Social Media Volunteer Makes First Trip to Africa

“Either write something worth reading or do something worth writing.” Benjamin Franklin   Shawna Brechbill is doing both. Since taking over GSGC social media at the beginning of the year, Shawna has increased the quality and consistency of our Instagram and Facebook content, grown the number of people and organizations following our good work, and helped support our fundraising campaigns. By posting videos, stories, and insights from global leaders, and sharing the triumphs and challenges of GSGC-sponsored aunties, mentors, girls, boys, alumnae and volunteers, Shawna provides content worth reading and sharing.   Next month, Shawna is heading to Southern Africa to meet the people she has been writing about, gather new stories, and deepen relationships. Follow her heart and mind journey, as she connects with the magic of GSGC and Africa. www.facebook.com/gsgivingcircle www.instagram.com/gsgivingcircle

GSGC Alumnae Find Purpose and Joy - and Independence

“Pulling a baby out of a vagina, cleaning it up, and putting it on the mother’s belly to bond…sometimes it’s like magic.” Given Kwanga, Believe Club Alumna   Second-year nursing students at Livingstone Central Hospital Schools of Nursing and Midwifery, Elizabeth Lubinda, 19, and Given Kwanga , 21, are completing a practicum at Maramba Clinic in Livingstone, Zambia, and finding a future that not only provides purpose, but greater economic security and independence.   The young women, graduates of GSGC-sponsored Believe Club headed by Auntie Gloria Mubita, say they feel confident and supported by the lessons they learned and the network they wove at Believe Club. They are fast friends.   “You feel a great responsibility put on your shoulders,” said Elizabeth “You do everything you can so that mother and baby are OK.” From breech and still births, to having healthy newborns named after them in appreciation, learn more about these amazing young women and the future your donations helped them create.

The Power of Words

“They began to speak up more often and with greater confidence.”   Holley Gilbert, GSGC Volunteer In the US, it is easy to take for granted the power of words like opportunity, independence, adventure. But for girls in rural Southern Africa, these words may never be heard, let alone internalized as possibility. Learning and using these words -- and getting comfortable speaking words like embarrassment, neglect, confrontation -- can broaden these girls' world view and unlock a brighter future. This is what GSGC is all about. Read about the vocabulary lessons that Holley Gilbert and Auntie Sfe led with members of Rise N’ Shine Girls Club. You'll gain a deeper understanding of girls' lives in rural Zimbabwe, the power of words to build confidence, and the impact of your donations . Excerpt: The girls of GSGC-sponsored Rise N’ Shine Club wiped clean the dusty plastic chair they set for me under the club’s open air, thatched-roof structure in rural Lupinyu, 12 miles outside Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe — and we got to work.   We started with one word: initiative.

Got Passion? “I watched this video at the end of a 14-hour day and thought, ‘This kind of passion will change the world.’ It felt like a brand new day.” Heather Patrick, GSGC Volunteer If you missed this video earlier this month, watch it now. If you’ve watched it before, watch it again and share the link. Nyika Muyambo, founder of Sisonke Boys Club, and GSGC's Smokey Dube share the elemental wisdom of raising boys to support girls in order to break the cycle of poverty in Africa. Thank you for supporting this work.

Girls going to school , Wayi Wayi Girls Club artist

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