REDES

This entire past week I have been at a conference in Xai Xai with girls from my REDES group. REDES is a program to educate and empower young girls of Mozambique, definitely a project I am very interested in continuing and emproving upon in my town. Well, this week we had a conference and I was able to bring two girls from my town. It was such an amazing time! In all we had about 90 people there, about 15 of those were PCVs the rest Mozambican teachers and young girls. Everything about the week was great, but one thing that really hit me was what an oppotunty this is for these girls. For most of the people coming to the conference, this is the first and possibly only time they will stay in a hotel and be waited on the way they were. Girls here in Moz are sued to waking up early, cleaning, cooking, taking care of the family, maybe having the chance to go to school, working in the machambas, and not really having much of a chance to enjoy their youth and freedom as kids. Well, this week the girls didnºt have to clean, didnºt cook, had hot showers, got to learn, play, and meet people from all over the southern region of Moz. Not to mention we were staying on the beach. An added bonus. It was a lot of work for us volunteers but i canºt imagine another way iºd rather spend my energy and time. It was a very rewarding experience. Also, I was a counselour for one of the groups, andI got to know some of the girls very well. By the end of the week I was like their mom away from home- theyºd come to me with questions, problems, or when they were excited about something. The girls in my group were the oldest at the conference, 21years old and up, so it was a bit easier to empathize with them on certain things, but by the end of the week I really felt like iºd established friendships and bonds with the girls. It was hard to say goodbtye, knowing I probably wonºt get to see these girls again. But what an amazing conference.