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Five  brave SERniña Girl Leaders Speak Up About  Consent

8/29/2019

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Written by Erik Pocasangre & Annie Vanderboom

SERniña (by REALgirl) is proud to be a thought-leader and member of several socially focused Guatemalan networks. RIDAVS (Interinstitutional Network for Referral and Assistance to Victims of Sacatepéquez), promoted by the Public Ministry of Guatemala, is one of these networks. Alongside other NGOs, civil organizations, and public and religious institutions, SERniña helps develop RIDAVS' social and wellness activities to support the communities of Sacatepéquez, the department in which Antigua and surrounding towns are located. (For our Northern readers, a department is analogous to a state or a province.)

On September 21, 2018, SERniña was one of the leading organizers to help launch RIDAVS' first Sacatepéquez Youth Congress. Nearly 300 youth attended, representing the majority of cities and villages in the department. SERniña collaborated with WINGS Guatemala — recognized for their work in sexual and reproductive health — to lead an engaging workshop on affirmative consent and pregnancy prevention in adolescents.
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Over 300 youth from across Sacatepequez participated in RIDAVS' first Sacatepéquez Youth Congress. Alongside WINGS, SERniña provided Affirmative Consent "mini workshops" to all 300 over the course of the day. SERniña Director of Operations, Erik Pocasangre, also sat on the discussion panel of the event.

Girl Leaders step up

 ​One of the objectives of the Congress was that the young people who attended would convey new information to their peers, lead initiatives to spread the word with peers in their communities, and inspire administrators and leaders within their schools to support their initiatives. After attending the SERniña/WINGS workshop at the RIDVAS congress, Oneida, Lesbia, Mirna, Séfora, Ale, five enthusiastic change-makers of INEB School of Santiago Sacatepéquez  stepped up to the challenge.
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SERniña Director of Operations and RIDAVS Liason Erik Pocasangre worked alongside the girls for two three-hour sessions to review key material and create their plan of action to diffuse information they'd learned about affirmative consent and pregnancy prevention to youth in their school community.

The girls decided that they would lead mini-workshops for their peers. The planning and implementation of the workshops was a learning experience in and of itself, as the five girls had to develop confidence in themselves and their voices and learn to trust their ability to be leaders of change.

During the planning sessions, the girls participated in activities to discover their truest selves and their strengths, uncover the vital force that self-love brings, recognize some of their fears, and face them with courage. They reflected on themselves and the collective feelings of youth.

Those hours of hard mental and creative work allowed the girls to recognize the power we all have to create, to form, to have intentions, feelings, and dreams and bring them to life. The girls' workshop preparation reaffirmed that their abilities are without a doubt powerful and wonderful.
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Erik, Oneida, Lesbia, Mirna, Séfora, Ale worked together for 6 hours (2 three-hour sessions) to plan review all key material and plan out an engaging and dynamic workshop for their peers.
 These five all-star girls went above and beyond to step up as leaders. Even after their planning sessions with Erik, they continued to prepare materials, conduct research, and strengthen their knowledge on the issues. They asked their mothers and grandmothers for support. In Guatemala's conservative culture, this was a particularly brave act, but they found that it prompted much-needed but often too taboo conversations to flourish in their homes. And some mothers and families got on board, even taking their daughters to clinics and info centers to get more materials and information.
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The girls' planning culminated in a three-hour workshop for a group of 30 girls and boys in their school. It was the first time that the girls were in front of that many of their peers, articulating the importance of sexual health education and consent — topics that are still very taboo in Guatemalan society.
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In Guatemala, it is not easy or common to speak about the body through a lens of freedom of expression and choice. It's hard and scary for almost any teenager to talk about self-love, sexuality, bodily autonomy, harassment, abuse prevention, healthy relationships — and even more so here. 
PictureOneida, Lesbia, Mirna, Séfora, Ale show off the poster they designed and created to support their Consent Presentation. The words on the poster indicate the key concepts and indicators of affirmative consent.

​​Difficult but necessary conversations

The reality is that young people in Guatemala are highly vulnerable to becoming victims of toxic relationships and physical and sexual violence. The numbers are alarming. Thousands of adolescent children are sexually abused by relatives every year, and 89 percent of rapists are family members. Of those, 30 percent are parents.1 In the first six months of 2019, there were over 700 cases of girls under 14 becoming pregnant as a result of statutory rape, and over 66, 000 teen girls became pregnant overall. It is important to note that most teen pregnancies go unreported in Guatemala, so the real numbers are much higher. 2 This problem needs to be addressed in depth and comprehensively. At SERniña, we believe that comprehensive sexual health education for both girls and boys is the key to changing those numbers.
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For each of the girls, the drive to talk to their peers about consent and sexual safety was born of the concern they feel for their classmates. Their goal was to help other youth better understand and deal with the consequences of the decisions they make about their lives and their sexuality.

As a youth program, SERniña’s investing in the potential of youth is our driving force. We believe that the next generation will change Guatemala and the world.  
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Working with youth renews our hope in the future, while at the same time reminding us to recognize the capacity, wisdom, and strength that allow young people to begin to make decisions for their own autonomy and authenticity. Through our workshops and programs, we hope to give youth the tools to serve as empowered and brave community leaders.
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The Ripple Effect

​We are so proud of One, Less, Mirna, Séfora, Ale, for enthusiastically deciding to take on this challenge. They created a complete workshop, acquired new information, practiced sorority, strengthened their leadership skills and confidence, and generated tools that will allow them to continue to share important information with people in their community and beyond. They set a goal and achieved… with independence, hard-work, and resiliency. These five girls planted a seed for change that  will radiate throughout their school and community for years to come.  
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Beyond the crucial sexual health information they shared, the girls  also showed their entire school community that girls, and youth in general, have a voice. They demonstrated by example that young people are able to lead others and create remarkable positive change.

We hope that not only do these five change-makers continue to thrive, but that their bravery also inspires other young girls around them to believe in themselves, use their voice, and know their powerful potential to become the change that our world needs!​​

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Erik, Oneida, Lesbia, Mirna, Séfora, Ale, and their school peers pose for a picture after participating in the Consent Presentation led by our five young leaders.

Sources

1. Bevan, Anna-Claire. Guatemala has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Latin America, and it’s getting worse. The Tico Times. June 16, 2014. http://ticotimes.net/2014/06/16/guatemala-has-the-highest-teenage-pregnancy-rate-in-latin-america-and-its-getting-worse
2. OSAR Guatemala: ​https://osarguatemala.org/embarazos-y-registro-de-nacimientos-de-madres-adolescentes-ano-2019/
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Why Guatemala?    A UNIQue Program In A Unique Country

7/23/2019

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By Annie Vanderboom

As many supporters might know, SERniña's parent program, REALgirl®, is an international program based in the United States, with camps and workshops in the U.S., Hong Kong, and the U.K. SERniña is REALgirl's first expansion into Latin America, and the Guatemala program is customized to meet the unique challenges that girls and women face in this part of the world.
 
