Mare Girls Club Preparations

I cannot even explain how frustrating this journey has been to start a girls club. My whole life I have been involved in girls clubs, from girl scouts to brigade and beyond. It has made up such a huge part in my life that I want to help other girls experience something special as well. I was inspired during training to apply for a VAST grant and start a girls lifeskills club in my village. I had no idea how to do that, so I asked my supervisor. She told me to wait because we would be trained on it later. So I found some other volunteers who had done the same thing in their villages and got their curriculum. I began tweaking it and molding it to me. 6 months later, we were trained on grants. I began working on my grant proposal. It was more work than I had expected, but that was ok because it would result in wonderful things. The grant process took me to Polokwane to get some pro forma invoices stating how much money I need to purchase the necessary supplies. My first trip was not successful as it was a Saturday and businesses would not give me the invoices on a weekend. Normally, that would have been devastating. But the next week, there were 2 days off of school for a school holiday. I made my way back to Polokwane to finish my task. I completed my grant proposal and submitted it. I waited for what seemed like forever. Then, I got a text message from our grant manager saying my grant was approved! I was so excited and began planning again. The funds were put into my account and I made plans to go shopping for my supplies. I called ahead and ordered everything from computer printer ink to craft supplies to storage compartmemts and planned to bring Adam with me when he arrived to help carry everything. When we got to Polokwane, most of the supplies were not ready. A friend of mine who I arranged to pick us up came and brought us back to the village. I now had a dilemma. I was on a month long vacation with Adam and had planned to start the girls club upon my return, but I didn't have the necessary supplies. I met with the 2 women who will help with the club and filled them in on what we still needed to do and we decided to start on August 5. I'd have to figure something out. When I returned to my village at the end of July, I planned another trip to Polokwane and off I went. I was able to get a few things, but I am still missing at least 1 item from each of the 16 weeks projects except 2, but we're starting anyway! So I typed up the invitations, printed them off, and Cainah, my counterpart who is helping me run the club, helped me hand them out on Friday. So here we go!