I formed the Facebook group after visiting Namibia's GLOW Camp and realizing that they had different resources and used a vastly different organizational model than we had in Swaziland, while still staying true to the same GLOW message. Surely, I thought, we can learn from each other. Thus, the Facebook group was born.
One thing I'd really like to see happen with the Facebook group is to form some kind of institutional memory. I'm pretty sure no one outside of PC headquarters even knows how many countries have GLOW, how they get their funding, or what their individual country missions are. It would be great to be able to share that information with each other and with our host-country GLOW counselors so that everyone feels like they are a part of something bigger.
Another important function of the Facebook group is to share best practices. It seems like every two years, PCVs and local counterparts in many countries have to re-invent the wheel when it comes to youth camps. We can really learn from the past by exchanging best practices and by working to solve structural and sustainability issues.
Additionally, the group will provide a platform for exchanging low-input lesson plans – an area where Peace Corps manuals are distinctly dry and not always as content-rich as we'd like them to be.
There are a lot of discussions right now in various Peace Corps countries about how to involve boys and men in female empowerment generally, and in the GLOW program specifically. I don't think there's a one-size-fits-all solution to this question, but it's certainly a philosophical one that could be debated within the Facebook group context.
The group can also be used as a platform to inform others about cool developments in female/gender empowerment and as a resource for scholarship and conference opportunities. Maybe even one day, we can use the Facebook group to advertise an international GLOW conference!"
GADGab Goes Global
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