2018 PEACE Pilot Program
Promoting Education And Cultivating Empowerment (Through Girls Basketball)
Through the Davis projects for peace grant and the Gelfman international fund, we partnered with SOS Children’s Villages Liberia to launch P.E.A.C.E, a 2 month pilot program for 30 girls (ages 13- 18) from high schools across Liberia. The program incorporated personal development workshops, basketball clinics, and educational excursions to the Liberian Senate and the Liberia Coca Cola Bottling Company. The program successfully retained an average of 28/30 girls everyday. After the summer 2018 program, we saw the need to incorporate an academic enrichment component which will encompass literacy and college and career readiness.
Program Components
BASKETBALL
Summer 2018 participants pose for a photo before the final tournament.
For the basketball component, we first helped to renovate the basketball court at the SOS CV location. As a part of the renovation plan we repainted the lines and dimensions of the basketball court. We also installed new basketball hoops, nets and backboards. For the duration of the program, the basketball clinics were implemented every Monday and Wednesday morning. The basketball clinics culminated with a basketball tournament and the closing ceremony where the participants invited their parents and their communities to see them in the spotlight and learn about the things they had been learning throughout the month.
PERSONAL DEVELOPMENT WORKSHOPS
Summer 2018 participants at a workshop about Personal Hygiene. PEACE invited a nurse to come to speak to the participants about women’s health and wellness in Liberia.
The various topics for the personal development workshops ranged from sexual and reproductive health, accessing opportunities, leadership, to staying focused in school. The workshops were also beneficial because we invited working professionals, local women in power, and other experts as panelists, and workshop facilitators. For example, the workshop about personal hygiene and sexual and reproductive health was facilitated by a nurse. She also served as an example of a working professional that the girls could go to not just for health advice but also for career advice when it came to the nursing field.
EDUCATIONAL EXCURSIONS
Summer 2018 participants at the Coca Cola Bottling Company learning about the chemistry of how soft drinks are made.
It was important to us that we not only stress the importance of education but also emphasized the importance of girls exploring careers where women are heavily underrepresented. Therefore, the outings exposed the girls to new career options. At the Coca Cola Factory, the girls learned about the chemistry behind the preparation of soft drinks. At the Liberian Senate which houses the legislative branch of government (the highest law making body in the Republic of Liberia), the girls were able to see the senators and representatives debate and brainstorm solutions to current pressing issues in Liberian society such as the depreciation of the Liberian currency, the economic crisis, and the bad conditions of the roads. Due to the low number of female representation in the different branches of the government, the purpose of this trip was to also inspire the girls to one day take on leadership roles in the Liberian government.