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In 2005, for the first time, Girls Speak Out launched a special project called the Caged Bird Sings, a name with which writer and activist Maya Angelou allowed us to honor our work. This special project helps ensure that girls who are often isolated by geography and/or extreme circumstances will be able to ask for what they need, receive needed materials and support, be included in projects and workshops, and receive sustained follow-up. Because communication is increasing among geographicaly separated individuals, we also respond to girls' emergencies that passed unnoticed before.
In 2008, because of our women on the ground and in our virtual network, the Caged Bird Sings Project helped return a stolen 7-year old girl named Saffi, and honor a murdered Girls Speak Out girl named Moreen. These are among the voices we honor, and that inspire us to grow and listen. Moreen was cooking her family's dinner at home in the afternoon using paraffin because they have no electricity, and she needed more. Her younger brother offered to run and buy some, but she felt she was faster. When Moreen left the house, she was shot in the stomach. Her last words to her mother were, "I'm sorry to die, and in so much pain." The family was forced to leave her body in a ditch by the railroad tracks. When GSO Kenya leader Jane and others organized a funeral, it was teargassed. Girls in extreme circumstances require unique and sustained support. While they can also learn from each other, and even develop their own healing programs, they also need specialized information from experts that focuses on their strengths as well as their survival. My biggest fear is losing my dreams, and sometimes I'm afraid for my life. -- Tiffany, 14, Juvenile Detention Center, USA The extreme circumstances the Caged Bird Sings Project will address include:
Targeted Collaborations in Canada, the USA, Kenya, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, and Tanzania Canada: The YWCA Durham has been holding GSO workshops since 2002, and is continuing to serve girls using our program.Kenya: In February 2008, a Girls Speak Out girl named Moreen, 15, was killed in post-election violence in Kibera, a slum where hundreds of thousands of girls and their families live in Kenya. Jane, a board member and our Kenyan leader, sent e-mails at risk to herself detailing the crimes against Moreen and other girls as well as against other peaceful Kenyans. (See http://generationkenya.co.ke/main/category/champions and scroll to Nyaminwa for more information on Jane's activities.) In 2008, a Girls Speak Out Forum was held in Kibera for 200 girls that honored Moreen, and it focused on post-election violence healing. Many of the girls have been raped, and each deserves to have her hope back. Working with the Stephen Lewis Foundation, we will also train women in grassroots' organizations to hold Girls Speak Out workshops throughout Kenya that will help connect them in hopeful and necessary ways. We are helping create a positive force that we plan on sustaining for years by helping create leaders. It means so much to me that women are working so hard for us. --Norrel, 8, Kenya Sierra Leone: The African Youth Coalition Against Hunger (AYCAH) Sierra Leone is our new partner with a new expanded office in Freetown that features our logo pictured here. AYCAH is working with us to launch our collaboration in early 2009.  ©GSO Sierra LeoneTanzania: See recent media on Saffi, Girls Speak Out and girls in Tanzania by clicking here http://www.womensenews.org:80/article.cfm?aid=3608 Utah, USA: Planned Parenthood Association Utah hosted Girls Speak Out workshops for girls and women. Remember, we are continually certifying and supporting women anywhere who are realizing they can make a difference in their communities and change girls' lives for the better from the inside-out. Today for example, Andrea sends articles for girls in Cameroon and Kenya on topics given to her by Florence and Jane, GSO women leaders in those countries who work directly with girls. And a certified GSO trainer, Kim in Ontario, trained women in Tanzania and supports their continuing training of other women. When I read what Girls Speak Out wrote to us about using clean cloths when we have our periods, it clicked. My body and I are worth taking care of. ---S, 13, Cameroon Another participant, 14 year-old Freida, says, "All girls have a right to understand their importance to society. We've been mistreated and misinformed over the ages about what we deserve and what we can and can't do. Thank you for showing me I have choices, a future--and that I belong no matter what happens to me." We need your financial support!
The Caged Bird Sings Project was created and piloted in multiple settings including juvenile detention centers in northern California, in Harlem Hospital in New York City, in Kenya and villages in India. *Used with permission of Dr. Maya Angelou |
| A bird doesn't sing because it has an answer, it sings because it has a song. -- Maya Angelou |
| I speak to the black experience, but I am always talking about the human condition -- about what we can endure, dream, fail at, and still survive. -- Maya Angelou  Saffi Tanzania 2007 1/6/09 Jane in Kenya reports that girls have taken top places in nationwide academic tests. Her daughter placed second. Congratulations to the girls and women of Kibera. 12/08 Saffi is living safely, but she is not living at home with her mother because it is unsafe for her and troubling to her in her old neighborhood. 4/6/08 YES!!!!! Saffi was returned home after 7 days of capture much to the joy of her family and friends near and far. She was raped and in distressed condition, and with few support services on the ground, there is fear for her healing, especially from the possibility of HIV/AIDS. Click here for details and help by joining our 7 for 7 Campaign  Girls Speak Out is a positive place to recover hope. -- Sandra L. Bloom, M.D. author of Creating Sanctuary and Violence and Bearing Witness  |