GLOW summer school 2013

GLOW summer school 2013 will take place 1-6 July, 2013. It will involve 36 Armenian girls aged 13-16 from all regions of Armenia as participants and 3 GLOW alumnae as junior counselors.

The topics of the summer school include self-discovery, leadership, volunteerism, team work, gender, health, human rights, and environment. For details, see below the daily program. GLOW summer school is based in experiential learning and non-formal educational methodology encouraging participant engagement and active participation in the learning process. The summer school is mainly run in home groups of 10 participants and each home group has one American, one Armenian and one junior counselors for facilitation and support. The summer school is run in Armenian.

Deadline for applications is May 1st, 2013. Selected girls will be contacted by SYC staff early June.
Application for Armenian counselors
https://www.facebook.com/download/229392177202167/GLOW%20Armenian%20Counselor%20Applicationn%202013.doc
Application for junior counselors
https://www.facebook.com/download/357389237699125/GLOW%20Junior%20Counselor%20Application%202013.doc
Application for Campers
https://www.facebook.com/download/124801281042866/GLOW%20Participant%20Application%202013.doc

Ecological project “Fight Pollution” in Charentsavan

On March 2nd the project “Fight Pollution” was held in Charentsavan. The programme was devoted to ecological problems of the region and the solutions that every participant could use to limit negative impact on the environment. The participants of the seminar were guided by the motto: “Healing the earth, we are healing ourselves''. The course was organized by SYC member Arevik Yezekyan, as a follow-up for MyXperience project she participated in Czech Republic. The participants were presented with tips how to spare natural resources and lessen garbage produced. They were also involved in art sessions, team building games and discussions directed at finding their own solutions to ecological problems. These activities helped the participants understand that environmental problems of their homeland Armenia are also significant issues for the Earth. We strive to protect our home, and the Earth is a home for all of us, isn't it?

Peer education seminars in village Chinary

Satenik is a 16 year old girl from a remote village in Armenia. At the end of March 2012, she decided to organize mini-GLOW summer school for her peers. Over thirty high school students signed up to join the after-class seminars.

The topics of the first day of seminars on March 26^th were leadership and gender equality. I thoroughly planned the session and had a few energizers to warm up the group. As in our school we are not used to interactive activities to promote learning, my session was very different yet engaging and interesting for the participants. After each activity we were debriefing and taking the learning points. During leadership session we discussed what the qualities of a leader are and lots of opinions and characteristics came up.

We continued with gender equality. It was very good to have gender balance in the group. Boys were particularly active in this session. One of the activities was on what they consider suitable professions for men and women. A very heated and energetic discussion followed where we had lots of different opinions. This allowed everyone to see different perspectives on very simple topics.

Next day we continued with topics of trafficking and gender stereotypes. First I asked the participants what they know about trafficking. There was some response in the group. Then I shared what I learnt about the issue during GLOW and after it. We watched two videos on trafficking – one on trafficking as a phenomenon and various types of trafficking and second one was on child trafficking. The movies brought up lots of questions and we discussed them afterwards.

Gender stereotypes were the next session. We brainstormed what is a stereotype and then I read for them some of commonly spread stereotypes of our society. The opinions of the participants were very diverse, some of them brought examples of gender stereotypes, their influence and consequence on lives of individuals.

The last day of seminars we covered domestic violence and volunteerism. We watched a movie about domestic violence followed with opinion sharing in a circle. Some of the participants shared cases of domestic violence they knew and the approach and opinion of society to this phenomenon. I think our group was well aware of the issue and had strong understanding how important it is to fight against it in order to have a healthy society.

Volunteerism was the last topic. I wanted the participants to remember this topic and to get a better sense of what volunteerism is and be interested to be one. In our session some participants were skeptical saying that it is unappreciated work, that no one will do something without any expectations. However, we had quite many students who shared examples and hopefully influenced the others. I also told the students about different projects and organizations that could be useful for study abroad projects, shelter for domestic violence, etc. The most active 10 students got books on domestic violence.

I am very pleased with the results of the seminars. They not only increased knowledge on the topics among my peers, but also gave me confidence and satisfaction that I can independently organize seminars and share my knowledge.

Satenik Kalantaryan

Village of Chinary, Tavush region

THE HERO OF MY LIFE contest of essays

'We are greatly influenced by the people who surround us.' Peter Mayer

Early 2012 SYC announced a contest of essays for GLOW alumnae. It aimed to allow them think about people in their surroundings who have important role in their lives and have positively influenced them. The 3 winners of the contest got support to organize community projects and peer educational activities in their communities.

Here are extracts from essays:

People often look for their heroes somewhere far from themselves, in an unreachable world. My heroes are regular people with their strengths and weaknesses. Today I would like to talk about one of them – Megan, a Peace Corps volunteer who serves in my village. She is a sociable, honest, courageous and kind person. She is a great leader with very pleasant personality. She teaches English at my school but language skills are not the only thing we take from her. She serves as a great role model for all students with her purposefulness and ability to overcome challenges. Megan is a friend to me and has her particular place in my heart and life. I learnt from her to accept everyone the way they are and not to try to change them or be judgmental.  With her entry to my life, she brought lots of positive change. I have learnt to be more responsible and appreciate what I have, to set goals and try to reach them.

Satenik from village of Choratan

Arev (Sun in Armenian) is my dearest teacher. She is also my friend, my supporter and my kindest elf. She understands everyone, never judges people even the most sinful one. She is a great leader and good protector of children’s rights. I do not know anyone kinder than her. Arev changed my worldview making me more open minded and honest, responsible and friendly, humble and family-oriented.