Guatemala's history and current social, political, and economic circumstances pose a number of challenges that make life particularly hard, especially for women and girls. Addressing these difficulties requires a multi-pronged approach; SERniña contributes with a curriculum designed to meet Guatemala's unique obstacles by recognizing what makes the country so special and building on its strengths.

A History of Conflict

From the time of European contact, and well before, Guatemala has faced conflict in many different forms. It's home to 23 unique ethnic Maya groups, each speaking its own unique language — plus the Afro-descendant Garifuna people on the Caribbean coast, who arrived 1800s with their own heritage, culture, language, and traditions. For centuries, these groups made alliances and enemies. They migrated, traded, intermarried, bickered, and at times, went to war.
 
After the conquest, Guatemala became the capital of Spain's Central American settlement, and its people were at the epicenter of colonization. Ethnicity, religion, gender roles, ancient livelihoods and lifestyles – every aspect of society was upturned and dragged into a constant process of conflict, resistance and negotiation that continues today.
 
In the 20th century, Guatemala dealt with a new type of challenge: a 36-year long civil war, now referred to as the internal armed conflict, that began in 1960. Indigenous Maya groups were targeted by the military, and more than 200,000 people were killed or "disappeared" by the Guatemalan government, with another 1.5 million driven from their homes. In 1999, the UN recognized the violence as genocide. [1]
 
Women and girls were particularly affected. The military used rape as a systemic weapon, and over the course of the conflict, more than 100,000 girls and women were the victims of various government forces. [2]
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Lasting Effects

Guatemala and its people are still reeling from more than 500 years of colonization, exploitation, and war. Although the peace accords were signed in 1996, many Guatemalans feel that the conflict is far from over. Women and girls still struggle under a rampant machismo culture and a patriarchal society that seeks to oppress them through conservative gender norms and sexual and physical violence.
 
Data on Guatemala is rare and often dated, but a few facts make the challenges clear:
 
  • UN Women reports that in 2013, 748 women lost their lives to violence, a 10% increase compared to 2012. On average, that's 2 deaths per day; violent deaths in men — even if they are 10 times higher — had a noticeable decrease in the same period. [3]
  • 98% of murders of women (femicide) go unpunished. [3]
  • Guatemala ranks 127th out of the 189 countries world-wide in gender equality; in Latin America, only Honduras is more unequal. [4]
  • Guatemala's Human Rights Office reports that sexual abuse is rampant and 89% of cases are perpetrated by family members, a contributing factor to the rise in teen pregnancies. [5]
 
The social effects, social and psychological trauma inflicted by war take generations to heal, and the emotional trauma can have inter-generational effects. Psychologist coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Guatemala, Mayra Rodas, says, “Women are treated as objects, which can be taken. To be a woman here is like being garbage. This is what our patients tell us.” She identifies fear as a debilitating psychological consequence of sexual violence. [6]
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A Brave New Generation

​Guatemala is often called "the land of eternal spring." Despite its dark history, it might also be called "the land of eternal hope." Children born when the Peace Accords were signed in 1996 are 23 years old today: the first generation not to remember first-hand the fear that was an everyday part of life for their parents and grandparents. Many of these young people – including SERniña leaders and facilitators – are dedicated to bringing real change to their country.
 
Often, they draw strength and inspiration from the very characteristics for which their families were targeted in the past: their rural upbringings, their Mayan heritage, and their roles as powerful, forward-thinking youth. SERniño Program facilitator Marcelo describes some of the traditions that provide the foundation for his life and work:
"​As a Maya Kaqchikel youth from a conscientious, loving, harmonious, and sociable family, I feel proud of my country; I'm also proud of the community where I grew up and spent my childhood. I'm originally from and still live in Tecpan, Guatemala, and I'm especially proud of the flora and fauna that is still preserved in Tecpan's forests.
 
I really appreciate my country's Maya cultures, our hardworking people in the agricultural fields, the woman weavers, artisans, and diverse languages.
 
As a family, we celebrate the festival dates of the year, most of all the festival for the patrón saint of the town on the fourth of October. People visit from far-away communities and buy typical candy, food, and clothes and play games at the fair.
 
The first and second of November is when we visit our departed loved ones. Every family makes lunch in the cemetery to remember their loved ones who've passed. We harvest corn to make different types of traditional food."
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SERniña staff having some fun while celebrating at 2018 year-end festivities!
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SERniña staff sitting in circle a their 'Nahual and Maya Culture' training with Sanar Conciencia - X'tuxinik.
Tecpan community facilitator Jackelin agrees: "I'm proud to belong to the Maya Kiché ethnic group and to enjoy the folkloric arts of each town. What I love about Guatemala is that it's unique in being a country with various cultures and traditions that make the different communities beautiful."
Others look back to the country's long and complex history to build a vision for the future. Boys Program coordinator & SERniño facilitator Luis Erick says, "I'm proud to be Guatemalan because it gives me generosity, honesty, sincerity and a passion for the earth. I'm proud to be Guatemalan because the people born here have always fought to make better lives. Science was born here, and some of the oldest cities of the world. I'm proud to be Guatemalan because Guatemalans can do anything, we have great wisdom, and we see the humor in everything and everything makes us laugh."

​Girls' program coordinator and facilitator Ale Celeste gives a powerful explanation of how the turmoil of the past guides her work today:
"Beyond proud, I feel grateful to have been born in a land that knows how to resist, organize, and fight. All the violence that we've faced as a country has been exercised largely against girls and women. This is why I name and celebrate the struggle and resistance of my sisters, women whose words and actions weave a path for everyone, making a better life possible through justice, healing, kindness, and sisterhood in the dignified way of life put forward since our ancestors' times. Guatemala has a female face.
 
I celebrate Guatemala's diversity in all its forms; I rejoice in the water and the wind that fill us with home; I celebrate the smiles of little girls and the strength of my sisters."
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Girls' Program Coordinator, Ale, congratulates SERniña participants at our 2018 Grad Ceremony.

Customized Empowerment

​Although SERniña arose from the international REALgirl program, the workshops it offers in Guatemala are strategically targeted to meet this country's specific challenges. For example, SERniña emphasizes:

  • Progressive reproductive health education in a conservative culture. SERniña's comprehensive, high-quality reproductive, puberty and sexual health education has a sex-positive, body-connection emphasis. We not only teach the biological realities, but work hard to break down the culture of shame and taboo surrounding female bodies generally and menstruation specifically. We not only want girls to be healthy and to delay pregnancy, we want them to be comfortable and confident with their own bodies and their own self-care and to develop assertive communication skills and bodily-autonomy.
  • Teaching why education matters. SERniña facilitators constantly reinforce the importance of education. The program explicitly teaches that education is the most reliable factor that allows people to create their own paths in life. This message is driven home in every aspect of the curriculum.
  • Meeting locally identified needs. We're always working toward collaborating more with schools and families. When we do, we ask schools to identify their particular needs, and offer specialized services in response. As each local program grows, SERniña's Living Curriculum ensures that we address new needs and challenges as arise.
 
