Help Empowerment Facilitators Reach 700 Teen Girls

Dear friends,

Project Soar is sending its gratitude to you, our supporters, and positive wishes for good health and happiness for you and your loved ones.

Project Soar is now full steam ahead with our programs, operating 37 squads across 7 regions of Morocco with a total of 71 active Empowerment Facilitators at this time. This year, as with every year, Project Soar is privileged to have strong, feminist, women mentors leading Soar Girls through our five module Empowerment Curriculum focused on Value, Voice, Body, Rights, and Path.

One such rockstar Empowerment Facilitator is Oumaima Bedduaf of Ouarzazate, who never ceases to impress us with her dedication to and passion for teen girl empowerment. A selfless leader in every sense, Oumaima has powered through the Soar Empowerment Curriculum, personally delivering 22.5 empowerment hours to 21 Soar Girls in Ouarzazate so far and is poised to host their second of three Community Dialogues that allows space for Soar Girls as well as community stakeholders to engage in conversations on gender equity challenges and brainstorm actionable ways to improve them.

Project Soar Empowerment Facilitators often times find that not only are they leaving an impact on the girls, but the girls are leaving an impact on them as well. "I find myself evolving and learning more about the girls more and more with every encounter. I make sure to treat them equally and support them when needed," Oumaima says, "I get so delighted when I hear my name is mentioned by one of their teachers or their coaches - this tells me that I am doing this right. I feel happy encouraging them to do well in their studies and I already see that their grades have improved. It is an honour for me and for Project Soar that we are able to help and guide these girls and leave a positive impact on them. Now my joy is their joy." 

Faciliators like Oumaima take this inspiration and motivation to not only deliver the Project Soar programs with passion and patience, but also continuously exceed expectations by finding additional opportunities for Soar Girls that boost their exposure to cultural events, networking opportunities and more. For example this month, Oumaima initiated a field trip to a local history museum for her squad and even brought three Soar Girls to a public speaking workshop hosted by a local non-profit. 

We are so grateful for your continued support of our Empowerment Facilitators, like Oumaima, who go above and beyond to ensure Soar Girls excel and succeed no matter the challenges they face. 

Stay tuned for more stories from these incredible women, and never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest Wishes,

The Project Soar Team

Dear friends,

Project Soar is sending its gratitude to you, our supporters, and positive wishes for good health and happiness for you and your loved ones.

We are currently in the process of launching a new year of the Project Soar in a Box (PSB) Empowerment Curriculum in sites across Morocco. Our signature bags and boxes, full of all the supplies needed to implement the program, have been packed and shipped, and this year's new Empowerment Facilitators are wrapping up their in depth training. This is an exciting time of fresh starts and new beginnings for everyone at Project Soar, including all of our wonderful Empowerment Facilitators. 23 Empowerment Facilitators are in the process of completing their training virtually and, along with the 35 renewing Empowerment Facilitators, we are ready to welcome girls to our sites across the country and get started with the 2021/2022 edition of the Project Soar in a Box program!

Khadija Boulahcen is one of our amazing Empowerment Facilitators turned full time Program Assistant at Project Soar. Her dedication and relentless hard work are a constant source of inspiration for those around her. Khadija has successfully guided 20 girls through the Empowerment Curriculum and inspired countless girls beyond this with Project Soar values. Additionally, since joining Project Soar as a full time employee, she has played a vital role in organizing the rollout of a new year of Project Soar in a Box. Khadija shares some reflections on her time as an Empowerment Facilitator and her hopes for the future of Project Soar.

"I wanted to do something for the girls." Khadija says when asked about why she initially decided to become an Empowerment Facilitator. "When I was their age, I would have loved to have had someone to listen to me, to guide me, to give me advice" she continues. Khadija recalls how proud she was to witness the girls progressing in front of her eyes as she guided them through the 5 modules focused on Value, Voice, Body, Rights, and Path. She says that “comparing the girls from the first session to even just the middle of the curriculum, you can see the very positive changes taking place.” She shares how the girls became more confident and more comfortable speaking out and voicing their opinions, which she found incredibly rewarding to observe. 

For the coming year, Khadija has hopes and aspirations, especially for the new Project Soar girls living in rural areas. Having grown up in a rural village in Morocco, she says “It is in rural areas where the program is most needed, as girls from these more remote places are often lacking the tools they need to express their thoughts and a safe space to do so.” 

Khadija and all of our Empowerment Facilitators are an essential part of Project Soar. Without them, we would not be able to deliver the Project Soar in a Box Empowerment Curriculum. They are strong and inspiring women who serve as role models, guides, and confidantes to PS girls!

We are so grateful for your continued support of our Empowerment Facilitators, like Khadija, especially given the especially challenging times we now live in.

Stay tuned for more stories from these incredible women, and never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest Wishes,

The Project Soar Team

Hello friends! We are sending gratitude to You, our supporters, and positive wishes for good health as we continue to navigate the pandemic together.

This month, we are wrapping up the 2020-2021 cohort of Project Soar Girls across the country with COVID-19 safe graduation ceremonies. Keeping this momentous milestone in mind, we could not help but continue the festive spirit by highlighting our amazing Empowerment Facilitators, who make it their priority to ensure that each girl completes the PSB program feeling as though she is celebrated. Your donation to this campaign helps provide support to the Facilitators who play the most crucial role at Project Soar as they dedicate their time to ensuring the PS Girls have a safe space to reflect, learn, and flourish. 

