Communications | Partner Visit | She’s the First | 23rd June 2023
In April, Florence Sidi (She’s the First Programs Assistant) and I had the fantastic opportunity to visit our long-term partner, the Girls Livelihood and Mentorship Initiative (GLAMI) in two of their three offices in Arusha and Kilimanjaro regions of Tanzania on the 24th and 25th of April respectively. GLAMI runs two phenomenal programs, the Binti Shupavu and Kisa Projects which have benefited 14,900 Tanzanian girls to date.
Binti Shupavu which loosely translates to ‘courageous daughters’ from Swahili is a four-year life skills course for lower secondary school girls and covers topics such as study skills, personal leadership, health, and self-confidence with the goal of increasing graduation rates for vulnerable girls. The Kisa Project on the other hand is a two-year leadership course that prepares girls in their last two years of secondary school to attend university and create positive social change in their communities. Kisa means ‘story’ in Swahili and through the program, young girls are empowered to become the creative authors of their own future stories. GLAMI runs both of these programs in 51 schools across Arusha (20), Moshi 22), and Morogoro (9) regions of Tanzania.
Florence and I had the unique opportunity to visit Einoti Secondary School (Arusha) and Langasani High School (Moshi) where we witnessed firsthand the GLAMI magic of the Binti Shupavu and Kisa programs. While at Einoti Secondary School, the GLAMI mentors run concurrent sessions with junior high school students on the reproductive system which was fascinating for me particularly to learn in Swahili! While at Langasani High School with the senior high school students, mentors run sessions on how to be creative while problem-solving.
In both school visits, it was very telling that the mentors and the girls have a deep connection. The girls were extremely confident, well-spoken, open, and most importantly were having fun in the after-school programs. Perhaps one of the most successful features of the GLAMI programming is that mentors are consistent with a set group of girls and walk the journey with them for 4 years for the Binti Shupavu Program and 2 years for the Kisa Project. Mentors all run sessions on the same topic in the day but each mentor is at liberty on how to run the session. Mentors shared that they see transformation in the girls when they commence the program within a year. They reported that girls become more self-aware, more confident, and feel safe sharing their opinions and views. Mentors also shared that the most emotional yet impactful days are the day girls join the program and the day they graduate from the same.
During our two-day site visit, we also had an opportunity to train a cross-section of GLAMI’s staff from their three offices on how to use our recently developed ‘What Would You Do? ‘ card game within an existing mentorship program. Girls in both schools also had a go at playing the game which sparked interesting conversations which is a major objective of the game. The card game allows girls in three different age groups to safely explore—through play and conversation with peers and a mentor—the building blocks of healthy relationships and strategies for creating safe personal boundaries.
With the staff, we also had time to explore, identify and prioritize their organizational needs which She’s the First aims to support them earnestly during the pendency of our partnership.
