25/04/10

Thanks to all of my colleagues showing up to work on time and everyone working hard, we were able to finish grades yesterday. We had a meeting Thursday, but my director very graciously allowed me to miss it to go to the REDES (Girls in Development, Education, and Health) conference instead. By leaving early Thursday morning I was able to make it down to Xai-Xai in time to start the day, so I able to be at two full days of the conference.
The conference, what I saw of it, was wonderful. The girls from Moz 13 who spent months planning and coordinating all the logistics and the conference was incredibly well-run, they left big shoes for us in Moz 14 to fill. It is difficult to verbalize the feeling inside when you see 50 young girls learning new things, enjoying learning new things, excitedly participating in activities, and feeling incredibly empowered and enabled. Especially in a country like Mozambique where women are often treated like second-class citizens. From what I could tell, the girls at the conference had incredible week, from the all things they learned and did, to the new friends they made.