GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Albania - First National Conference

#LetItGLOW !

Minister Gjermeni giving her inspiring Keynote

DURRES, ALBANIA - This last month has been a great success, particularly with the GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) initiative here in Albania. The first national conference was held on September 11th-14th 2014 with Minister Eglantina Gjermeni as the inspiring keynote speaker in attendance, as well as US Ambassador to Albania, Alexander Arvizu and Peace Corps Albania Director, Earl Wall.

Ambassador Arvizu celebrating with the girls

GLOW is a Peace Corps initiative to teach girls about leadership, women's empowerment, and self-awareness/health through collaboration and peer-based learning. Although already well underway in other Peace Corps countries, GLOW Albania is celebrating its first full year of GLOW activities - Local GLOW Camps and the recent National GLOW Conference. 

ACT Award from the US Embassy to GLOW Albania!

Also a treat was the award surprise from the US Embassy to GLOW Albania. The ACT award came as quite a surprise to GLOW participants, who each received a certificate for their work in developing as future leaders of Albania. Needless to say, this was quite an honor, and the girls were so very happy.

As a member of Barazia Gjinore (translated from Albanian to "Gender Equity"), the committee overseeing the GLOW initiative for Peace Corps here in Albania, I was there in an administrative capacity (read "professional helper") as an official GLOW photographer. I got the opportunity to see the magic of the groups and workshops in action.

Me as a GLOW cheerleader

Although the girls individually already represent a driven, and motivated subset of the Albanian population, there is something wonderful that happens when they all converge and share that energy. They get to see that they are not alone, and that it is okay to dream big. In fact they should dream big! Although in many respects, Albania is still rather traditional with regards to the expectations of women in society, these girls are ready to break through any unspoken limitation and reach for the stars. They can see others who have done so, including Minister Gjermeni. I suppose another real treat from this experience has been that they can see that change can start with them - They need not wait for others to lead the way, because they are each, individually and collectively, changing the landscape of their society already.

To find out more about GLOW Albania and Barazia Gjinore, check us out on Facebook. And don't forget... #LetItGLOW !