Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti

by Beyond Borders
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti
Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti

Project Report | Jul 3, 2023
Power to Girls Gains Momentum in Schools. You Make it Possible!

By Brian Stevens | Engagement Director

A student whose school is using 'Power To Girls'.
A student whose school is using 'Power To Girls'.

Power to Girls Initiative Gaining Momentum in Schools, Communities

Thank you for your generous support for Beyond Borders’ Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti project on GlobalGiving. We are grateful for your solidarity and generosity!

Thanks to you and people like you, Beyond Borders’ Power To Girls initiative is gaining momentum in schools and communities, equipping students, faculty, staff, and community members with the skills and resources to balance power between girls and boys.

Created by Beyond Borders’ Rethinking Power Team, Power To Girls includes a complete, three-year methodology to integrate lessons on equality and preventing gender-based violence into the school curriculum, including sample lesson plans for social science, biology and language teachers.

Power To Girls also includes a guide to help schools and communities create and support local girls’ groups, and a set of community organizing tools designed to create deep and lasting change among adults too.

Sixty-Three Teachers in Southeast Haiti Trained in Power To Girls

Thanks to you, 63 secondary school teachers from three schools in southeast Haiti were trained during different multi-day workshops on various aspects of Power To Girls, including how to integrate lessons on equality and preventing gender-based violence into French, Biology and Social Science classes.

Additionally, 39 students (19 girls) participated in discussions related to Power To Girls sessions for their classrooms to foster greater understanding and dialogue.

Grassroots Community Leaders and Partner Organizations Trained in Power To Girls

Your support has also made it possible to train grassroots community leaders and members of partner organizations in various phases of Power To Girls. Here’s a look at some of the Power To Girls trainings that your support made possible this past quarter:

  • 101 community activists and leaders trained during a five-day training
  • 37 people participated in a three day training to create theater groups to perform skits on Power To Girls
  • 22 members of partner organizations participated in Power to Girls Action Phase and training
  • 24 Haiti VAWG Prevention Coalition members from six organizations trained in Phase 4 (Action Phase) of Power To Girls
  • Three exchange visits conducted between Power To Girls partners

Thanks to your generosity and solidarity, Power To Girls is gaining momentum in Haiti and building a movement of people committed to balancing power and preventing violence.

Investing in Infrastructure: New Tools and Resources to Build the Movement to Prevent Violence Against Women and Girls

Your generous support is supporting the creation of an infrastructure of tools and resources that grassroots community leaders and partner organizations can use to build the movement to prevent gender-based violence.

This quarter, your support has made it possible to adapt SASA! Together* and the revised Power To Girls through Phase 3 (Support), with some additional testing and finalization scheduled. Additionally, the Girls’ Economic Power Resource Pack is largely complete through Phase 2.

*SASA! Together is the Haiti adaptation of Raising Voices’ updated version of SASA! and includes the key elements of SASA! Faith; and the development of a new resource pack for the economic empowerment of adolescent girls, to be integrated within the Power To Girls methodology. In addition, we went beyond these three to develop Safe and Capable - a resource pack on VAWG with disabilities.

By The Numbers: The Latest Movement Building Work You Make Possible

In the last quarter, your support has made it possible to complete initiatives like these:

