Expanding Lives in Ouidah, Benin

Expanding Lives had a unique summer conference this year – we held our conference in the town of Ouidah, Benin.  Eight American volunteers travelled to the West African country to meet with six Nigerienne girls that have been to our conference in Chicago before, and two Nigeriens that work for our sister organization MICA.  We also had the good fortune of working with numerous residents of Ouidah that helped us put our program together.  Our time was spent with classes for the Nigerienne girls taught by American volunteers, cultural activities, and panel discussions.  But my favorite event was a one-day conference held for local Beninese girls.

Conference planning: Rahila (left) and Mariatou (right)

Twelve local Beninese girls, in grade 7, came for a conference taught entirely by our Nigerienne alums.  Given a whole day for the conference, the Nigerienne girls planned out with each other what they wanted to teach and how they wanted to teach it.  This conference was meant to be a trial run of sorts.  After returning from Chicago, our girls are expected to teach other girls in their community.  They already held one conference last September in Niger for middle-school girls and it seemed to be a huge success.  At this conference in Benin, the Americans with Expanding Lives wanted to observe and then offer guidance with how the girls planned and executed it.

Introduction: our leaders up front

Our Nigerien young women trained our new Beninese girls

 

Having never seen these girls in that kind of teaching role before I didn’t know what to expect.  Would they be able to engage the younger girls?  Keep control of the classroom?  Plan enough material?

The leaders started out with a get-to-know you-get-comfortable game

                                                           Holy cow did they rock it.  

Watching this conference unfold was the greatest experience I had in Benin.  With no outside help from us, these girls executed a hugely successful day.  Super-quiet Roukaya commanded the room with poise, and go-getter Rahila managed the needs of different students beautifully.  I cannot put into words how proud I am of these girls.  It is amazing to see how much they have grown from their first days in Chicago just a few years ago.  Watching this conference, I am confident that our girls will continue to be successful, powerful forces in their communities and will continue to spread Expanding Lives’ mission through many more conferences in Niger.  I am so proud and grateful to be a part of this organization.

Rakia started with leadership class

Mariatou worked on English

Beninese girls were very engaged

Marlia used her teaching skills on Peer Mediation

A trained and perhaps natural teacher, Marlia adds a lot to the group of leaders. 

Roukaya insisted that the girls "Get in there!" to solve problems

The girls listened to each other and took lots of notes. 

Roukaya

The girls talked about the types of problems they could solve with mediation. 

Girls acting out problems and mediation skills

 

Aissa talks about the importance of knowing our bodies for personal health.
Her self-confidence and willingness to talk about personal experience put the girls at ease. 

Aissa teaches about the menstrual cycle

Rahila focused on yoga exercises for relief from stress and menstrual pain. 

Reach for the sky!

Katherine Aulis is a member of the Junior Board.  She travelled to Benin to teach the Women’s Health classes.