*Used with permission of Dr. Maya Angelou
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Background: In 2005, for the first time, Girls Speak Out launched a special project called the Caged Bird Sings, a name with which writer and activist Maya Angelou allowed us to honor our work. This special project helps ensure that girls who are often isolated by geography and/or extreme circumstances will be able to ask for what they need, receive needed materials and support, be included in projects and workshops, and receive sustained follow-up. Because communication is increasing among geographicaly separated individuals, we also respond to girls' emergencies that passed unnoticed before.
Want to see where our girls in Kenya live? Click to view Kibera in a slide show.... US Aid (Agency for International Development) is working with GSO Kenya to spread our program one girl at a time. Click below to read what they're saying: Here's what girls are doing to change their lives in Nairobi. Summer 2010: Jane, our leader in Kenya, is educating girls to speak out about FGM: I visited Taveta and had sessions with 200 girls from 2 different schools. This trip was sponsored by APHIA II USaid project; the groups I visited call themselves QUEENS FOR CHANGE and they come from a community where people practice genital mutilation. We had a long session with them and it was very good. In fact people who attended my sessions started calling me PRIVATE PART because most of my sharing was on WHY GIRLS SHOULD CHERISH AND TAKE GOOD CARE OF THEIR PRIVATE PARTS. We together came up with a slogan "SITAKIMYA" meaning "I will never keep quiet." Janaury 2010: Girls Speak Out Foundation Sierra Leone launched this year, and we are bringing workshops and life-changing information to girls living in the poorest country on the planet, which is also one that is filled with great hearts and minds. Thanks to the Ms. Foundation for Women and the generosity of their Gloria Fund. 2008: Because of our women on the ground and in our virtual network, the Caged Bird Sings Project helped return a stolen 7-year old girl named Saffi, and honor a murdered Girls Speak Out girl named Moreen. These are among the voices we honor, and that inspire us to grow and listen: Moreen was cooking her family's dinner at home in the afternoon using paraffin because they have no electricity, and she needed more. Her younger brother offered to run and buy some, but she felt she was faster. When Moreen left the house, she was shot in the stomach. Her last words to her mother were, "I'm sorry to die, and in so much pain." The family was forced to leave her body in a ditch by the railroad tracks. When GSO Kenya leader Jane and others organized a funeral, it was teargassed. Girls in extreme circumstances require unique and sustained support. While they can also learn from each other, and even develop their own healing programs, they also need specialized information from experts that focuses on their strengths as well as their survival. My biggest fear is losing my dreams, and sometimes I'm afraid for my life. -- Tiffany, 14, Juvenile Detention Center, USA The extreme circumstances the Caged Bird Sings Project address include:
Targeted Collaborations in Canada, the USA, Kenya, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania Canada: The YWCA Durham has been holding GSO workshops since 2002, and is continuing to serve girls using our program.Kenya: (See http://generationkenya.co.ke/main/category/champions and scroll to Nyaminwa for more information on Jane's activities.) We are helping create a positive force that we plan on sustaining for years by helping create leaders. It means so much to me that women are working so hard for us. --Norrel, 8, Kenya  ©GSO Sierra LeoneTanzania: See recent media on Saffi, Girls Speak Out and girls in Tanzania by clicking here http://www.womensenews.org:80/article.cfm?aid=3608 Utah, USA: Planned Parenthood Association Utah hosted Girls Speak Out workshops for girls and women. Remember, we are continually certifying and supporting women anywhere who are realizing they can make a difference in their communities and change girls' lives for the better from the inside-out. Today for example, Andrea sends articles for girls in Cameroon and Kenya on topics given to her by Florence and Jane, GSO women leaders in those countries who work directly with girls. And a certified GSO trainer, Kim in Ontario, trained women in Tanzania and supports their continuing training of other women. When I read what Girls Speak Out wrote to us about using clean cloths when we have our periods, it clicked. My body and I are worth taking care of. ---S, 13, Cameroon Another participant, 14 year-old Freida, says, "All girls have a right to understand their importance to society. We've been mistreated and misinformed over the ages about what we deserve and what we can and can't do. Thank you for showing me I have choices, a future--and that I belong no matter what happens to me." We need your financial support!
The Caged Bird Sings Project was created and piloted in multiple settings including juvenile detention centers in northern California, in Harlem Hospital in New York City, in Kenya and villages in India. |
