Hardt’s interaction with the participants, he emphasized the importance for young women to take steps to embrace their potential as future leaders and strong women. He encouraged them to use the skills they learned at the camp to make a difference not only in their own lives, but also in the lives of members of their communities.
The U.S. ambassador also highlighted the outstanding achievements of three GLOW girls, Alexie, Triveina, and Adelie, who participated in the first camp last December.
These three young women not only met the challenge of improving their community, but far surpassed anyone’s expectations, proving not only that youth can make a difference in their communities, but that young women can be leaders and change the world around them if given the opportunity and skills, the release noted.
