We reversed our normal routine last Thursday—instead of traveling out to Pacca, a small community where our rural all-girls’ high school is, we invited the oldest class of girls from this school to our house for a lunch and a fun educational game that teaches financial literacy skills. Financial literacy is the ability to make judgments and decisions in the use and management of money. We used a training model that simulates a month of a loan cycle, in which each team or “mini-business” uses its loan to produce and sell an imagined product. Participants gain the necessary confidence in dealing with loans that aid in business development. We believe the game supplements our sports program by empowering girls in a novel setting, putting them in charge of their own money and business choices.

The financial literacy module was generously donated by Making Cents, a social enterprise based in Washington DC that provides specialized technical services and curriculum to individuals and organizations working in enterprise development.

Crowded around three tables in our living room, the fifteen enterprisers planned their businesses’ goods, which ranged from cheese and yogurt to gold necklaces and tourist alpaca sweaters. In the spirit of sensible finance management, they set aside some money for personal expenses such as food for their families, saved some in the bank, and used the rest to invest in their businesses, purchasing raw materials and transforming them into final products for sale. We challenged the students with “Life Cards,” hypothetical situations forcing them to pay for poor pecuniary decisions or to purchase gifts and donations for make-believe family members. We also enticed them with the opportunity to sell their products on credit to an unpredictable market. In the end, although all groups gained valuable lessons, just one group succeeded in managing its money and business prudently enough to meet the obligatory costs of repaying the rent and the original business loan, as well as to make off with a profit.

Once regrouped after lunch, we held a discussion about the pros and cons of different styles of business management. Previously we had been unsure whether or not the girls would engage in the game; though it can be fun, it is also confusing at the beginning and has to do with business administration, a topic we were unsure they would take to. We were heartened to hear their thoughtful comments which indicated new skills and ideas they had gleaned from the game experience. A few girls pointed out that these business concepts would apply to the agricultural research projects they conduct for their classes, semester-long assignments which often involve budget planning and business savviness.

This was the second positive reception of the game; we also found success conducting it with 10-year-olds from our city schools and their mothers. We now look forward to playing it with other Pacca classes and with the young mothers from Casa Mantay.

Join us for a Happy Hour to support GirlSportWorks!

When: June 10th, 6-9PM
Where: Gazuza (1629 Connecticut Ave, NW, Washington DC – north of the Dupont metro)

Every donation to GSW gets you one free drink ticket. Suggested donation is $15.
We will also be selling raffle tickets for exciting gifts from Georgetown Cupcake, the Washington Nationals, Nike, Rocket Bar, Sephora and Tranquil Spaces Yoga Studio!!

Feel free to bring your friends, significant others and co-workers. The more the merrier! We look forward to seeing you on June 10th!

If you are unable to join us, please consider showing your support by making a donation through this website.

We’ve added to our GSW program this semester by initiating sports classes in a safe-house for pregnant teenage mothers called Casa de Acogida Mantay (Mantay Welcoming Shelter). Although the home is in a part of Cusco called San Jeronimo, nearly all of the 13 girls housed there come from the surrounding campo, or rural countryside. The fates of a legal mandate or the social order have forced each girl to leave home, whether because her male aggressor remained too close in the house or community, or because the girl’s family refused to support another child. To us, the house seems to be a haven of order, stability and love for our students. Since all of the girls are aged between 12 and 18 and thus have many formative years ahead, the Casa gives them the opportunity to finish high school while benefitting from a safe place to raise their new babies in the company and support of others. Each mother collaborates to make the Casa function by carrying out her rotating duties around the house, such as cleaning, cooking and caring for the babies and toddlers in the guardería.

