#StandWithGirls in the Philippines!

Dear friends,

I am writing to share an update report showing all the developments we have done so far.

In the Philippines children haven't been to school over 365 days and many are not able to access distance learning during COVID-19. Women and girls are among the most vulnerable to education disruptions, and that will have negative effects for everyone.

Our goal to make sure all girls will go back to school when schools open and make sure the girls stay motivated, engage them in learning activities during these hard times. We are still busy with our Champion sessions, making sure the girls are connected with role models that can inspire them to dream big and set goals. Currently we had 4 Champions sessions, these we organise once every month with a different guest speaker. Guest speakers like Pauline Lopez, Quinley Quezada and Cam Rodriquez have had inspiring talks with the girls.

Allthough we are very determined for all girls to return to school, realistically seen, not all girls and young women will. Girls not returning to school will not only affect their chances in the future but will also affect the lives of their children, resulting in a never ending cycle of poverty. The disproportionate economic impact on women is likely to result in increased extreme poverty, and reduce opportunities for labor force participation, including through business ownership and enterprise, thereby further exacerbating gender income disparities. Therefore, Girls Got This will start with its first project Girls Got This 'Works' on the 20th of February. Here a small group of 8 girls and young women will enter a job skill programme that will support them in finding dignified employment and create a positive future.The girls will enter a 3 month programme where they intensively work on their future aspirations making sure they gain knowledge, skills and are introduced to potential employers.

As mentioned last time, we are conintuing with the 'Stand With Girls' campaign and we have reached over a 120 Girls Got This ambassadors, who are raising awareness for problems girls in the Philippines face, especially during lockdown. And, we got something special planned for Internationals Women's Day (and Girls Got This 1 year anniversary!!) . Girls Got This in collaboration with Charma is looking to help the most marginalised girls and women by making sure that they have access to opportunities, opportunities that help them to secure a positive future with dignified employment. Every t-shirt sold will go to a girl to help her enter a job skill programme to help her find diginified employment opportunities.

We are still going strong with our 'stay at home' videos and 'educational' videos, which are shared on our social media platforms twice a week, to keep children informed on social issues like gender equality, safe spaces and child rights. At the same time we keep them healthy and entertained during lockdown. And we are delighted to annouce that our junior coach won The 2020 Courageous Use of Sport Award Winners supported by WWE.

We also continued with our community based session, providing Life Skill Education to those without any internet connectivity. As for now we have had several community based sessions in different communities across Leyte, topics we are focusing on are: drug use & avoidence, team work, but also safe spaces. We are planning to organise 52 different community based themes this year, each week a different theme to keep children engaged and informed about the social issues we are all facing in this world.

Thank you for all your support, which is what makes our work possible. 

For more information, follow our Girls Got This on Facebook or Instagram!

Stay safe, healthy and active during these very difficult times. 

Best wishes,

Melissa Karadana