Rise to the Challenge

With a strong start to 2021, NPH USA has kicked off the year with a first quarter initiative to promote gender equality in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Girls in Latin America face higher disadvantages because of their gender. According to UNICEF, 1 in 4 girls who live in poverty in Latin America do not go to school to work in domestic care tasks and 25% of girls will get married before they turn 18. The coronavirus pandemic has only exacerbated these issues and increased the divide. Empowerment of these girls is key to breaking the cycle of poverty and violence.

 

NPH provides life-changing initiatives for young girls, like our Youth Development, Chicas Poderosas (“Powerful Girls”) and Higher Education programs – each helping transform young girls into educated, confident, self-assured, young women with the potential to achieve their biggest dreams. 

The NPH Chicas Poderosas programs work with young women and girls to challenge their surrounding cultural norms. What expectations have been given to women in the past, do not have to apply for their future. Now more than ever, we have the opportunity to define an inclusive future for the mothers, the daughters, and the communities they live in. Raising awareness and funds for the programs that empower the youth of NPH will perpetuate inclusivity.

 

That’s why 2021 has started out with a nationwide campaign to CELEBRATE HER – an opportunity to celebrate the girls, the women, the daughters and mothers! In lieu of celebrating, we’re also focused on educating. Celebrate Her is a national effort to bring to light, the injustices against females, as much as it is about empowering NPH girls to stand up for themselves, make healthy decisions in their relationships and demand the respect they deserve.

As mentioned, we’re collecting gifts to celebrate females, raise awareness for gender equality, and support the empowerment of girls in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

 

Who is your HER? Is there a woman in your life who is tenacious, resilient and inspiring? Are there a few? We see those same qualities in many of the girls and young women who join the NPH family. Consider honoring the transformational women in your life with a gift to empower the lives of young women and girls across the NPH family with our tribute giving program! 

When the idea of focusing on gender equality to start 2021 reached board members, a domino effect took place. Current and former NPH USA national and regional women board members decided to come together and create a collective challenge as part of CELEBRATE HER –  supporting the movement in a big way and challenging YOU to do the same. 

 

As of February 8th, over $86,000 has been committed to challenge you by 16 inspiring women! Are you up for the challenge? Support the movement and give a gift in honor of your HER to contribute to the empowerment of young women and girls at NPH!

 

Rise to the challenge!  Give a gift in honor of your HER.

There was laughter, tears, hugs, smiles, and lots of love...

Below is an excerpt of a testimonial by Estefania Morales who volunteered as a coordinator of the female youth group, Chicas Poderosas, at NPH Mexico! 

The Chicas Poderosas program focuses on women’s empowerment. It meets once a week during activities hour, from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., to discuss various topics related to women in society today. Chicas Poderosas is a space free of judgment, a space to share doubts or concerns, a space for the girls to interact and form a strong bond of friendship and support for each other.

During the first sessions, I organized and planned the topics in a very academic manner, with PowerPoint presentations, discussion questions, and journal time. I noticed, however, that the girls were not amused with this method, since it reminded them much of their high school classes. After coming to this realization, I began to change the presentation method. I started the session with icebreakers, played videos, and brought candy to motivate them during the games. But most importantly, I shared my story with them. I told them about my life as the daughter of Mexican immigrants living in the United States and I explained how hard my parents had to work and what sacrifices they had to make in a new country. I also described all the effort and cost it took for me to go and pay for college. Before listening to my story, several girls had a misconception of me. Since I come from the United States, the assumption was that I came from an affluent family.

However, during a session where we discussed the importance of education and one’s future, I showed them pictures of my childhood, I shared with them how my father immigrated to the United States for the first time, and I explained to them about the racism and machismo that exists in my city. What I wanted to convey was a simple message— life is not easy for anyone, everything has costs in life, sometimes we have advantages in life and sometimes we have disadvantages that we have to face. No matter what situation we find ourselves in, the most important thing is not to lose ourselves in the abyss of conformity or simply let ourselves be carried away by what comes into our lives.

I introduced various topics related to self-esteem so that the teenage girls could gain more self-confidence. I invited a psychologist, who is a yoga and meditation instructor, to introduce topics on trust, and therefore obtain strength and courage to excel in life. During these sessions, several girls shared that in their villages, women must marry and stay at home caring for the family.

Despite the ideologies that several girls brought along from home, I always explained to them that these ways of thinking are old and incoherent, because men and women today deserve the same rights. Enough is enough, it is time for women to wake up and fight for gender equality. Conveying these messages became my goal for the Chicas Poderosas program. I wanted the girls to eradicate old ideologies and traditions they brought with them from home and instead promote the importance of education so they could achieve a stable and satisfying life.

Through videos, icebreakers, conversations, journal time, special guests, field trips to museums, and celebrations, I managed to help high school girls open their eyes and analyze the problems of machismo in our society. During a session on violence against women, the girls were shocked and angry when I showed they saw a video related to domestic violence, and read facts about how often it occurs. When we played ice-breaker games, I saw them laughing with their teammates as they tried to make their team win. There were times when the girls wanted to continue to watch a video or play a game until dinner time, despite our time slot ending at 7:30 p.m., because they were completely entertained. I read their journals after our sessions, and there were times when I became emotional and teary while reading their goals and dreams. I was proud.

It was during these moments when I discovered my purpose at NPH Mexico. It was during Chicas Poderosas that the high school girls also discovered their purpose in life. Life is difficult, life surprises us and turns us around, and we do not always achieve what we want. I would relay a similar message to the girls: we have to fight, sometimes, but during these fights is when opportunities show up.

I have the satisfaction of knowing that I made the girls think outside the box, I made them differentiate between their traditional ideologies and modern ideologies in regards to women in society, but above all, I made them think about their futures. With that, I hope that in two, five, or ten years, even when they are finishing college, they think back to the discussions we had in Chicas Poderosas and hopefully that helps them make good decisions in life.

I did not come to NPH Mexico to transform the children, much less to change the world. In fact, there were several times after long and exhausting days in which I asked myself what I was doing here as a volunteer. It was during these moments, when I had to remind myself that these were teenagers, they had bad days and they were not always in a good mood.

However, there were other days when I was walking around the house and I heard, "Fanny, come over here!” or they just came over to cover my eyes so I could guess who they were. I turned to see who it was and I had a pair of eyes looking at me with a huge smile. These were the moments that reminded me why I was really here. There were times when the kids were not always laughing and smiling, but I can assure you that wasn't always the case; there were evening talks in the patio area, joking around with each other, or playing the guitar and singing with the music group. There were days when we would laugh out loud until our stomachs hurt. There were days when I almost cried while one of the boys told me his personal story. There were days when I had to remind the girls to pay attention during our Chicas Poderosas session.

There were days when I returned home disappointed because one of the kids had failed several subjects and was at risk of failing the school year. There were days when I was extremely proud and happy because while practicing English, one of the kids really tried to have a fluent conversation. There were Independence Day celebrations with dances, Mexican flags and mariachi music. There were altars for the Day of the Dead with pan dulce (sweet bread), sugar skulls, and colorful Mexican decorations.

There were Christmas carols, a manger, and fireworks. But above all, there was laughter, tears, hugs, smiles, and lots of love. You fall in love with the children, that's for sure. That is NPH. That, is NPH Mexico.