By Nora Tobin | Executive Director, Self-Help International
“Oh, don’t be shy,” he told her.
Then after some nervous laughter, she spoke clearly: “My name is Sarah. I learned so many things from Teen Girls [Club]. I learned how to pronounce words, how to read and how to write.”
The whole room erupted in applause, hooting and hollering. “WOW!” the Teens Club Coordinator exclaimed. The rest of the support team uttered similar exclamations in Twi.
Her mother ran over to purchase not one but two small bags of popcorn for her from the back of the room to reward her for her efforts.
Sarah’s mother had never heard her speak a word of English. Not once. She had no idea that her teenaged daughter had learned so much from participating in the club’s after school programs. She was swelling with pride.
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It took a while for the audience to calm down after that. I only wish I had left the video going so you could have witnessed the scene. Look at this girl, the moms gathered said to each other, look at how she speaks so confidently. Listen to her speaking English!
She was a tough act to follow. After that, I took to buying a bag of popcorn for every girl who was willing to stand up and share her experiences in front of her peers and their moms – or two bags if you spoke in English, though we were most interested in hearing the girls express their thoughts and not all are quite able to do so in English yet.
What a contrast from two years ago when we launched the teens club in this very community. Back then, when I spoke English, no one understood. Now, most of the girls can understand, though we still translated for the group, both because my Midwestern accent was so thick and because few of their mothers know any English words. So rather than one of Self-Help’s staff members translating for me, this time it was Vera.
Vera is in high school now, at a boarding school. She loves it there, because unlike in her home village, they have electricity, so she can read and study even after 6pm when the sun sets. She credits the Teen Girls Club with helping her pass the high school entrance exam.
“It has really helped us a lot,” she said about the club. “It has improved the way we speak, and the way we walk, how to communicate with others. It has really helped us.”
Later she told me more about the impact on her family, including on her relationship with her mom, Felicia, who coordinates the Teens Club.
“It helps my mother a lot. It has reduced my mother’s burden. At times, she used to advise me, but I may not take it. Since Teen Girls [Club], I have taken the advice and decided it is good. And I am saying to everybody that Teen Girls Club is a very good club, and they should join it, and take the advice so that they may also grow up to become useful in the society, in the nation, or wherever they find themselves. So I may say thank you to Self-Help International for their cooperation and for all they have given to us. Thank you.”
Other mothers spoke up about the impact on their daughters as well: My daughters used to be so lazy in the mornings. They would sleep in and I would struggle to convince them to go to school. But since Teen Girls Club, now they wake early, do their chores, and go off to school even before I get up!
Another mom testified: My daughters are in the same class. Only one was good at school, so she would do all the homework for both of them. But now with the teens club, they are both learning. Now, they each know how to do their own homework!
One mom bragged that since starting the teen girls club, her daughter has consistently been the top of her class. She was quickly followed by another mom saying – good naturedly – that her daughter is second in the class and will surely soon be first! The mothers took such pride in their daughters’ achievements. The believed in them, and in their future.
But it wasn’t always that way. Many moms didn’t let themselves dream that their daughters could possibly get into high school. It was just too far-fetched, as one mother reminded the group gathered:
My daughter was a member of the teens club. She was in JHS3 last year, so I was preparing for her to learn a trade once the school year was over. I requested a loan from the micro-credit program to buy a sewing machine, not for me, but for her, so she could use it to earn an income after she finished school. I didn’t think she was good at school. When the results from the high school entrance exams came out, I didn’t even go to check them. It didn’t occur to me that my daughter would pass the exams. But she did! In fact, she even got into a good school – with a scholarship! Today she is in boarding school. So I am here to say that the teens club is good. I am here to say that we must believe in our daughters. I am here to say that the teens club has given us hope for their future. And it is good.
The stories went on and on, but the central message was the same: the teen girls club has given the girls – and their mothers – hope.
Thank you to all who have supported the Teen Girls Club during the GlobalGiving Girl Fund Campaign over the past two weeks! Together, the 90 individuals who supported this campaign raised 1/3 of the funding needed to expand the Teen Girls Clubs to two more communities! We will continue to work to secure funds to ensure that we can provide high-quality services to teens in all 5 communities by year end.
*Popcorn sales are an ongoing club fundraiser, so I was glad to reward their efforts and support the club’s efforts to generate income locally – plus I think somebody may have tipped them off that it’s my favorite food because even after I thought I’d bought out the whole supply, more kept arriving.
By Victoria Yamson | Program Coordinator
By Victoria Yamson | Program Coordinator
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