  • 371 girls age 10-19 actively participate weekly in 16 Girls’ Groups.
  • 15 Girls’ Group mentors trained during a two-day workshop on facilitating new sessions on economic power. The sessions teach girls how to become economically independent.
  • 28 community meetings and 18 days of community awareness raising on girls’ power, power imbalances, and types of violence – all meant to encourage parental and community support of girls.
  • 78 girls and parents participated in group feedback sessions where girls who are members of Girls’ Groups presented what they are learning, and where all share how this impacts them and their families.
  • 252 girls from Girls’ Advocacy Committees in Lavale and new girls’ groups in Lamontagne and Bainet participated in nine exchange opportunities to talk about their experiences so that new Youth Activists could inspire girls in new communities.
  • 101 community activists and leaders trained on Phase 2 (Awareness) of SASA! Together during a five- day training workshop.
  • 15 journalists participated in one-day training on the concepts of power and how to better address cases where women and girls experience violence.
  • 37 people participated in a three day training to create theater groups to perform different skits on SASA! Together.
  • 20 church leaders participated in a one-day training to discuss the advantages of balancing power between women and men at all levels in a church.
  • 17 women trained in leadership development.
  • 51 members of organizations responding to VAWG in Lamontagne and Bainet participated in a one-day training to learn more about prevention and response concepts and were also connected formally to the community activist network.
  • 22 members of partner organizations participated in SASA! Action Phase training, as well as a two-day training on advocacy and ideas for supporting the strengthening of the movement during and after programming ends.
  • 24 Haiti VAWG Prevention Coalition members from six organizations trained in advocacy skills and what happens during and after Phase 4 (Action) in SASA!.
  • 15 women from 16 organizations participated in a short course on preventing violence against girls and girls' autonomy.

What People Are Saying About The Impact of This Work

One of the best ways to convey the impact of the work to prevent violence against women and girls that you are making possible is by sharing with you what community members themselves are saying.

Do you know Power to Girls has done a lot for me? I had always said that, when I finished school, I would get married in order to have a man to take care of me - to give me money and to manage everything for me. It has been during my training in Power to Girls that I have discovered my abilities and my capacity – I started thinking differently. Because it is true that I need money to meet my needs but I notice it is best when both people in a couple work together to take care of the house and home. In such a situation, it would be difficult for the man not to respect the woman." ~ Girls Club Mentor

Only now do I understand the importance activism has had. Now we ourselves are discovering the problems and priorities the communities have and are defining advocacy objectives; therefore, the activists will be happy to organize and advocate.” ~ Partner staff of IDEH, using SASA! in Haiti VAWG Prevention Coalition

I am grateful to Rethinking Power [Program] for the person it has helped me become; compared to who I was before, I have become a new person.” ~ Community member

When I received an invitation letter to the training, I thought, ‘What power do they think they are increasing?’ It is only now that I know that the power they are talking about is positive power.” ~ Community member

Thank You Again

Thank you again for all that you are making possible through your generous support for Beyond Borders' Free, Educate, and Empower Girls in Haiti project on GlobalGiving. We are deeply grateful for your solidarity in these challenging times.

You are building the movement to prevent violence against women and girls and ensure that every day more girls and women in Haiti are living free from violence, discrimination, and inequality. If you have any questions about what you read in this report, please contact Brian Stevens, Beyond Borders’ Engagement Director, at (305) 450-2561 or b.stevens@beyondborders.net.

A 'Power To Girls' poster in use in a classroom.
A 'Power To Girls' poster in use in a classroom.
A teacher works on lesson plans that include PTG.
A teacher works on lesson plans that include PTG.
Teachers being trained on 'Power To Girls'.
Teachers being trained on 'Power To Girls'.
The introductory guide for 'Power To Girls'.
The introductory guide for 'Power To Girls'.
Share on Twitter Share on Facebook

About Project Reports

Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.

If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.

Sign up for updates

Organization Information

Beyond Borders

Location: Norristown, PA - USA
Website:
Facebook: Facebook Page
Twitter: @beyondbordersHT
Project Leader:
David Diggs
Norristown , PA United States
$41,979 raised of $50,000 goal
 
665 donations
$8,021 to go
Donate Now

Help raise money!

Support this important cause by creating a personalized fundraising page.

Start a Fundraiser

Learn more about GlobalGiving

Teenage Science Students
Vetting +
Due Diligence

Snorkeler
Our
Impact

Woman Holding a Gift Card
Give
Gift Cards

Young Girl with a Bicycle
GlobalGiving
Guarantee

Get incredible stories, promotions, and matching offers in your inbox

WARNING: Javascript is currently disabled or is not available in your browser. GlobalGiving makes extensive use of Javascript and will not function properly with Javascript disabled. Please enable Javascript and refresh this page.