One such woman to be celebrated is Project Soar's very own Program Coordinator and Program Facilitator, Kawtar Ait Malek. Through her dedication over the past 2+ years, Kawtar has now directly led over 40 girls succesfully through completion of the Project Soar in a Box program and has indirectly impacted hundreds more through her support of Facilitators across the country. In total, Kawtar has supported 30 Facilitators across 17 sites in Morocco and continues to add to her already amazing achievements with Project Soar by assisting in the support of Empowerment Facilitators working in communties of internally displaced people (IDP) in Northwest Syria. 

When asked what Kawtar loves most about supporting the Project Soar Empowerment Facilitators, she says "I love seeing the Facilitators through all their ups and downs. I'm able to motivate them and pass positive energy to them when they feel challenged and share appreciation with them when they succeed. Since I am a facilitator too, I am able to empathize with them and understand them emotionally." In terms of being a 2 year facilitator, she states that "while it is not always initially easy to create the safe space we need to thrive, the fact that the girls eventually trust me enough to approach me, tell me their feelings, and ask me for advice - this is the most precious reward."

Kawtar recently shared an experience she had with one of her fellow facilitators, saying "I am so inspired by so many of the other Facilitators I work with. Ghita, one of my co-Facilitators, inspires me in particular. Her attitude has really touched me personally because although she has a speech impediment  I watch her stand there every Sunday, speaking in front of the PS girls, emanating so much confidence and positive energy. She never dwells on the way she sounds, but rather focuses on passing her positive emotions on to the girls no matter what. She is never embarrassed or shy -- she just wants to give the girls her all."

Ghita, like all of the Empowerment Facilitators, embodies the Project Soar spirit by showing the girls that while her skills may not be perfect, she is strong, she is smart, she is capable, she is a leader, and she is a feminist. What's clear is that Empowerment Facilitators are not just teachers, but rather mentors, confidantes, and champions of change.

It is safe to say that without Faciliators like Kawtar and Ghita, the lasting impact Project Soar makes would not be possible, and we are forever grateful for their enduring spirit. Stay tuned for more stories of these incredible women, and never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest Wishes,

The Project Soar team

Hi Friends! We are sending gratitude to You, our supporters, and positive wishes for good health as we look forward in the new year.

Transitioning back to safe, in-person workshops has been challenging, but the Project Soar team has been giving it our all to ensure Project Soar Girls have access to their empowerment curriculum and feminist support from their Empowerment Facilitators. These courageous women are leaders of change in their communities. They continue to show up and advocate for Girls across Morocco and Uganda during these uncertain times. Your support of this campaign helps provide positive role models in the lives of girls to continue developing their confidence and leadership.

This week, we sat down with one of our Empowerment Facilitators and newest Project Soar in a Box Coordinator, Warda Bouye. She joined us in January and has quickly become a vital part of our team. Warda is eager, warm, and a wonderful role model for Project Soar Girls.

Warda not only helps Project Soar girls grow and find their voices, but embodies gaining more confidence through sharing her own experiences with girls.

After working at Project Soar for a month, Warda is more confident speaking in public and feels she can make friends even more easily. “I used to hide all of my ideas. Now, I just share them.” She also noticed significant changes in the Project Soar girls she works with. The girls “used to be silent and talk in a quiet voice.” Now, she realized, “they just started to defend themselves. They can now say, ‘No’ to people. ‘It’s me, it’s my body. Don’t cross the line.’ When I was their age, I didn’t know this.”

Warda’s favorite thing about working with Project Soar girls is “making them realize how valuable they are.” It’s an amazing thing to tell a girl “that she is someone in this world and she can do whatever she wants. . . that whatever she is dreaming about can be true.”

Warda leaves her younger self and other Project Soar girls with this advice: “Just be you. Sometimes we pretend that we are somebody else and we act how other people would want us to be. Let’s just be ourselves--that’s more true to us and to others.”

Thank you for supporting Warda and all of our Empowerment Facilitators. Our work would not be possible without their commitment to and deep care for these girls.

Stay tuned for more stories from these incredible women, and never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest Wishes,

The Project Soar team

Hi Friends! We are sending gratitude to You, our supporters, and positive wishes for good health as we continue to navigate this challenging year together.

We have been hard at work preparing to launch the 2020-2021 cohort of Project Soar Girls with in-person and online sites, and wanted to highlight the brave women who are behind it all: our Empowerment Facilitators. Your support of this campaign helps provide positive role models in the lives of girls to continue developing their confidence and leadership through this global pandemic. 

Here are just a few ways in which these social activists help transform girls into leaders of today and tomorrow:

Empowerment Facilitators have a passion for girls' rights: Project Soar facilitator Latifa in Morocco is a woman on a mission! She is a university student, a member of many organizations in her community, and an advocate for girls and women. Over the last year, Latifa has worked to empower girls in her community through the Project Soar in a Box curriculum and by sharing her own experiences of overcoming challenges, pursuing her education, and following her dreams.

Empowerment Facilitators are inspiring girls to embrace leadership: Project Soar facilitators at Mbogo Progressive School in Uganda helped 6 girls in the program gain the confidence to be elected for leadership positions. Ahead of the elections, the facilitators used the empowerment curriculum to help build the confidence and public speaking skills of these girls in a safe space.

Empowerment Facilitators are leading by example: Project Soar facilitator Habiba in Morocco persevered to receive an education after dropping out in the 5th grade because of family expectations and community perspectives about girls attending school. Habiba's consistent positivity and determination in pursuit of her goals has helped make her a role model within her community. She passes her positivity on to the girls of her community as a facilitator for Project Soar, where she leads by example to help girls forge their own path.

Project Soar Empowerment Facilitators are leaders of change in their communities, and instrumental in empowering girls across Morocco and Uganda.

Stay tuned for more stories of these incredible women, and never doubt you are making a difference!

Warmest Wishes,

The Project Soar team