English camp for girls
EMPOW ERING girls is pivotal to raising a generation of women who can positively influence our communities and world.
In order to create a space for girls to rediscover their own strength, English Teaching Assistants (ETA) Ciera Fleming and Kendall Iaquinta created a Girls’ Empowerment English camp for 40 Malaysian students to discuss these important topics.
The camp took place in Mentakab, Pahang with students in Forms Four and Five from SMK Mentakab and SMK Jengka 18.
Fleming and Iaquinta are part of the Fulbright English Teaching Assistants who have signed up for the programme, which started in Terengganu in 2006.
The programme is administered jointly by the Malaysian-American Commission on Educational Exchange (Macee) and the Education Ministry with volunteers sent to Terengganu, Pahang, Kedah, Perlis, Kelantan, Perak, Sabah and Sarawak.
Every year almost 100 Americans are placed at various schools around Malaysia to help increase English language proficiency, provide opportunities for cultural exchange, and build confidence amongst students in various ways.
English camps are a vital component of the ETA programme, to not only allow Malaysian secondary students to practise their English skills and talk to native English speakers but to engage in different themes that each ETA is passionate about.
The camp first focused on the power of minds and how internal monologues can either be beneficial or detrimental to self-confidence.
W ith the help of three ETAs from Pahang, three Macee coordinators and teachers from the two participating schools, the students began confronting their own insecurities and bravely shared their biggest fears.
This created a space for all participants to be comfortable in their vulnerability and feel confident in sharing their ideas about being a girl in Malaysia.
Through various activities the girls began to attack the way that negative perceptions of themselves impacted their lives and instead celebrated everything that they were capable of doing.
The girls also read biographies about inspirational women in Malaysia and other parts of the world.
The girls identified characteristics of all the women that had allowed them to be successful in their fields and impacted their communities. This led to the opportunity for the girls to affirm each other that they each uniquely have the same characteristics.
“The purpose of this camp is to encourage girls to always believe that they can be anything they set out to be, no matter what obstacles they face or what societal pressures try to force them to be,” said Fleming.
The camp culminated in an activity where the girls proclaimed a truth about themselves that directly combats the fear they boldly shared at the beginning of camp.
“W e wanted the girls to be reminded of their own strength, power, bravery, and kindness and hope that these truths they claimed for themselves will be something they hold tight to in times of trials,” said Iaquinta.