give a little GLOW, watch it grow.

While serving in the US Peace Corps in Namibia, I was privileged enough to become involved with Camp GLOW (Girls and Guys Leading Our World), a worldwide Peace Corps initiative.

In most Peace Corps countries, Camp GLOW focuses specifically on girls' empowerment. In Namibia, Camp GLOW targets both female and male learners with the understanding that females can only be empowered once males also stand up for equality. Established in Namibia in 2000, Camp GLOW Namibia aims to increase equal distribution of leadership opportunities throughout Namibia. To accomplish this, GLOW works to: empower Namibian youth; foster self-esteem, leadership, communication skills, and goal setting; and to increase awareness of healthy lifestyle behaviors.

Camp GLOW 2016 will take place 19 August to 26 August. Camp provides an opportunity for many learners to meet Namibians from different regions and from various tribes. For the first time, many participants are exposed to places outside of their home community. Camp GLOW brings the best and the brightest future leaders together, creating growth opportunities and lasting bonds. It also provides a unique environment supported by nurturing and progressively conscience adults -€“ both Namibian and American. For the past fifteen years, Camp GLOW has enlightened learners, while helping them challenge traditional gender roles, cultural norms and stereotypes.

Camp GLOW is a life-changing experience for each learner. It is an opportunity to cultivate open-minded leaders for a more progressive future. The transformative and lasting effects of Camp Glow transcend far beyond the individual participants and undoubtedly, has a ripple effect that will impact the lives of numerous Namibians.

With the help of donations from local community organizations in Namibia, and donors throughout the USA and abroad, we have nearly reached the goal for this year's camp.

Help us fund this project by donating to Camp GLOW Namibia.

You can also copy the link here: https://donate.peacecorps.gov/donate/project/camp-glow-namibia/

Want to see more? Check out these images from Camp GLOW 2015!

EDIT: Camp GLOW Namibia has reached this year's funding goal for their 2016 August camp in Windhoek! 

Thank you to everyone who helped fund this project! 

dig deep..

So the week before I met up with the Nomad for my Zambia trip, I participated in a leadership camp for kids. Camp GLOW (Girls and Guys Leading our World.)

Some of you lovely people who’d heard about it beforehand, were kind enough to give donations. Thank you all for your generosity!

I was tech person #2. This meant my job was to run about taking a thousand or so photos and make a slideshow video to show at the start of each day. I also facilitated on the side, and helped decorate all of the things.

Day of set-up, I was looking to avoid heavy lifting.

I’m strong, mind you, but they were hefting 4 meter solid wood dining tables up a winding flight of stairs. I’m not coordinated enough for that stuff. Either I or the table or both would be broken. I helped with the navigation and maneuvering of the first and quickly looked around for a project that would give the illusion of my being occupied.

Luckily for me, K— is sprawled on the floor making signs… ‘Whatcha doin?’ I ask. ‘We need dinosaurs,’ she says, as she thrusts butcher paper and markers toward me. ‘You can draw dinosaurs, right?’ (Our theme for camp was dinosaurs, and the 'Race Against Extinction'... Our motto? "Dig deep. Discover yourself.")

I eye the door where they’re grunting and shoving in a second table. ‘Yeah, sure. Dinosaurs. Which ones you need?’

For the next two hours K— ordered me about telling me what to sketch and we colored in dinosaurs. It was like second grade art class bliss. We took over other people’s projects too. It was a little rude. But we fancied ourselves art directors.

And then the children started to arrive.

Combi after combi.

It was a bit of madness. The whole week.

Each day was fully booked.

It was amazing and exhausting.

I got to work with some of the brightest kids from all over the country…

And I took thousands of photos.

Here are some of my favorite shots of Camp GLOW 2014:

open hearts, open wallets.

I live and work in a small village school in central north Namibia in the Kavango region.

We have a population of around 2,500 people, mostly Rukwangali speakers. Most have lived and worked in the village their entire life. Many have not left the village in the better part of a decade.

Imagine living in a village with no car, surrounded by a maze of dirt roads that few cars travel on in which to catch a hike. You live without access to the internet, limited access to newspapers, and hold little first hand knowledge of the world around you, if only because you don't have the funds to travel, or the access to programs or educational events that might have facilitated an opportunity.

Each year, Peace Corps runs a series of programs to address this issue, and provide a series of activities and trainings which include cross-cultural awareness, address gender issues, facilitate leadership training, and AIDS awareness and prevention. These camps and trips run in conjunction with the boys and girls clubs that we, and other Namibian groups facilitate year round. 

One of these camps is called GLOW, which stands for "Guys and Girls Leading Our World."

This August, 85 Namibian learners from all fourteen regions will come together for for a leadership camp in Windhoek.  For most of these learners, it will be the first time they leave their village, the first time they spend time with people from another tribe, the first time they meet people who speak another language, the first time they travel to the nation's capital. 

We are still securing funding for our camp and we could definitely use your help!

Please click through here and donate to GLOW, and give a Namibian boy or girl the chance to tap into their potential, and expand their worldview. 

Every little bit helps – and for those of you who think that 10 dollars isn't very much, please keep in mind that $10 US = 107.5 South African Rand/Namibian Dollars. So, more bang for your buck.