GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp

As you may know, recently I was selected as one of two co-coordinators for GLOW Camp in 2007 and am currently training for that role alongside this year's coordinators. GLOW is a camp for young women 14 to 17 years old and has been an annual event for more than 10 years, as an ongoing project between Peace Corps volunteers and Moldovan community partners.

At camp 120 girls from throughout Moldova not only have fun with activities like "discoteka" night and "Halloween" (sharing our US holiday, costumes and all), but also attend workshops taught by PC and Moldovan volunteers in Russian and Romanian on topics such as leadership, conflict resolution, ecology, reproductive health, and dental hygiene. GLOW camp was created to provide young women with information they may not otherwise receive in schools or the home; to provide them with examples of strong women in the community (through visiting speakers); and to encourage them to make healthy choices for their future. We only require the young participants to pay a small fee to attend the week-long camp, far lower than that of comparable camps, because it is our goal that GLOW be open to all interested girls in Moldova regardless of their families' income.

Why do I mention this, other than the fact that I'm very excited to be one of GLOW's coordinators? Well, as you might imagine, putting on a camp of this size is no small feat, and we rely on the support of organizations and individuals in terms of human labor, supplies, and funding to make GLOW happen each year. If you are excited about GLOW and what it does for young women in Moldova, and would like to help ensure that we have another great camp this June, you can support GLOW in two ways:

1. Make an easy donation online using your credit card. Peace Corps Partnership Grants are posted on the main PC website, and they collect donations until the requested amount is reached. Then, the funds are released to GLOW so that we can buy necessary camp materials, pay for camp rent, transit for the campers, and so on.

To make a donation:

Click on this link http://www.peacecorps.com/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.projdetail&projdesc=261-138&region=europe That should take you right to it. Our requested donation is $2463.00, an amount that with your help I'm sure we can reach in a few short weeks. Just this morning, skip that frappachino and muffin, and instead put that 5 bucks toward GLOW. Less than 500 forfeited Starbucks trips from kind-hearted folks like yourself, and you will have made a difference in the lives of 120 girls!

If you have link issues:

• Go to the main PC site at www.peacecorps.com
• On the left-hand side of the screen click on "Donate Now"
• Click on the region "Eastern Europe and Central Asia"
• Scroll down the list of grants until you see Moldova, Camp GLOW 2006, listed under volunteer Breanne Svehla, my co-coordinator. Enter an amount in the box, then click "continue" at the bottom of the page. Easy peasy!

2. Consider sending us a package containing a few of the inexpensive but hard-to-find (in Moldova) supplies we need to make camp a wonderful experience for the campers. What are those supplies? Why, I'm glad you asked:

* Toothbrushes, small tubes of toothpaste, and possibly mouthwash to teach a dental hygiene class.
* Balloons—for our piñata. Sadly, the balloons we buy here have a tendency to burst almost immediately.
* Markers—it is difficult to find quality markers that will last here!
* Rit Dye—for TIE DYE!! Various colors
* Marshmallows—for s'mores. This is such a fun activity for the girls and something they have never seen before.
* Halloween stuff—makeup, masks, face paint, costume jewelry—anything that could be used in a costume would be very useful for our Halloween night.
* Prizes—anything that a 14-17 girl would want if she won something. For example: perfume, journals, craft kits, etc. (We have a few of these leftover from last year, so a minimal number of these are needed.)

Packages should be sent to the Peace Corps address, attn:

Breanne Svehla
Corpul Pacii
Str. Grigore Ureche 12
2001 Chisinau
Republica Moldova

I, the other coordinators, and the 120 future campers thank you for your kind consideration of this request!