Just Like My Child Foundation’s Girl Power Project® is a transformational program targeting girls around the world as they enter the most vulnerable juncture of their lives: adolescence. This project steps in just as girls face the choices that will lead them to a life of early marriage, pregnancy, and disease OR a life of education, economic independence, and delayed marriage.
That’s why JLMC is investing in one of the most effective ways to create a global shift at the grassroots level: life skills and mentoring training for adolescent girls ages 12-15 so they are equipped to stay in school and avoid forced child marriage, early pregnancy, and disease.
The dream has always been to have Girl Power Project® go Global. It was created by working together, hand in hand with local community leaders, social workers, teachers, lawyers and health professionals. The curriculum was created to be replicable and transportable, using simple, kid-friendly language, making it entertaining and educational to any girl, anywhere in the world.
Two separate rounds of data collection and monitoring and evaluation of the impact of Girl Power Project on girls and communities were conducted. Both have proven a statistical change in the attitudes of girls and communities about their belief in themselves and their power, clearing the obstacles that girls have encountered to stay in school, avoid forced child marriage, early pregnancy, gender-based violence and disease. This data provides the evidence we have been waiting for to leverage Girl Power Project® for global impact.
In 2020, we achieved our dream of engaging with other partners both in the United States and in India with the intention to train and license them in the implementation of Girl Power Project. These partners are critical in working with the curriculum to tailor the content, language, and delivery for cultural relevance and appropriateness. Find out more details on these pages!
Step 1: Laying the Foundation
The Girl Power Project® aims to reach 50-80% of girls, aged 12-15 years, within a community with curriculum that is delivered through an intensive two-year program. Before Just Like My Child Foundation trains girls in the Girl Power Project® curriculum, essential community stakeholders gain the knowledge that is needed to support empowered girls.
JLMC lays the foundation for girls’ empowerment by:
Step 2: Workshops for Girls, Boys & Adults
JLMC works alongside primary school communities to create positive learning environments so girls can stay in school, learn, and excel. This three-day workshop is conducted with 50 girls from each school to facilitate discussion and understanding of essential social survival skills.
Topics include:
1-Day Workshop
7 Total Hours
50 Boys per School
Topics include:
Girl Power Project® Advocates are trusted adults in the community who learn the same Girl Power Project® curriculum that girls learn, and they’re equipped to support and mentor the girls in their community.
The same 50 girls from each school participate in another three-day workshop where they learn the importance and advantages of becoming mentors for their peers.
The second three-day workshop dives deeper into:
1-Day Workshop
7 Total Hours
50 Boys per School
Topics include:
The top 20% (10 girls) from each school are chosen by their peers, teachers, and Girl Power Project® Coordinators to attend Camp where they’ll graduate as Girl Power Project® Peer Mentors. Campers learn how to be effective mentors and receive AFRIpads, reusable menstrual pads that help girls maintain good hygiene and are critical for staying healthy and in school.
Step 3: After-School Clubs
With help from local partners and trusted adults in the community, JLMC’s program facilitators help girl Peer Mentors share what they have learned with others (including girls who do not attend school) through 12 monthly club sessions. Each Club Session reinforces the curriculum covered in the first two workshops by supplementing girls’ knowledge with additional skills and resources. Some club sessions invite the entire community to participate, so that girls are learning alongside their parents, guardians, and siblings.
Click the boxes below to learn more about each topic:
Planning Your Financial Future:
In this Club Session, girls learn basic self-defense and ways to attract help in partnership with local police officers.
“Through the Girl Power club sessions, I have learned it’s important to stay in school and to get more knowledge and information.”
“In the training I learned about menstruation. So when I had my first period, I knew what to do and I also help other girls in the same situation by telling them what they should do to make sure they go through the period with ease.”
“Before, I was so shy I couldn’t even speak to people. Now I can speak to people freely and I’m assertive. I make sure that that person understands me well. I learned how to protect myself. I learned that I should not be violated and I should have my human rights respected.”
“Since the last Girl Power training, my self-esteem has improved. I love myself more than ever before.”
From Girl Power Project® student to mentor to Just Like My Child intern. Read how the project has transformed Joan’s life and has her walking confidently down a path toward being a gynecologist and obstetrician. READ MORE
With support from our partners, the Girl Power Project® is providing girls with the tools they need to successfully navigate adolescence. Some of our partners include:
Help us pass the Girl Power Project® on to more vulnerable adolescent girls living in poverty.
With a small investment, you can transform a girl’s life and future:
…giving her the opportunity to become a Peer Mentor, equipped to teach others about the rights a girl has to her own mind, body, and future.
…through the Girl Power Project®, empowering her with the tools she needs to stay in school and avoid forced child marriage, early pregnancy, and disease.
…through the Girl Power Project®, empowering them with the tools to stay in school and avoid forced child marriage, early pregnancy, and disease.
…for $10,000 or more you can bring the Girl Power Project® to an entire community, reaching up to hundreds of girls and their community members.
