GLOW Camp Gourrama

PCV Rienna Thomas in Gourrama is doing a GLOW Camp this week! After planning this camp for over three months, lining up Moroccan women as speaker and counselors, signing up ten PCVs to help out and signing up 60 girls, Rienna was told that the building wasn’t available for a girls' camp. The day before most of us were planning to travel to Gourrama Rienna had to make phone calls and cancel the camp. There was miscommunication between delegues about exam schedules and the availability of the boarding school. Luckily, she was able to rectify the miscommunication with the help of her mudir, Rachid Ghanimi, and reschedule the camp for this week. Rachid has been very supportive of the camp, even though he couldn’t attend himself. Their hard work has really paid off. The girls are having a blast!

While it's challenging to get everything prepared to do a girls-only camp, it's really worth the effort. In my talks with the girls one of their favorite things about the camp is that it's girls-only. Moroccan girls don't have many spaces that are only for them. They appreciate being able to, literally, let their hair down and not have to worry about being perfectly modest all the time. They appreciate being able to wear something comfortable and not stress over being in a public, male-dominated space. Rienna has done a great job fending off well-intended Moroccan men who have volunteered to come and help out or speak to the group. This camp is all for girls; and that’s important.

We have 45 girls from Gourrama and the surrounding area participating this week along with 20 Moroccan ladies leading sessions or being involved in some way. We even had PCV Nicole Brenner's lovely mother Susan join us and join in the fun!

The girls arrived in the afternoon so the first day was mostly getting to know you games and setting up camp rules. The camp is on day three and the girls have already heard from a successful female business owner in Gourrama about how she decided to create her business and what has helped her to become successful. The girls also broke into groups and created a business plan and discussed with the group what was necessary to make a business work. We've also discussed self-esteem and how to build up your friends rather than tear them down.

We attempted to play GLOW Olympics, complete with water balloon toss, three-legged race and tug-o-war, but the rain hit about that time and the thunder and lightning forced us inside. In Morocco it's necessary to always have a backup plan, right? The Olympics were moved back into the evening and the water balloon toss and other games were played indoors, but a lot of fun was had.

Other events planned for this week include GLOW sessions on goal-setting, the environment, health, career planning and empowerment. We also will be doing a talent show, a movie night, and a henna competition. In addition, we'll be doing arts and crafts, playing board games and sports, and doing a scavenger hunt.

We're having a great time and feeding off the excitement of the girls. If you get a chance you need to do a GLOW camp you have to take it! It’s an amazing experience for the girls and it’s a lot of fun.