One major highlight was watching 10 young girls transform false beliefs about themselves into positive identity statements. The weekend-long process is full and rich with ritual, journaling, yoga, meditation, affirmation and celebration.
During the celebration, many of the girls "tattooed" themselves with the positive statements they had retrieved for themselves during their work (it was henna, so those messages will be visible for a couple of weeks).
Today, in San Diego, the girls will be honored and celebrated as "Empowered Girls" who now become part of a circle of other girls in San Diego who have shared this same weekend experience.
What I like about EGA (Empowered Girl Alliance) is that empowerment is taken seriously. Generally, the staff to participant ratio is a minimum of 2 staff to 1 participant; in San Diego, it was 3 to 1. Of those thirty staff members, seven were Empowered Girls (EG's); two of them were from the Rochester area. As a Team Leader, I have seen the difference between a weekend without Empowered Girls (the very first weekend) and a weekend with EG's. The difference is striking. The energy is different. The new participants have a sense of comfort knowing that there are girls present, alongside of women, who have participated in the weekend.
The trip to San Diego was extended beyond the weekend because EGA has established a Board of Directors that has representatives from across the United States who are helping to define EGA, its mission, how it can be made available to more young girls, etc. The two EG's from the Rochester area were part of the Board meeting and other discussions around EGA. Their input is valued. Changes have been made to the weekend based on their input.
I think Susan B. would be pleased with the direction in which our young girls are headed. I feel a sense of pride living in the same area that such an icon of women's empowerment lived and fought for women's rights. And I'm excited about extending that energy all over the country!
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