Sundays were family time when I was growing up. At least until we three Woodley children became teenagers and developed teen interests and activities. Thankfully, the proverb “Raise a child up in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not stray from it,” in many ways held true for me.
After Sunday family dinner, Dad would pile us all into the car and head for an adventure—sometimes a new neighborhood, sometimes Christmas downtown St. Louis and sometimes my favorite spot, the airport. My brothers and I would look at the enormous planes taking off and landing, our faces glued to the far off eyes of those lucky passengers who we imagined to be wealthy. My brothers dreamed of flying the plane, of building the plane, but me, I dreamed of being on a plane and traveling to as many places as a plane might carry me.
My childhood training prepared me well for Global Girls and now we’re preparing a generation of girls to step outside their comfort zones to dream, learn, create and share. Our girls are learning to use their voices to tell their stories not just in our communities or our hometown, Chicago, but also on an international stage. Their latest and by far, most awe-inspiring adventure was just a couple of weeks ago in Kenya, East Africa.
After months of planning under the guidance of Dr. NanaEfua B. Afoh Manin of Chicago who led us to Dr. Teresa Gipson in Portland, Oregon, seven Global Girls representatives piled onto a plane, on a Sunday afternoon and embarked on our cultural exchange. The passengers included two staff Marvinetta Penn, Executive Director and Naimah Cyprian, Associate Director and five girls Christina Rice 13, Tasha Rice 16, Prosper Johnson 16, Ryonn Gloster 17 and Rucca Ademola 17. Twice we’ve travelled to Ghana in West Africa on a similar mission, but never before with the hands on assistance and support that we received on this trip.
From the time we were greeted at the airport by James of Saddlebill Travel until he waved “see you again soon” to us at airport two weeks later, we experienced the most gracious, sincere, and beautiful group of people- children and adults- I have ever known. We stayed at Musmark Retreat, a home away from home with beautiful grounds for walking and meditating. We rode the matatus and learned to negotiate fares like a Kenyan (at least we thought we could). We lived and bonded with welcoming, loving families in the rural area of Bware. We shared songs and dances and stories with students in ten schools and learning centers. We played soccer with students and were entertained by courageous, talented girls. In short, we received far more than we gave or anticipated giving on this trip.
On behalf of Global Girls, I am committed to continuing the relationships begun through Dr. Gipson with Ray of Hope Clinic & Learning Center, the BUCHWA team and the cadre of schools we visited in Bware. We look forward to finally meeting Dr. Gipson in person and discussing the details of that relationship.
When boarded our plane heading back to Chicago we knew we were among the luckiest and wealthiest people in the whole world.
Naimah with students from Ray of Hope An inside view of the matatu ride Tasha and Christina present seeds to
Learning Center the BUCHWA group
We give our girls an international perspective by taking them abroad on cultural exchange/volunteer trips.
We also visited Accra, Ghana in West Africa, September 2005 and January 2007.
You can support or join us for our next trip.
Email: globalgirls@sbcglobal.net for details