These core values and dynamic strategies allow SERniña to grow and change with the girls it serves, responding nimbly to Guatemala's unique and evolving challenges and providing a specialized, strategic service like no other organization in the field.
 
Support our unique mission today with a one-time or sustaining donation to SERniña.

Sources

​1. Holocaust Museum Houston. Genocide in Guatemala. https://www.hmh.org/library/research/genocide-in-guatemala-guide/
2. de Pablo, Ofelia; Zurita, Javier; and Tremlett, Giles. Guatemalan war rape survivors: 'We have no voice.' The Guardian. 28 July 2011. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2011/jul/28/guatemalan-women-mass-rape-give-evidence
3. UN Women: Americas and the Caribbean. Guatemala. http://lac.unwomen.org/en/donde-estamos/guatemala
4. United Nations Development Programme. Human Development Reports. Table 5: Gender Inequality Index. http://hdr.undp.org/en/composite/GII
5. Bevan, Anna-Claire. Guatemala has the highest teenage pregnancy rate in Latin America, and it’s getting worse. The Tico Times. June 16, 2014. http://ticotimes.net/2014/06/16/guatemala-has-the-highest-teenage-pregnancy-rate-in-latin-america-and-its-getting-worse
6. Doctors Without Borders. Guatemala: Treating sexual violence, breaking the cycle of fear. July 20, 2009. https://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/what-we-do/news-stories/news/guatemala-treating-sexual-violence-breaking-cycle-fear
 
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When Girls Do Well, Everyone Wins:  How Investing in Girls and Women Pays Off

5/20/2019

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By Annie Vanderboom
​SERniña envisions a world where all girls not only recognize the unique and valuable contributions they're capable of making, but are active agents of change in society and in their own lives.

In other words, SERniña works toward a version of society in which girls have the same types of choices boys do — to decide what paths they'll take and how they’ll contribute to their families, communities, and country. To decide for themselves how they'll make the world a better place.
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SERniña has set this goal for two reasons: First, it's the right thing to do. Working from a philosophy grounded in the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights, SERniña believes wholeheartedly in the "dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal rights of men and women and [has] determined to promote social progress and better standards of life in larger freedom."[1]

Second, SERniña recognizes that supporting progress and equality for girls and women isn't only a moral or ethical question; it's a practical one. Research and real-world analyses have shown over and over that when women do better, everyone does better. Investing in girls and women isn't a metaphor. It's a proven, measurable strategy to improve the well-being and livelihoods of people everywhere.

The Numbers Are Clear

​When women and girls have equal access to education and economic resources, change happens on two levels. On the 'micro' level, individual people live longer, earn more, and have higher standards of living:
  • Research shows that children are 20% more likely to survive when their mothers are in charge of the family's finances. [2]
  • The World Bank has found that girls earn 18% more money for every extra year of secondary school education than they would have without it. [3]
  • Half of Guatemalan women are married by the age of 20, and 44 percent become mothers by the same age. [4] But girls who have seven or more years of education end up postponing marriage by four years and having two fewer children. [5]
  • Overall, the World Bank has seen that "better-educated women tend to be healthier, participate more in the formal labor market, earn more, give birth to fewer children, marry at a later age, and provide better health care and education to their children." [3]
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​On the 'macro' level, women are economic winners, too:
  • On average, working women put 90% of the money they earn back into their families to provide "food, health care, home improvement, and schooling for themselves and their children," creating an 'upward spiral' of success. [6] Men, in comparison, usually reinvest about 35% of their earnings. [7]
  • The McKinsey Global Institute calculates that if women's economic participation were equal to men's, the global GDP would rise $28 trillion in 10 years — about as much as the economies of the US and China combined. [8]
  • If Guatemalan women had equal economic participation, in 10 years the Guatemalan GDP would grow by 46%, or $40 billion, or $2,460 per person. [9] In a country with an average per capita income of $4,060, that's a big deal. [10]
  • If Guatemala even closed its economic gender gap at the same rate as its most-equal neighbor in Latin America (Chile), the economy would grow by $8 billion in 10 years [9] — and as we've seen, women pay those gains forward by reinvesting in their families.
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Social Equality Comes First

​The McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) called its 2015 report "the most comprehensive mapping of gender equality to date." [8] The report didn't just put forth remarkable economic projections. It also made a profound — if not surprising — conclusion: Economic equality for women is not possible without equality in society and in attitudes and beliefs about women's roles and abilities.
 
The link is clear. MGI found that "virtually no countries with high gender equality in society [have] low gender equality in work." In other words, when countries develop gender parity in society, they can expect to see the associated economic rewards. MGI therefore identified multiple types of interventions that can build economically and socially gender-equal societies. That's where SERniña and organizations like it come in.
SERniña's diverse workshop programs build exactly the types of skills that MGI recommends, including:
Capability building.  MGI calls for "after-school programming for girls that mixes socializing and peer support with… education, pregnancy and drug-abuse prevention, media literacy, economic literacy, and sports participation." Basically, SERniña to a T! The girls' programs include modules on:
  • Critical thinking
  • Using your voice
  • Goal setting
  • Creating a media filter
  • Overcoming gender roles
  • Menstruation and puberty
  • Sexual and reproductive health
  • Avoiding and escaping abuse
  • Financial literacy
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…all taught through a variety of activities including arts and crafts, yoga, meditation, dance, self-defense, theater, games, guest speakers, group discussion, and more.
Advocacy and shaping attitudes. MGI states that "acting on this front is a priority through, for instance, programs to engage individuals and communities in dialogues; the promotion of role models, support, and peer groups for women…." SERniña was built around these goals. Its girls' programs devote several modules to helping young women identify their own voices, goals, and paths, while the boys' program helps participants develop new attitudes to hear, accept, and dialogue with girls.
SERniña empowers girls to reach their highest potential… an investment like no other!
Invest in girls today with a one-time or sustaining donation to SERniña.
 
Next month, learn why Guatemala needs organizations like SERniña.
 
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Sources
All websites accessed May 15, 2019.
 