Syuzanna from village of Khot

They say artists have deep inner world, are kind and forgiving, look at the world through the colors of their paintings and are a bit unusual. This is how my heroine is - Ms. Dovlatyan, my arts teacher at school. I was a small child when I first saw her. I immediately “fell in love” with her. Her kindest eyes attracted me then, but I know that it was her rich inner world that I loved. Spending more time with her, I started looking at the world with different eyes. She taught me how to and give soul and life to a painting. Ms. Dovlatyan has influenced me a lot. I have learnt from her to be humble, kind and a bit unusual.

Arpine from the town of Vayk

Each one of us has people in our lives who influence and shape who we are. I want to emphasis the role of my dearest mom in my life. She gave birth to me, has nurtured all my live and tried to install in me the wonderful qualities she possesses and values in life: kindness, responsibility, humbleness, thirst for knowledge and respect to everyone.

Kristine from town of Vanadzor

IYF highlights GLOW

Equipping Armenian Girls with Leadership Skills

"Passive." "Obedient." "Living in the shadows." These are words used by girls to describe themselves before participating in SYC's Girls Leading Our World (GLOW) program. Young women growing up in rural Armenia live relatively traditional lives, with few opportunities to develop their leadership skills or participate actively as citizens.
Aimed at girls, ages 13-16, GLOW seeks to create a new generation of female leaders who possess the knowledge and skills needed to play an active role in the development of their communities. The program begins with a residential summer school, giving up to 70 young women the chance to work in a team-based setting and to explore topics such as personal development, gender issues, career planning, health, the environment, human rights, HIV/AIDS, peer education, and leadership. Afterward, participants hold peer education sessions in their communities, contribute to GLOW newspaper, and help organize regional seminars during the year for other young women.
SYC provides GLOW participants with the support and information they need to effectively plan and run peer education sessions and transfer their acquired knowledge and skills to their peers. GLOW alumnae also plan and execute local projects, together with local youth, to make a difference in their communities.
Sixteen-year-old Syuzanna Galstyan, from the village Khot in the Syunik region of southern Armenia, was interested in protecting her community's natural and cultural heritage. Her idea: conduct a seminar to raise awareness about environmental issues and connect it with a cleanup activity focused on the road surrounding a local chapel. Says Syuzanna:

"I wanted to connect education with action. It's easy to talk about what needs to be done, but talk isn't always connected to concrete action. Concerned as to whether I could organize it myself, I presented the idea to the director of our school who was very supportive and decided to join us. To begin with, I developed the seminar using GLOW materials, interactive sessions, and information I found online. Next, I prepared a brochure on environmental topics to distribute to participants, including my 18 high school classmates, a few teachers, and the director. An outdoor seminar held in October enabled participants to connect more strongly to the topic and with the surrounding environment. All of us were excited and enthusiastic. At the end of the day, we created some posters to share our message about maintaining a clean environment with others in the community. The event was a great success. We felt like a big and connected family, where everyone knows his/her responsibilities and the environmental is a shared home. I felt like I had contributed to something special and had stepped up another stair in the ladder of my life."
Increasingly, girls like Syuzanna are using words like "positive," "purposeful," "determined," and "self-confident" to describe themselves and their hopes for the future.

With support from the Starbucks^TM Shared Planet^TM Youth Action Grants program, the Stepanavan Youth Center (SYC), founded by 2004 YouthActionNet® Fellow Lilit Simonyan, is strengthening the leadership skills of hundreds of Armenian girls, ages 13 to 16. Above, Lilit describes the program's impact to date. International Youth Foundation highlights the GLOW project on its web site. http://youthactionnet.org/index.php?fuse=showblogdetails&blogid=3034

How GLOW Changed My Life

In 2011 SYC announced a contest of essays for GLOW alumnae. The topic of the essay was the impact of GLOW on girls. The winners of the competition got small funds to organize peer education activities or community actions in their regions.

Here are extracts from the essays:

"GLOW gave me aspirations and goals to reach for higher and better. I was unsociable, obedient and passive before GLOW, now I am purposeful and determined to make change in my life and in my community."

Nvard Pandunts, Khndzoresk, GLOW 2010

"In my village I was never taught to believe in me, rather be in the shadow. GLOW gave me a chance to open up my potential, be heard and accepted as I am. Now I am positive about future and confident that I will become a useful person".

Gayane Yegiazaryan, Tavush, GLOW 2009

"In GLOW I learnt about such topics as gender roles, HIV/AIDS, trafficking, etc. which I did not know much about. I was amazed how much knowledge I took home in just a week. After GLOW I was excited to organize seminars for my peers and share my experience."

Valentina Haytyan, Sevan, GLOW 2010

Follow Up Seminar in Charentsavan

Regional follow up seminars started in November 2011. They are designed to give the GLOW girls and their peers in regions of Armenia a possibility to deepen their knowledge and acquire new skills in one of the GLOW topics. The GLOW alumnae help our trainers to select the topics and organize the seminar connecting to local partners and occasionally co-facilitating the sessions. They also are yet another event motivating the girls to be active in their community and organize events on their own together with their peers and local organizations.

As expected the GLOW alumnae Gegharkunik region became very enthusiastic knowing that GLOW follow ups will be held in their regions They and the local Peace Corps volunteers worked with the trainer to choose the location and date for the event, invite teenagers from the region and identify the appropriate topics for the session.The seminar in Charentsavan was about time management. The trainer, Mane Papyan provided some theoretical input on how to effectively make daily plans, introduced Eisenhower's Time Matrix and tips of managing own time.

Here is the feedback from some of the participants.
I seemed to know all we discussed here, but never had a chance to deeply think about it.
The seminar made me think that I have to be more organized and do better time management in my daily life, otherwise I will regret in future. I have to make smaller goals to reach the larger goals in my life. I got a lot from today’s session.” Mane Papyan