When we began classes at the Casa, we didn’t know what to expect with regards to the girls’ behavior. Judging by their ages, we thought they would act as least as mature as our younger city students or our similar-aged students from Pacca, the rural high school. Instead, we were shocked by their lack of maturity and cooperation skills. We treated this discouraging conduct as a challenge to improve our teaching skills and to create a fixed routine that the students could come to expect, follow and eventually respect. After a few weeks of mildly unpleasant and frustrating classes, upon returning to the Casa last week we have begun to find just that—the group motivates itself to do our warm-up run that has increased from 10, 11 to now 12 minutes, and all participate and make their best effort to finish, regardless of their physical condition. Furthermore, their skills in the three sports we’ve covered so far—kickball, baseball and Frisbee—have improved wildly, simply because their growing enthusiasm and commitment have fueled their improvement. Feeling heartened and hopeful, we look forward to rewarding these students with a field trip in a few weeks to the local pool in Cusco.

The past week in Cuzco we got an up close and personal introduction to Semana Santa, or Holy Week. This is the week leading up to Easter Sunday in the Christian faith, though the celebrations, food, and traditions here in Cuzco are markedly different from those that we’re used to in the States.

Semana Santa begins with Palm Sunday one-week prior to Easter. Here, Easter Sunday is not the climax of the week’s festivities. Contrary to celebrations back home, emphasis is placed more on the festivities and food of the preceding week. We discovered this firsthand on Monday, en route to our GSW fundraiser pub quiz that we make and hold weekly at the English pub, The Real McCoy.

After a long day teaching English and sports class at our Los Nogales School, we ran out of the house, pub quiz materials in hand, and began scrambling down the Cuzco cobblestone steps to get to the pub near the Plaza de Armas. Not so fast. We hit what amounted to a human brick wall going down the stairs towards the plaza, and we realized that people were packed liked sardines into the space. The near-claustrophobia I felt weaving our way through the crowds was all too reminiscent of the Carnival celebrations in Rio de Janeiro just a few months ago. Doing the baby-step/elbow dance, we were finally able to make it through to the other side and to our pub quiz, but were left wondering: why all the crowds on a Monday night?

As it turns out, an important part of Semana Santa celebrations in Cuzco revolve around the Señor de los Temblores, a statue of Christ kept in the main Cathedral in Cuzco. Legend has it that the Christ figure was responsible for stopping a major earthquake that hit Cuzco in 1650. The people took the Christ figure out of the church and onto the streets, and consequently the earthquake stopped. This particular Christ statue also has a unique feature: the dark coloring of his skin, caused by the religious fires they burned below his effigy during the procession. This oddity has come to represent the indigenous people, and is revered by the people of Cuzco. Every year during Semana Santa, this statue is removed from its home in the Compania de Jesus church and paraded around Cuzco, ending at the main cathedral in the Plaza de Armas. The parade may consist of only the statue and one float, but Cusqueñans show up en mass for the occasion.

Needless to say, it was a real treat to witness and learn about this yearly event in such an unexpected way.

Thanks to those of you who have expressed interest in GirlSportWorks!

We are no longer accepting applications for the 2010/2011 Project Manager positions.

Please check back next fall if you would like to apply for 2011/2012!

We’d all heard that the awe-inspiring archeological site of Machu Picchu had been closed due to the same flooding that left hundreds—even thousands—of people homeless in the rural surroundings of Cusco. Nevertheless, we were unprepared for the surprise of an empty, somber city upon our return in late February; with Machu Picchu inaccessible, most Cusco-bound tourists diverted their itineraries and left a ghost town of closed restaurants and a dismal tourist industry. Another unexpected repercussion of the torrential flooding was the effect on many of our students; most know someone affected by the floods, such as an aunt living in a tent in her town’s main square, or grandparents whose home and fields were carried off by a river that had overflowed. At our rural high school, Pacca, a number of girls were literally stranded in their towns and could not travel for their two-week stay at school. The lack of students in our urban classrooms—about 15% of capacity—discouraged our usual early-semester announcements about our sports classes. We later discovered that so many children, especially male students, were absent as their bewildered families kept them close during the painstaking reconstruction of houses and fields. Nevertheless, the schools appear to be filling up once again within the last week. We had huge turnouts for our initial sports classes, and our students were as excited to see us as ever, with spirits un-dampened by the natural disaster.

Our friend Sarah Murray, a long-time supporter of GirlSportWorks, created this video about the power of teaching girls sports. Enjoy!