1. United Nations. Universal declaration of human rights. https://www.un.org/en/universal-declaration-human-rights/

2. Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. Investing in women and girls: The breakthrough strategy for achieving all the MDGs. June 2010. http://www.oecd.org/social/gender-development/45704694.pdf

3. Yong Kim, Jim. To build a brighter future, invest in women and girls. World Bank Blogs: Voices. March 8, 2018. https://blogs.worldbank.org/voices/build-brighter-future-invest-women-and-girls

4. Council on Hemispheric Affairs. Why is Guatemala's teen pregnancy rate so high? June 17, 2015. http://www.coha.org/why-is-guatemalas-teen-pregnancy-rate-so-high/

5. USAID. Why invest in women? https://www.usaid.gov/infographics/50th/why-invest-in-women

6. World Economic Forum. Why women make the best tech investments. January 20, 2014. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2014/01/women-technology-world-economy/

7. Clinton Global Initiative. Empowering girls & women. https://www.un.org/en/ecosoc/phlntrpy/notes/clinton.pdf

8. McKinsey Global Institute. The power of parity: How advancing women's equality can add $12 trillion to global growth — Executive summary. April 2016. https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/employment-and-growth/the-power-of-parity-advancing-womens-equality-in-the-united-states

9. Council on Foreign Relations. Growing economies through gender parity. 2019. https://www.cfr.org/interactive/womens-participation-in-global-economy/

10. World Bank Group. Data: Guatemala. 2019. https://data.worldbank.org/country/guatemala
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Every Girl  has a Brave Voice: Aracely's SERniña Story

10/25/2017

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​“SERniña taught me that every girl has a brave voice, and that we can be positive despite many criticisms and problems.” - Aracely

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 ​Aracely was in grade six when her parents told her that she wouldn’t be able to go to school anymore. They would continue to pay for her brothers’ educations, however in the remote, isolated community of El Hato, the belief that women and girls belong in the home was widely accepted. Her role was no longer as a student, rather to become someone’s wife and start a family. 
 
Even though this attitude towards girls is common where Aracely lives, she was still devastated at the idea of dropping out of school. However, she had seen this happen around her for her entire life. The traditions that come alongside gender roles run deep in her village. Girls and women’s abilities to thrive are quashed by dominant machismo perspectives. Why would things be any different for her? Aracely’s dreams of continuing her education began to fade, and she prepared herself to leave school.
 
Until one day, as part of their class curriculum, Aracely took part in a SERniña workshop. For the first time in her life, she was hearing messages of female motivation and empowerment. She was learning that she had the ability to change her life on her own, and began to learn skills such as budgeting, and goal-setting to make a future more attainable.  ​​Aracely found the sexual and reproductive health workshops especially helpful because:

“We do not get the information anywhere else. I did not understand anything before and was confused. This module is really important because many girls are having sex and do not know if they will get pregnant or not,  get an STI or that many contraceptive methods do not protect you 100%.  Family Planning is a hard topic because so many young boys and girls are getting pregnant but they do not understand the consequences - they will not be able to complete their studies, nor manage their finances. But, with SERniña I believe less girls will become pregnant.” - Aracely

Initially, Aracely was too shy to even share her name in class. Like many young women in her situation, she struggled to find the voice she had been given. After several workshops, she began to discover that her voice was loud, intelligent and full of ideas. Before long, she had gained valuable public speaking and idea sharing skills, as well as built the confidence in herself, her ideas, and her contributions and she began to share her opinions with others. 
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As she herself says,  “SERniña is important for girls so they can learn more about their future and plan to have a family at a more appropriate age. It is especially important for indigenous girls whose parents often do not let them study.”
It didn’t take long for Maricela (Aracely’s SERniña facilitator) to see her potential, and start working with her one-on-one. Maricela worked very hard to keep Aracely in school to study her core classes, and continue with the SERniña program. After just over a year with SERniña she truly embodied a strong, confident, self-advocating REALgirl. So, when she showed up at the SERniña office, resume in hand, confidently advocating for why she thinks she would be a good addition to the SERniña team as an office assistant, it was an offer impossible to refuse. She explained that she wanted a part time job with SERniña to be able to pay her school fees as her parents would not; she did not want to clean homes for less than minimum wage like her sisters and cousins; and most importantly because “SERniña transformed her and she would not be here if it weren’t for SERniña’s messages and support. It would be her dream to contribute in any way to the program.”
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Though it was not easy, Aracely persisted and finished the 2016 school year and is set to also complete the school year in 2017.

Aracely is now working as a SERniña intern once a week earning enough money to save for continued education. Furthermore, she continues to build her leadership skills, as an Apprentice Facilitator with one of Maricela’s groups, and as a participant of the SERlideresa workshop.
 
With SERniña’s support, Aracely has already opened a bank account to save her earnings for next year as she hopes to go to trades school. ​
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“Thank you SERniña! My life has changed so much. Before the program I was shy and quite careless, but am improving every second. Now I am not careless and I know to use my brave voice, and I am being positive so I can accomplish all that I have planned for the future" -Aracely

We want Aracely's story to be the norm and not the exception for girls in Guatemala. At SERniña (by REALgirl) we are strive to guide each girl to become the positive changemaker in her life and to reach her highest potential.

Bring the life-changing workshops of SERniña to over 600 youth over the next two years!
Help us 'Change The Path' for more girls in Guatemala, just like Aracely by supporting our   #ChangeHERpath Online Campaign  today!
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More Than Just Girls …. Investing in Global Change: 10 REASONS WHY WE MUST PRIORITIZE SEXUAL AND REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH

9/19/2017

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Despite advancement for women’s rights in Guatemala, there remains a harsh obstacle facing the success and empowerment of young girls in Guatemala:  teen pregnancy and the poverty that it perpetuates.

In Guatemala, teen pregnancy is at epidemic levels:
  • Guatemala has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Latin America.
  • 50% of Guatemalan girls will have a child before the age of 20, and 20% or more of Guatemalan girls will have 2 children before the age of 18.
  • In Guatemala in 2014, roughly 71,000 girls under the age of 19 became pregnant, from that percentage 5,119 were girls under the age 14.
  • Less than 40% of sexually active women aged 15–19 use a contraceptive method.
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Photo: Marysol Reyes
The above stats make it very clear why we must include Sexual and Reproductive Health in our programs to better empower girls of Guatemala, but what about the ‘bigger picture’?  Girls aside, why is it so important to invest in Sexual and Reproductive Health Education?
 
At SERniña, we believe access to sexual and reproductive health education and resources is key to creating global change and empowering whole communities. In this blog, we list the Top 10 Reasons Why We Must Prioritize Sexual and Reproductive Health.

1. To lower poverty rates

Poverty is associated with large family sizes, with the poorest countries facing the highest population growth rates. With more children, families living in poverty often cannot provide for their children’s basic needs. Children then go hungry and do not attend school.
 
If a family has fewer children, and more years between each child, the more they will invest in each child’s food, health and education. When couples choose to practice ‘family planning’ by applying safe sexual and reproductive health practices, they ensure that each of their children has a better chance at success. This allows their children to create better lives for themselves, get a better education, and seek better employment. Thus they are able to advance the financial situations for their family, and generation by generation, finally break the cycle of poverty.
Studies in Latin American countries suggest that meeting the unmet need for family planning would raise the incomes of the poor by 10-20 percent or more in cases of extreme poverty. Research also suggests that a fall of 0. 5%  in the birth rate in 45 countries during the 1980s would have led to a one-third drop in the incidence of poverty.
PicturePhoto: Marysol Reyes

2. To save lives

​Every day, about 1,000 women die of complications from pregnancy or childbirth globally. Nearly all of these deaths are preventable. And for every woman who dies, 20 to 30 others suffer lasting health problems, many of which can be debilitating. In fact, in 2004, unsafe sex was the second largest cause of lost years of healthy life, or burden of disease globally, particularly in less developed countries. 

