THE ROAD TO THE GIRL POWER CHILD-ENTREPRENEURSHIP COMPETITION: JUNE

GIRL POWER CLUBS AFRICA TAKES A BOLD STEP TO BUILD AND SUPPORT BUSINESS INITIATIVES AMONG CHILDREN AND TEENAGERS.

Joy and excitement fill the minds and hearts of members of Girl Power Clubs Africa as we draw near to the competition day which is on the 22nd of June 2024.  In the previous weeks the participants have been grouped into different groups and with the help of their facilitators have been able to come up with outstanding business ideas. During the group formation, the facilitators were keen enough to put the participants in groups without bias and in a way that everyone was comfortable. The facilitators mixed the students in the upper classes with those in the lower classes, those who are quick to learn and who take time to learn a new concept. Each group got to select a leader amongst themselves and the group leaders received instructions from the facilitators and they pass the information to the rest of the group.

***

Key areas that will be looked at by the judges focus on teamwork. This will be to see whether the group worked together to develop one idea. Other things to look at will include communication skills in the group, how organized they are, and their confidence while presenting the idea.

***

PRICES FOR THE WINNERS

The start-up competition is aimed at evaluating the business ideas that the participants have and selecting the ones that qualify to receive financial support. A total of Ksh. 20,000 has been set aside to be distributed to the winners on this level. This award will motivate the participants to do their best and also help them to begin to realize that their dreams are achievable even at a young age. The winners will also get a chance to get one-on-one mentorship with some of our partners in the business department.

By Medrine

WHAT A DAY TO WEAR A SMILE!

 

 There is always a nauseating feeling that comes your way whenever your parents inform you that there are guests coming over at your place. There is this gist that comes to mind that you want to hide under your bed, or in the closet but here at Sadili, that is quite the contrary. Upon hearing that The University of Minnesota is coming to our home ground, a feeling of ecstasy filled the space around. Yes, they came and also the vivacious, meticulous, animated and ever-smiling girls of Olympic High School were there to feel the inspiration and show their prowess in football. The day was memorable, moments noteworthy, the discussions illuminating and motivational and the football match amusing.

The day was filled with a bunch of activities but I shall only detail about one; that is the football match. Gone are the days when football was seen as a game only for the make gender while girls should be skipping ropes and playing ‘kati’. The girls from Olympic High School are a great paradigm. You should have been there to see how they kick the ball, pass it, swerve it against the opponent, and hit it with the head as if it is their daily bread. It was as if I was watching a game between Barcelona and Real Madrid although I could not pick out one girl to be Lionel Messi and another Christiano Ronaldo. They are super talented and very fast just like the Flash. Subsequently, there were our comrades from University of Minnesota. Most of them admitted to never playing football and find joy in watching rather than playing the game. Nevertheless, they joined the girls from Olympic and battled it out on the football pitch.

I have never enjoyed a game like that in my life. The Minnesota players were vividly afraid of getting hit by the ball but got the essence of it with three of their players scoring for their teams. Talk about being excited. When they scored the goals, their strength came out ten times more so that they could score again and again but the girls from Olympic did not let that go easily. They gathered their momentum, used their voices as a the sole means of communication, hit the ball as if they were playing football for the last time in their lives and showed us that football is indeed their daily bread.

 They supported the Minnesota players by joining them to play together. It was indeed a tremendous time for us here at Sadili. The Minnesota team taught us something that Oprah Winfrey once said, challenges are gifts that force us to look for a new centre of gravity. We should not fight them instead find a new way to stand. I mean, they did not know how to play football but by the end of the day, they got a little knowledge on how to play. For the Olympic girls, they saw that they have so much talent hence have the full potential to be whatever they would like to be. They viewed themselves as lucky to have such skills and vowed to tap even more into
it to use it as a channel to make a global difference.

To wrap up, this day depicted that life has so many opportunities and it is up to us to take them up. Through this, we get to learn more about the world and the people in it live in peace, harmony and tranquility and as one alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone on water creating many ripples on the surface. Being together as the Family of Sadili Oval, Olympic High School girls and the University of Minnesota sure made ripples on the water surface.

 

Girl Power Clubs Africa holds a Successful Vital Voices Mentoring Walk in Nairobi

One hundred and six girls and young women gathered at Sadili Oval in Nairobi on 11^th March 2017 to join thousands of women around the world in the Vital Voices Global Mentoring Walk. Similar Mentoring Walks took place in 61 countries across nearly every region of the world, in commemoration of International Women’s Day. 

The hot and sunny weather in Nairobi was no match for the girls’ determination to participate in the Walk, be inspired and make their voices heard. The huge crowd of girls and young women drew everyone’s attention as they marched bringing the usually busy Lang’ata area to a standstill. Most of these girls (mentees) were student leaders in secondary and upper primary schools.