We are currently seeking applicants for the 2010 – 2011 Project Manager positions! If you are interested in applying, please visit our “Get Involved” page. Applications will be considered on a rolling basis; all applications should be submitted by early February.

Although it was once the imperial capital of the Incas, today the city center of Cusco harbors a diverse international community. This includes expatriates from countries ranging from France to South Africa, as well as thrill-seeking travelers stopping off on their way to Machu Picchu. This Saturday, a holiday dinner we attended underlined this international vibe.

Our New Yorker friend Sheethal was the host of the party. She’s living in Cuzco for 3 months working as a fellow for the microfinance organization Kiva, where Kim is also a volunteer. Sheethal threw a potluck at her colorfully painted apartment and asked all invitees to bring a dish from their home country. She herself is of Indian descent and made a delicious curry and rice from Southern India.

The guests brought a variety of international dishes. The dinner table included a tortilla española, a spicy Chinese lettuce wrap, homemade guacamole, and a French chocolate torte. There were, of course, also a variety of typical Peruvian dishes such as rocoto relleno and ají de gallina. A friend from Lima made potent pisco and passion fruit sours (typical Peruvian cocktails), and there were a variety of wines from Chile and Argentina. In true American fashion, we decided to make a lattice-topped apple pie.

The pockets of conversations in the room flipped from Spanish to English to French and back again. Many talked about recent travels or volunteer work that they’re doing for NGOs here in Cuzco. Guests stayed late into the night laughing and sharing stories.

Although it’s well into December and the rainy season is in full swing, Cuzco is still an exciting place to be. We’ve played great games of ultimate Frisbee in the pouring rain, as the girls often refuse to stop their matches because of the common afternoon showers here. We have just begun our last week of classes for the semester and thus are treating the girls to their favorite games and sports and a goodbye gift of colorful toothbrushes. For ten-year olds, they have been surprisingly enthusiastic about receiving them. We wrap up classes in mid-December for the schools’ summer vacation, but are looking forward to beginning a new semester on March 1st.

Enjoy the holiday season!

Kim and Lauren

A few weeks ago, we decided to hold a “Survivor Day” in each of our schools. We molded it after the reality TV series and held eight competitions between the girls that tested a variety of athletic, coordination, and endurance skills. Although in the TV show the participants are divided into two competing groups, we thought it would be a good exercise to instead have the girls compete individually.
On our first test-run of the competition at our school Santoni, when we gathered the girls in close and explained that we would be holding our own version of Survivor—“like the TV show”, we explained—we were met with blank stares. “No entiendo”, one said, probably thinking that something had once again been lost in translation from the American profesoras.

While many of the girls have seen American television programs, it seems that this one in particular didn’t make it into their households. After quickly confirming that no one indeed had any idea what the TV show “Survivor” was, we tried a different approach at explaining our plan.

“Imagine that this entire playground is a thick, wild jungle. We have all just been dropped off on this deserted island, and to see who can survive the longest we are going to test your skills and endurance in eight different challenges. The winners of each event will receive a certain number of points, and at the end we’ll tally them up to see who is the winner.” The girls started to smile and giggle, some squeezing the arms of their friends in excitement.

“Those people over there,” we continued, pointing to a group of high-school boys playing soccer on the other half of the small gravel field, “they don’t exist”. “They are just trees!” one girl blurted out. With the girls pepped up for the competition at hand, we explained our first test: an endurance competition to see who could stand on one foot for the longest time possible—with eyes closed. As we are also trying to promote teamwork and good sportsmanship among the group, we lastly explained that the girl who demonstrated the best spirit and teamwork would receive an extra three points at the final tally—the equivalent of winning first place in one of the competitions.

Over the course of the next hour-and-a-half, we held running relays, a hula-hoop competition, and a volley contest. For the last competition, to lighten the mood and to take off some of the competitive edge, we had a smiling contest. Here, girls were paired up to face one another. They had to stare directly into one another’s eyes, and the first girl to smile was eliminated.

What we liked most about this day was that some of the girls who are not normally star athletes were also able to win competitions and gain points. In the end, the girl who we crowned “Survivor” demonstrated not just sheer athletic ability but also tenacity and team spirit.