The direct benefits of meeting the need for contraception and for maternal and newborn healthcare include:
  • Two-thirds fewer unintended pregnancies
  • 70 percent reduction in maternal deaths 
  • 44 percent decrease in the death of newborn babies
  • Unsafe abortions would decline by 73 per cent (from 20 million to 5.5 million (assuming no change in abortion laws)
  • The number of women with abortion complications requiring medical attention would fall from 8.5 million to 2.3 million
Access to prevention and care could dramatically reduce mortality and ill-health among women and children by preventing transmission of STIs, including HIV, and averting maternal and infant deaths and disabilities. Also, a mother’s death can lead to the death of her baby. Thus, reducing maternal mortality saves the lives of children too.  Child mortality could decrease by 13 percent if all women could delay their next pregnancy by at least 24 months. It would further decrease if the interval between births approached 36 months. 

3. To improve access to education

When families choose to have fewer children, by applying safe sexual practices, families and governments can spend more per child. This is especially important for girls, whose education is often sacrificed when resources are limited.
By choosing to have fewer, or more spaced-out children, families can ensure each child receives an adequate education, as well as the emotional, mental and physical support they need to be successful.  Also, with more controlled and limited populations, governments of developing countries can also ensure they are offering a higher quality public education, and promoting attendance by all children.
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​Guatemala teen pregnancy is a leading cause of high drop-out rates among girls:  It is over three times more likely that a girl will become pregnant (50%) before she turns 19, than it is that she will graduate 9th grade (15%). 
By providing sexual and reproductive health education, and teaching safe sex practices, girls can avoid pregnancy and choose to  stay in school longer.

4. To empower women in their homes and in the workforce

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​High fertility rates can be detrimental to a woman’s participation in the labor market, and hence her ability to generate income and improve her bargaining power within the household.
 
In Guatemala, the average number of children desired by women is 2, however the average number of child per woman is 3.1 and 3.7 in indigenous communities. This is often due to lack of access or knowledge of family planning information and contraceptive options.
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Access to sexual and reproductive health information and services offers women the means to control their own bodies and to decide whether and when to have children.  Women’s ability to control their fertility can create opportunities for increasing their skills and participating in the workforce or other activities outside the home.
 
When women are able to seek out employment and their own income, they are better able to advocate for themselves, and their children, in their homes and ensure that their well-being is respected. 

5. To promote gender equality

​For gender equality to be achieved, women must be able to make free and informed choices about their bodies, including sexual and reproductive health. Having the right to make decisions and to access information and services free of discrimination regarding their bodies, their relationships, and the bearing of children is fundamental to women’s equality and well-being.
 
Access to sexual and reproductive health services can create opportunities to challenge gender norms that underlie harsh violations of women’s human rights, including violence, discrimination, coercive sex, ‘honor’ crimes, crimes of passion, early marriage and other harmful practices.  
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A SERniña Participant with 'Bodily Autonomy' Body Paint: My Body. My Rules.

6. To strengthen healthcare systems

​Investing in sexual and reproductive health contributes to dramatic improvements in health worldwide and strengthens health systems more generally. In fact, the ability to meet reproductive health needs is a signal indicator of the overall coverage and accessibility of services in the health system.
 
Training healthcare providers in a rights-based approach, as done so with sexual and reproductive healthcare, can have a positive effect on the quality of care in general. Similarly, improved skills in counselling, which is central to comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare, can have an impact in other areas. Likewise, investments in basic and emergency obstetric care can bolster the quality of care and help providers deliver other services more effectively.
 
Also, with more controlled populations, there is less burden on the quantity of care needed for communities, and more focus, and investment, can be put into the quality of care provided for each patient. 

7. To ensure environmental stability. 

Population growth due to high fertility results in increased demand for food and natural resources. The population of our planet is growing at unsustainable rates – the stress that the current population growth rate puts on our planet can have devastating effects on individuals, families, communities and the planet as a whole.
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A mural in SERniña partner community: El Hato.
Though many women and couples say that they would like to prevent or delay pregnancy, oftentimes they end up with large families, leading to the division of land into smaller and smaller plots. As families struggle to survive, they may see no choice but to clear forests, cultivate steep hillsides and graze their livestock on marginal lands. The result can be erosion, flooding and depletion of the soil, which all contribute to increased poverty, food insecurity and environmental decline.

8. To protect our human rights.

​Sexual and reproductive health is related to multiple human rights, including the right to life, the right to be free from torture, the right to accurate information and education, the right to health, the right to privacy, the right to education, and the prohibition of discrimination.
 
The Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) have both clearly indicated that women’s right to health includes their sexual and reproductive health. This means that States have obligations to respect, protect and fulfill rights related to women’s sexual and reproductive health.
 
The World Health Organization defines reproductive rights as follows: "Reproductive rights rest on the recognition of the basic right of all couples and individuals to decide freely and responsibly the number, spacing and timing of their children and to have the information and means to do so, and the right to attain the highest standard of sexual and reproductive health. They also include the right of all to make decisions concerning reproduction free of discrimination, coercion and violence.”

9. To achieve the Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, The United Nations and its partner countries adopted a set of 17 goals to  end poverty,  protect the planet, and  ensure prosperity for all  by 2030.
 
Though many goals are associated with the importance of Sexual and Reproductive Health, two goals (and associated targets) are directly linked to access to sexual and reproductive health education and resources:
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Image: B., Dockolova, Lau, K., Barclay, H., & Marshall, A. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goals and Family Planning 2020 (Rep.). The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) .

10. To lower rates of sexual activity and pregnancy among teenagers.

In comparing abstinence-only programs with comprehensive sex education, comprehensive sex education was associated with a 50% lower risk of teen pregnancy. Sex education programs that: are balanced and realistic, encourage students to postpone sex until they are older, and promote safer-sex practices among those who choose to be sexually active, have been proven effective at delaying first intercourse and increasing use of contraception among sexually active youth. These programs have not been shown to initiate early sexual activity or to increase levels of sexual activity or numbers of sexual partners among sexually active youth.
 
Students who received abstinence-only programs were shown not to demonstrate any change in their likelihood of delaying sexual activity, and they demonstrated a marked increase in the decision to participate in unsafe sex as only 23% of sexually active teens who received abstinence only programs reported using a condom.
 
