A week of leadership

Posted by Dounia Bredes, Youth Outreach and Marketing Coordinator for Plan International USA

Campers ready to go boating on Lake Aldersgate



Whew! We just wrapped up a whirlwind week at Leadership Camp, Plan International USA’s signature global gathering of youth that takes place right here in Rhode Island.

40+ teens from across the United States, plus several youth representing Plan Liberia, Plan Bangladesh, and enpaK in Haiti, all came together to talk leadership and tackle global issues. Between their many intense workshops and activities, campers also found time to roast s’mores (some for the first time!), climb through a ropes course, and perform community service in the city of Providence.

How to summarize a week’s worth of awesome advocacy, community-building, and learning? Well, here are some highlights.

• 21st Century Advocacy. Campers learned how to tweet, blog, and “Like” their way to raising awareness about issues they care about. There’s no such thing as “slacktivism” for YUGA campers!
• Kony 2012 Debate. Amanda Taub, an author of the Wronging Rights blog, led a thought-provoking discussion on Advocacy vs. Badvocacy, a debate related to the viral video Kony 2012. No matter how you feel about the movie or the organization Invisible Children, it’s worth reading about her points!
• Because I Am a Girl Workshop. Members of Plan’s Because I am a Girl team came to camp to educate our youth activists on Plan’s initiative and prepare them for YUGA’s fall campaign, which focuses on gender equality!
• Water & Sanitation Workshop. Members of Plan’s Water, Sanitation, and Health (WASH) team came to camp to engage our teens in thinking about the importance of this natural resource. Never take a latrine for granted! Now campers are ready for YUGA’s spring campaign, Walk for Wells!
• Community Service. Campers remembered to “think global, act local”–and they gave back to the Providence community by volunteering at the Rhode Island Food Bank and at Children’s Friend and Services of Rhode Island.

But even all these highlights can’t capture the connections made and the empowerment that went on at camp. Kevin, who received a camp scholarship from Mayor Angel Tavares in Providence, put it this way:

During this week I had the worst, and the best, feeling. The best is that I met all of the campers and staff. We laughed together. But the worst is that it lasted for only a week…YUGA taught me a lot, and I promise that I will make change and be a change in my community.

All in all, Leadership Camp provided a solid foundation for a year's worth of advocacy ahead. YUGA's fall campaign focuses on the Because I am a Girl initiative, so these young leaders are now putting their new advocacy skills to work in support of girls' rights and gender equality. And in the spring, YUGA's growing network will be taking action for water and sanitation through our Walk for Wells campaign.