Today was our Skillz Street graduation at Emang Mmogo. And while this past round of Skillz Street has been a whirlwind of emotions and stress (we were piloting a new version of Skillz Street this round), the graduation was simple, fun and made the past weeks worth it.
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| Coach Joyce with her team. |
The best thing about this graduation was that when it ended, I asked if I could speak to one of the girls, Thato. I met Thato the first day of Skillz Street and after convincing her that I was cool (no easy task, especially when I don't even know any hip and happening Tswana songs) she and I became pretty close. I wanted to talk to her just to let her know that I had a lot of fun with her over the past weeks, and also to shamelessly collect some "M&E data" for GRS.
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| Coach Debby, Thato and me. |
I loved talking to Thato! I got to hear, from a participant, what our program actually did for her! Thato told me two things that really stood out; I asked her if Skillz Street helped her and she replied, "very much because I used to think that menstruation was a disgrace and Skillz taught me that menstruation was natural." I then asked what she learned and shared with her friends and she answered, "I've learned that wearing short skirts is not an excuse to be raped and my friends and I can help each other and be there for each other to make sure these things - that they don't happen to us."
Pretty powerful stuff in my mind.
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