Some people say that teaching kids about contraception encourages them to have sex, but that’s patently false.  According to research led by the Guttmacher Institute, "teens who had received instruction on both abstinence and birth control were older at first sex than their peers who had received no formal instruction and were more likely to have used condoms or other contraceptives at first sex; they also had healthier partnerships."
In conclusion, it is clear that the need to provide adequate sexual and reproductive health education, as well as access to related resources, because it is not only essential to the empowerment of young girls, but also to the creation of a stronger, healthier and more sustainable world.
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At SERniña we are working to create these changes in Guatemala by providing over 600 youth with comprehensive sexual and reproductive health education over the next two years, and we need your help.   Donate today to make this happen:
  • A donation of $35 covers the cost of 1 student to receive a full year empowerment pack (including personalized journal and workbook, art supplies, and a program t-shirt).
  • Just $150 covers a FULL scholarship for 1 student to fully participate in our YEAR-LONG Empowerment Program including all costs associated with Facilitator Stipends, Personalized Materials and Educational Resources
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DONATE TODAY!
Sources:
  1. Duvvury, N., & Oxhorn, P. (2017.). Understanding the Links Between Sexual and Reproductive Health Status and Poverty Reduction (Rep.). Institute for the Study of International Development.
  2. UNFPA (2010). Sexual and Reproductive Health for All: Reducing poverty, advancing development and protecting human rights  (Rep.). United Nations Populations Fund.
  3.  B., Dockolova, Lau, K., Barclay, H., & Marshall, A. (n.d.). Sustainable Development Goals and Family Planning 2020 (Rep.). The International Planned Parenthood Federation (IPPF) .
  4. Statistics. (2013, December 26). Retrieved May 22, 2017, from https://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/guatemala_statistics.html 

  5. (http://lahora.gt/osar-reporta-71-mil-embarazos-en-ninas-y-jovenes-en-2014/)
  6. (Kirby, 2007; Kohler et al., 2008; Lin & Santelli, 2008; Trenholm et al., 2007).
  7. http://www.siecus.org/index.cfm?fuseaction=Feature.showFeature&featureID=1041
  8. http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Women/WRGS/Pages/HealthRights.aspx
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Novo  Foundation Awards SERniña (by REALgirl)  $75, 000 Grant

8/23/2017

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​It is with gratitude and excitement that we announce that SERniña (by REALgirl) is one of  Novo's newest  partners.

This grant, which will be awarded over three years, will allow SERniña (by REALgirl) to continue to offer its life-changing empowerment programs to over 300 youth each year. It will also allow us to continue to grow by providing more long-term support to our participants through our new leadership programs.

We are honored to be recognized and to have the opportunity to collaborate with the Novo Foundation, an international leader in advancing the rights of girls. 
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 In NoVo's own words: “We believe every girl is born empowered. Together, we can dismantle the structures that prevent a girl from exercising that power, leaving her without an education, vulnerable to violence, and lacking access to opportunities. We invest in girls because they deserve better.”
Join the Movement. Donate Now!
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At SERniña, we want to help raise Guatemala from its position as 119th out of 188 countries in gender equality, by addressing locally relevant issues such as human rights awareness, self-esteem and personal agency development, goal setting, development of healthy relationships, overcoming gender roles, and providing information and access to menstrual and reproductive services.
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​​Thanks to NoVo, SERniña will be able to reach more Guatemalan youth, strengthen our programs and support and catalyze more change in partner communities. We thank the NoVo Foundation for their joint commitment to this goal, and their belief in our work. 
​This transformative investment from the Novo Foundation will allow us to continue to work on reaching our organizational goals:
  • Reach over 300 students each year
  • Lower rates of teen pregnancy
  • Lower drop-out rates for teen girls
  • Raise overall self-esteem, self-value and personal agency among teen girls
  • Include boys in the creation of gender-equal communities
  • Inspire girls and boys to develop the skills, confidence and knowledge needed to create positive change in their lives and communities
Do you want to be part of changing the path for young girls in Guatemala? Click here to learn about our Sponsorship and Donation Options.

    Want to stay up-to-date with more exciting SERniña news? 
    Sign up for our newsletter!

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World Population Day in Guatemala

7/11/2017

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Today, on World Population Day, we’re considering the theme, ‘Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations’ from a local perspective.

Guatemala has the highest rate of teen pregnancy in Latin America. Half of all girls here have their first child before their 19th birthday, and 1 in 5 have 2 children before they’re 18.
 
There’s no doubt that family planning has a role in empowering people, and especially empowering women. But we think the relationship is cyclical, not linear.
 
Or to put it another way: empowering people is the key to family planning.
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Only empowered girls will have the personal agency to make informed choices and avoid teenage pregnancy. Education is essential, but it’s only one factor in the teen pregnancy epidemic here. 
​Though it is important to equip girls with the knowledge of sexual and reproductive health, at SERniña by REALgirl, we firmly believe that what is essential is that girls are guided to develop self-esteem and personal agency, so they have the assertiveness to advocate for themselves, and make informed life choices. 
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SERnina workshops are intended to do just this, with modules including Using Your Voice, My Body My Rules, My Amazing Magical Female Body, Developing Healthy Relationship,  and Overcoming Gender Roles. We use effective and innovative methods, from role playing to yoga, to create a generation of girls able to make the family planning decisions they know are right for them.
 
This World Population Day we want to continue to grow our network of support to be able to provide more girls with the opportunity to participate in SERniña by REALgirl Programs.
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BEING A GIRL IN GUATEMALA

6/15/2017

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AT A GLANCE: 
  • Half of Guatemalan girls have a child before the age of 19.  
  • At least 1/5 girls in Guatemalan have 2 children before the age of 18. 
  • Guatemala ranks 3rd globally in the killings of women.
  • Guatemala ranks 112th out of the 135 countries world-wide in gender equality, making it the most gender unequal country in Latin America. 
  • Only 49% of  adult women in Guatemala are employed (in the formal economy) compared to 86% of men.
  • In Guatemala, 53.7% of the population lives in poverty. And 75% of the indigenous population live in poverty.​
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Whether we are aware of it or not, we live in a world that still values, trusts and empowers males over females in overt and covert ways. Every day, we perpetuate messages of female inferiority that impact a girl’s sense of value and her ability to thrive.  In developing countries  such as Guatemala, this  reality is even harsher, as  gender inequality, gender-based violence, and human rights violations are still all too prevalent.
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 More statistics:
  • By age fifteen, 6   out of 10 Indigenous girls have dropped out of school.[1]
  • By age 18, almost 40%of Indigenous girls are married  (almost twice the amount of their non-indigenous counterparts). [1]
  • By age 20, 44% are mothers, for Indigenous women it’s 54%, and for under-educated women it’s 68%.
  • There is a high amount of pregnancies between the ages of 10 and 14. Guatemala has the highest rate of teenage pregnancy in Latin America, and it is on the rise. [3]
  • Guatemala’s Human Rights Office reports that sexual abuse is rampant and 89% of cases are perpetrated by family members, a contributing factor to the rise in teen pregnancies. [3]
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EDUCATION & HEALTH 
  • 25% of the country is illiterate.
  • According to USAID the average length of education is four years and only one third graduate from the sixth grade.
  • Widespread poverty means that many children are forced to leave school due to either their parents’ inability to pay for school related expenses (transport, uniform, supplies etc) or the necessity of children to work.
  • Drop out rates in the rural and indigenous population is dramatically high. [4]
  • Teen pregnancy rates are very high, on the rise, and a major factor in drop out rates among girls.
Low levels of education and lack of healthcare (knowledge & access) have been identified as major contributors to the teen pregnancy epidemic and present very real barriers for girls and to all areas of their development.

