By Amy E. Adams | Program Coordinator
GlobalGirl Media has been quite busy this spring with our efforts both in the U.S. and abroad. We successfully opened our newest bureau in Kosovo this May, and are planning on opening another in London by early fall. Our GGM reporters in South Africa, Oakland and Chicago have continued to create great content this quarter and put girls at the center of the story!
Kosovo is LIVE!
GlobalGirl Media, in partnership with KosovoLive, has opened our newest program in Pristina, Kosovo. Amie Williams, GGM’s Co-founder and Executive Director, spent two weeks in Kosovo spearheading the training aptly named “Girl Be Heard”, which centers on workshops in digital journalism, leadership and production.
The girls were not only eager to learn, but quite talented as well, having created three remarkable videos during the training. Saranda’s Story centers on a brave young woman who survived the massacre of her family during the war, and Krushe e Made is a short film about a village of widowed women in Kosovo, the latter having already won a Comenius EduMedia Award, an honor bestowed to educational media from European countries. And rounding out the work is a video the girls made called My Voice, a short piece about why their voices are important.
We are looking forward to what comes out of this fledgling bureau, as over the next year, GGM Kosovo reporters will continue producing content (to be featured locally and internationally) every month under the guidance of KosovaLive.
Super Bowl 50 Host Committee Playmaker Award
GGM is happy to announce the Super Bowl 50 Host Committee chose to award a Playmaker grant to GlobalGirl Media! The funds will help our Oakland bureau by supporting our training program and mentoring with Bay Area media professionals this summer. Amie Williams was also honored as a Playmaker. As E.D., Amie not only runs GGM’s day-to-day operations, but also spearheads our Oakland news bureau.
The Committee created a short segment on Amie and the Oakland Global Girls – watch their video here.
GGM Oakland
On May 4th, our Oakland bureau was honored to sit down with Nobel Peace Laureate Leymah Gbowee. GGM Oakland reporter Kasie Gonzales interviewed the peace activist and discussed everything from the war in Liberia to women in leadership, #BlackLivesMatter and girls and technology. Many thanks again to Madame Gbowee. Watch Kasie’s interview!
GGM Oakland also launched a social media campaign called #SHESPIRE with the help of two Marin Academy high school students, Chloe and Isabel. The campaign was their senior project and encouraged users to shoot a short video to answer the question, “what woman in your life inspires you”? See a video of several #SHESPIRE responses here.
In honor of Mother’s Day, GGM Oakland reporter, Heyab Tadesse, spoke about her mom for a Story Corps interview during a special community screening of her Mother/Madre film at the California Endowment's event, Breaking the Silence: Healing Through Our Mother's Narratives, in downtown Los Angeles. The event was very well received and involved the screening of all six videos in the series as well as a panel discussion and Q & A.
GGM Chicago
We are so proud of GGM Chicago reporter, Aimee Rodriguez, who won a full scholarship to the Girls Gearing Up International Leadership Summer Camp in Berlin, Germany. The only item that wasn’t covered was her plane ticket to Germany. But that didn’t stop Aimee – she raised the funds for a flight through a Crowdrise campaign with an innovative stop-motion animated video.
This spring, GGM Chicago delved into the topic of feminism from a male perspective. Because the voices and opinions of young men are needed to help forge solutions and change, our Chicago reporters conducted street interviews to find out what the other half had to say…spoiler alert, all men interviewed saw themselves as feminists!
GGM South Africa
Strong community leaders can be a lifeline for girls everywhere, especially in parts of South Africa. With funding help from the Government of Canada, our SA reporters were able to create a short film titled, Anchor of My Heart. In the piece, the girls profiled three inspiring community leaders who are helping improve the lives of girls and the communities they live in through mentorship and leadership training.
GGMSA has also started a new project this May – the creation of a photo newsletter. We thought it best described in their own words, so we have included the following blog, written by Zi Keswa, a GlobalGirl SA reporter.
“GlobalGirl Media gives Birth to Rammolotsi Photo Newsletter, Rammolotse My Kasi My Story”
“GlobalGirl Media South Africa is an NGO which was founded in 2010 and is dedicated to educate and empower young girls through media, leadership and journalism. On the 25th of May, 2015 GlobalGirl Media South Africa started training twelve interesting girls at Rammolotsi Riet Pan at the Dramatic Arts Art Centre. This training is different from all the previous trainings GlobalGirl Media South Africa has ever done because the Rammolotsi girls will be creating the first photo newsletter. The photo newsletter is produced by the Rammolotsi Global Girls for the Rammolotsi Community, also focusing on local matters arising within the Community itself. The girls come from different sections of Rammolotsi, and they came together to be the voice of the Rammolotsi Community as a whole. GlobalGirl Media is currently training the girls on how to write, take photographs, conduct interviews and put together their photo newsletter. Not only do the girls gain skills, but they also gain self-confidence and are better able to practice independence.”
GGM London
GlobalGirl Media is happy to officially launch a London bureau this fall! We have wanted a presence in the U.K. for some time now, and are so happy with the passionate and talented team spearheading the program. We have an Advisory Board in place and will be sending out more details as they come.
Summer 2015 Training
GGM’s Los Angeles, Oakland and Chicago bureaus are gearing up for a busy summer. Each region will be holding a new media training program for teenage girls, focused on media literacy, journalism, blogging, video and sound production, editing and the production of a web series. Critical thinking skills and the promotion of gender empowerment will also be covered. Guest lecturers and visits to film and television studios will also add another dimension to the robust curriculum. These trainings are at the heart of GlobalGirl Media and we are excited to soon meet our newest reporters!
Again, thank you to all of our supporters, as we couldn't do our work without your support!
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