After the Walk, the girls were divided into small groups where they had a chance to talk to their mentors and be inspired. They freely talked about the challenges they face in their pursuit of leadership roles in a male-dominated society, shared experiences and many ideas on ways through which they can stand for themselves and boldly make their voices heard.

“This is the first time I have participated in such an event, and I am so glad I came. I have learnt much more than I thought I would both from the mentors and other girl leaders [mentees] from other schools,” remarked Grace Munini, a student at St. Christine Secondary School. “I am leaving this place more motivated to take up leadership roles now and in future. Thank you Girl Power Clubs for organizing such an event and for inviting my school.”

Ms. Peris Kabiru, a high school teacher and also one of the mentors, was equally challenged after her interaction with the girls. “It’s been a pleasure chatting with the girls and I would like to do this more often. Next time there is chance to mentor young leaders please let me know, I will be more than thrilled to participate!” She said.

The Mentoring Walk is organized annually as part of a global movement to inspire a rising generation through mentorship. This particular Walk in Nairobi was made possible by Girl Power Clubs Africa movement with kind support from Dr. Liz Odera, founder of the movement, mentor and also a Vital Voices fellow.

We as Girl Power Clubs Africa are extremely grateful to everyone who made the Walk possible in Nairobi, especially our mentors and mentees who came along and showed their support for the initiative. After this year’s success we are already thinking how we can make it even better next year and hope that more women and girls will find time to participate, and see it as an excellent opportunity to “raise a vital voice” by mentoring an aspiring woman leader.

Girl Power Clubs Leadership Workshop a Success despite Low Turnout

On Saturday, 28^th January 2017 Girl Power Clubs Africa successfully held a leadership workshop at Sadili Oval grounds. The 3 hour workshop came just 2 weeks after elections of new Girl Power Club leaders had been carried out in all schools in the programme in Nairobi. It was aimed at discussing with the new leaders, among other issues, what is expected from them in their new roles. During the previous week, Sadili’s Social Educators had visited all Girl Power Clubs in Nairobi discussing with them leadership skills. 

The workshop was attended by 4 Girl Power Club leaders from Karama Academy, 7 Sadili staff and 2 guests - both students at Catholic University of Eastern Africa. 

In a fun and highly interactive manner, various topics were covered during the workshop. They included: the history of Girl Power Clubs Africa and its role in training girls to become positive agents of change, personal hygiene as well as menstruation. These topics of discussion each had short breaks in between for games sessions. We all played soccer and other fun games.

Despite the low turnout, everyone seemed positive about the workshop’s success. “We had hoped the number would be bigger, but despite that we are happy that everything else happened as had been planned and that the girls have enjoyed their time with us,” said Everlyne Sigilai, one of Sadili’s social educators. 

 “It was a little intimidating for me at first to see so many staff and just a few of us, but they have been very friendly and I have enjoyed interacting with them. I hope to be here again for more of such activities,” Said Melvin Awino, one of the pupils from Karama Academy.

Girl Power Clubs Africa is a leadership program focused on providing teenage girls with a chance to learn life skills and learn to make decisions that affect their lives and their communities positively.

 

Girl Power Nairobi September Report

This month was quite difficult for the Clubs as there is a Government regulation barring government-sponsored schools from holding groupings of any type nationwide, until schools close in October. We, however, managed to cover various topics in various private schools but others, including Olympic Secondary had no session this month and probably the whole of this term, while in Karen C Secondary, the sessions will end this month until next year. We have managed to cover at least two topics in schools this month. 

This is the sessions overview during the month.

SCHOOLS	DATE	TOPICS	ATTENDANCE
Olympic high school	5/9/16 19/9/16 25/9/16	Relationships Conflict resolution Personal statement	22 15 23
Karama primary	6/9/16 13/9/16	Relationships Career choices	38 20
St Catherine primary	13/9/16 20/9/16 27/9/16	Career choices Peace one day Personal statement	28 25 29
Nazarene  primary	14/9/16 21/9/16 28/9/16	Career Choices Peace one day Personal statement	28 25 26
Karen c	9/9/16 15/9/16	Relationships Career Choices	36 32

GIRLPOWER SPORTS DAY

We had two schools attend St Catherine and Nazarene 62 girls present. The day was special as we marked Peace One Day with various activities on conflict resolution and also played two sports: rugby and football. The girls participated fully and it was a good day.

PEACE ONE DAY

The theme was conflict resolution we marked the first day during Sports Day and also the real Peace One Day with Nazarene and also with Jitahidi at the tennis court during that week the topic was peace in all the school to mark the day, playing tennis. The total number that participated was almost 600 from ll the activities carried out that week.