Guatemala enacted a Family Planning law in 2009 with the intention of addressing the issue of teen pregnancy, but the follow through has been poor. Access to contraception remains a problem for teenagers due to conservative attitudes, cultural norms and the influence of the Catholic tradition.

The realities of conservatism and a lack of proper resources and training means that schools often don’t deliver proper sexual health education which is ‘officially’ required by law. The 2011 law administered by the Ministry of Education which prohibits dating in schools is evident of the punitive attitude surrounding the topic. [5]  The statistics reveal significant issues with access to education which disproportionately affect girls. 

Education in Guatemala: Access vs. Quality
What is harder to understand and measure is the quality of education. For those who make it and stay in school, the encouragement of idea-formation and participatory and exploratory learning approaches are lacking. The reliance on note-taking learning techniques, produces students who are unable to think for themselves, unable to form opinions, unable to form an argument or even answer questions confidently (or at all). Students’ opinions are under-valued. It’s not hard to imagine what kind of person this creates and the vital skills students miss out on when they have not developed the confidence and ability to express their own ideas. Teacher training is also a very significant issue in education here in Guatemala.

We keep having conversations about access to education, it is much harder to have the conversation about quality. At the moment the current educational landscape in Guatemala is not equipped to lay the foundations for a future of women empowered with the knowledge to confidently make informed decisions, adequately take care of themselves and their families, take control of their own lives or a future with more female leadership and political representation across society.
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SEXUAL VIOLENCE & INTER-GENERATIONAL TRAUMA

Guatemala has a strong legacy of sexual violence. During the 36 year long Guatemalan Civil War, it is estimated that more than 100,000 girls and women were victims to the systematic rape of by various government forces. Read more about it here. 

Although the war is ‘officially’ over, a rampant machismo culture and a patriarchal society means that the war that girls and women face everyday, against sexism, against oppression due to conservative gender norms and against sexual violence is not over.  Out of the 4,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 14 that became pregnant in 2012, according to UNICEF, 30% of them were raped by their fathers. [3] 
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The social effects, social and psychological trauma inflicted by war take generations to heal and the emotional trauma can have inter-generational effects. Campaigning lawyer Almudena Bernabeu, who worked on the trials held in Spain to investigate the mass rapes and gender violence talks about the inter-generational affects of the culture of sexual violence and the need for not only legal recognition but a conversation: "This trial will help open a debate about femicide, because the lack of justice actually contributes to increasing gender violence.”

Psychologist coordinator for Doctors Without Borders in Guatemala Mayra Rodas says, “Women are treated as objects, which can be taken. To be a woman here is like being garbage. This is what our patients tell us,” she identifies fear as a debilitating psychological consequence of sexual violence. [7]

The legacy of gender violence in Guatemala and the present machismo culture contribute to the alarming rates of sexual violence and killings of women for which Guatemala ranks 3rd globally.

POVERTY AS A RISK FACTOR

Poverty is another, often debilitating, barrier that girls in Guatemala face. Poverty is widespread and is a huge risk factor for teen pregnancy and sexual violence, along with the lack of opportunity and access to services among populations suffering poverty.
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OUR WORK 
With so many factors to consider when discussing the realties of being a girl here in Guatemala it can get overwhelming. The information presented here are just some of the issues that we find to be most pressing, issues we encounter daily in the work that we do.

The SERniña curriculum is designed specifically to counter some of these realities.  
  • We provide comprehensive and quality reproductive, puberty and sexual health education, with a positive and body-connection emphasis. We not only teach the biological realities and equip them with all the fundamental knowledge we also work hard to breakdown the culture of shame and taboo surrounding their bodies and menstruation. We not only want girls to be healthy and to delay pregnancy, we want them to be comfortable and confident with their own bodies and their own self-care and to develop assertive communication skills and bodily-autonomy.
  • We are constantly encouraging the importance of education, we explicitly teach ‘staying in school’ as the most reliable factor in creating their own path in life, a message that is reinforced throughout our entire curriculum.
  • We are working towards collaborating more with schools and families to lower the number of girls dropping out.
  • We offer specialised workshops to address needs identified by schools, and our living-curriculum ensures we address needs as they arise. In our Financial Literacy workshops we taught girls applicable skills for saving, we also looked at household budgets which was used as a tool to show the economic realities of supporting a family at a young age with little education and employability.
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[1] See more at: http://www.unfpa.org/news/indigenous-girls-guatemala-break-cycle-poverty#sthash.mGtLJtrc.dpuf
[3] http://www.ticotimes.net/2014/06/16/guatemala-has-the-highest-teenage-pregnancy-rate-in-latin-america-and-its-getting-worse 
[4]  http://www.globaleducationfund.org/guatemala/ 
[5] http://scrippsiij.blogspot.com/2013/12/child-pregnancy-on-rise-in-guatemala.html
[6] http://www.coha.org/why-is-guatemalas-teen-pregnancy-rate-so-high/#_ftn2 
[7] http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/news-stories/field-news/guatemala-treating-sexual-violence-breaking-cycle-fear

websites & statistics:
http://masymejor.com/nos-educan-para-ser-mediocres/
http://www.coha.org/why-is-guatemalas-teen-pregnancy-rate-so-high/#_ftn13
https://quebuencurso.wordpress.com/2012/06/15/la-realidad-educativa-de-guatemala-centroamerica-y-latinoamerica/
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five reasons why it's important to invest in boys

11/17/2016

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After two successful years of SERniña programming, we are gearing up to launch SERniño! SERniño will build on the existing resources and networks of SERniña to provide workshops to boys and young men which focus on the creation of healthy masculinities. 

Particularly in today’s political climate, it is clear that we must include boys and men in the conversation about gender equality. SERniña wants to counteract the idea that gender issues are a “women’s problem.” To truly move forward, all people – regardless of gender – must work in collaboration, and we want to start now. 

​
Still not convinced? Here are five reasons why it’s important to invest in boys:
1. Guatemala has the third highest rate of femicide – the killing of women – worldwide. Much of this violence happens in the home, yet domestic violence is rarely reported as it is considered a private matter. The occurrence of domestic violence has direct linkages to machismo culture, or exaggerated masculinity. 

Boys’ education can address these problems. Data from the United States found that after one year of workshops on redefining masculinity and male strength, boys and young men were significantly more likely to intervene in situations when a girl was being touched inappropriately by male peers, intervene when a peer was being harassed or threatened with physical violence, and to disagree with statements supporting pro-harassment beliefs. By educating boys and young men directly, we can work with them to fight the culture of violence and impunity. 1


2. Men who have completed secondary education are less likely to use violence against women, and more likely to be present during childbirth, involved in childcare, and hold more gender equitable attitudes. 2
 
Participants of the SERniña program have a zero percent school dropout rate, compared to the 54 percent dropout rate among students ages 11-13 in Sacatepequez, the state where SERniña launched. Creating programming for boys that incentivizes them to stay in school will not only impact their educational attainment, it will have positive impacts on their treatment of women.


3. Boys with positive male role models are more likely to question gender inequities and harmful stereotypes, and less likely to take part in risky sexual behaviours. 3
 
SERniño workshops will be run by local young men aged 19 to 30 who have come directly from the community where they are working, and who have been trained extensively in the SERniño philosophy. Meeting with facilitators over the course of a year will be an opportunity for boys and young men to build relationships with male mentors with whom they can identify, and who can act as positive role models. 


4. Research shows that men who are positively engaged in the lives of their children or stepchildren are less likely to be depressed, to commit suicide, or to be violent. However, in machismo conceptions of masculinity, spending time in the home with family and children is often considered feminine.  4
 
Learning different conceptions of “manliness” so that being a good father is not viewed as feminine will ultimately make the boys and young men more likely to be good fathers and have rewarding, happy, healthy lives.
 

5. 80 percent of Guatemalan men surveyed by the United Nations agreed with the statement “women need permission to leave the house.” Significantly, 70 percent of Guatemalan women agreed as well. 5
 
This shows us that it is absolutely necessary to have partner workshops for both boys and girls in Guatemala, to empower girls and to teach boys about the value of working in partnership rather than from a place of power over women. 
REFERENCES
1. http://www.mencanstoprape.org/Evaluation/
2. Because I am a Girl: So, what about boys?http://plancanada.ca/Downloads/BIAAG/GirlReport/BIAAG-Report-2011-prerelease.pdf
3. Ibid.
4.  Ibid.
5.  http://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/02/world/iyw-guatemala-gender-violence/ 
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Sharing the Work & Spreading the Word

10/28/2016

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Written by Communications Intern and Volunteer Extraordinaire  Jess Dias

With the 2017 SERniña workshops coming to a close, we decided to go out with a bang! To do so, we hosted our first community fair last Tuesday 25th of October.
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This year we celebrate SERniña’s first official year of programs and the Fair Day, which happened at our partner school Education for the Children, was a chance for the girls, with support from the facilitators, to present their SERniña experience, growth and learning to their community, including younger students, boys of the area, parents, siblings and community members.

Before reading on, check out this short video of the day below.
For over one month, the girls had been working in their groups to choose the SERniña module they wanted to share, plan and create interactive stations to share that learning with others.
This year, we worked with 6 girl groups at EFTC, a total of 71 girls. Yes, you heard that right 71 girls all presenting, speaking, dancing at once. The groups chose and presented the following modules in stations:
  • What is SERniña
  • ​Creating My Own Path (Goal Setting)
  • Developping a Media Filter
  • ​Overcoming Gender Roles
  • Sexual and Reproductive Health​​
  • My Moon Cycle (Menstrual Health & Empowerment)
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The day began early, with the girls preparing their stations before 8. It was a chaotic flurry of string, masking tape (that did not work), a staple gun (which did), poster paper and the rest of the school swarming about around us.

It was clear that a lot of effort had gone into all the materials the girls had prepared for the day and the various stations all looked really great.

The fair got off to a slow start as we waited for visitors to turn up. We had no idea how many people to expect, it was the morning and most parents would likely be working, but we were expecting each class from the school to come through with their teachers to learn a bit about SERniña.
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The objective of the Fair Day was to give the girls the opportunity to practice their public speaking skills, develop their confidence, provide them with a project to work towards, many of the girls also prepared performances. We also wanted to give them the opportunity to educate their communities on some of the topics we’ve covered as a way to encourage support and increase knowledge regarding SERniña’s work and to further their own development through the process of educating other people.
Early on, we had a group of foreigners who were visiting the school, I met them at Creating My Own Path. After having been explained the importance of creating one’s own path in life they passed over to 2 of the girls who were ready to talk them through the process of goal setting. It was clear the girls were nervous and weren’t sure how to drive the interaction, I suggested trying to speak to the group a bit more and asking them if anyone had a goal in mind, big or small.
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They immediately got to chatting and after some language barrier issues (the group did not speak Spanish), one of them decided his goal was to climb Volcan Pacaya. From then we went onto what steps he could take to achieve his goal, and what obstacles he may face.

Then, two more girls invited guests to trace their hand on green paper and write their goal or 'dream' on it.  This was then glued to a small paper tree to show the school what are the 'dreams of SERniña.'
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Over at the Gender Roles station, after a quick presentation about what gender is and what gender roles are. Guests were invited to write on post-it notes their responses to “What it means to be a man?” & “What it means to be a women?”; an activity which raised some debate as some people were writing their own personal opinions on the matter, and others were responding according to what society dictates is ‘masculine’ or ‘feminine’. Either way it got people talking and thinking about gender roles and that is a success in itself. 
Finally, you were invited to write down, on boxes that had been wrapped like gifts, a quality that you like about yourself. The message being, when we are not confined by gender roles we are more free to express ourselves and share our gifts with the world. ​​

Throughout the day, I regularly visited the girls over at Sexual Health and My Moon Cycle. The girls at these two stations needed the most support as masses of boys would come wandering over and begin acting out and making jokes, completely normal behaviour given the themes. The girls educating on Sexual Health were handing out cards with different parts of both sexual and reproductive systems and visitors/students had to label them correctly. Over at the next table a similar activity focused on the processes of menstruation and fertilization. ​

The girls at My Moon Cycle were given the responsibility of educating on the importance of not having shame about our periods, as well as the special connection that our own menstrual cycle shares with the cycle of the moon and how we should be proud of our female bodies; our capacity to produce life is thanks to our periods. They also spoke in detail about the 4 different phases of our cycles and what each means for our emotional and physical states. Various adult women that I spoke to during and after the event were so impressed and said they were a little embarrassed by how much they didn’t know about their cycles.
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The girls from the Menstrual Health station had also learned a belly-dance to connect to and celebrate the power of their female bodies through dance. The girls even made their own belly dancing skirts  out of recycled materials.

Personally, what touched me most about the day was seeing so many of the girls speak with so much confidence and so articulately, no matter the size of the group they were confronted with. I had special admiration for the girls in charge of sexual health and explaining the menstruation and fertilization processes. It was such a ray of hope, that in this community girls are not only learning about their menstruation cycles and about their bodies in an environment of body-positivity and self-love, but that they are gaining the skills and confidence to be speaking to members of the opposite sex, younger, same age and older, about these topics.
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We were also so lucky to have volunteer photographer and videographer Marlon de Léon with us to capture every moment. Check out the amazing short video of the day above.
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We look forward to continuing to work with the girls of EFTC in 2017 and doing more and more community events to spread the important teachings of the SERniña Program.
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