The VEZ Voliunteer Awards in Germany selected GGM Germany, our newest chapter, as one of its awardees, honoring 21 projects from 201 applications that have impressed with their innovative and committed contributions.
VEZ was particularly pleased that Global Girl Media Germany was bringing the second volunteer award in the women’s power category to Schwerte. The award winners came from all over North Rhine-Westphalia, such as Cologne, Düsseldorf, Münster and Schwerte. GGM Germany supports girls and women in the media sector through training and workshops. GGM Germany has the motto: “Be the heroine of your life, not the victim” (Nora Ephron, filmmaker, USA).
In addition to the prize money of 200 euros, each winner received a trophy, a certificate and, most importantly, a tree planting in the Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania state forest.
A top-class jury selected the award winners, including the well-known artistic director and professor of acting and directing at the Folkwang University in Essen, Brian Michaels. Board member and Program Director Meike-Corina Kühne-Schmithausen traveled to Duisburg with press spokeswoman Henriette Kühne and joyfully and proudly accepted the NRW volunteer award.
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GGM Greece wins Mediterranean Women’s Fund for Climate Project
GGM Greece recently received a grant from the Mediterranean Women’s Fund to launch a project in the UNESCO protected eco zone of Zagorochoria, a remote mountain region in Northern Greece. The project, titled DIAVA, or ‘road,’ will feature a media training and documentary on ‘transhumance’ historically practiced in the region.
An ancestral practice, transhumance relates to the seasonal driving of livestock and entails social practices and rituals related to the care, breeding and training of animals and the management of natural resources. Transmitted informally within families and communities, the practice strengthens cultural identity and ties between families, communities and territories while counteracting the effects of rural de-population. The project is in partnership with the Eco Museum of Zagori: https://ecomuseumzagori.gr/ -
Global Girl Media Greece at the Athens WOW Women’s Festival!
For the second year in a row, GGM Greece is participating in the Athens WOW Women’s Festival, 2024 held at the Stavros Niarchos Cultural Center. GGM Greece produced four videos of women’s stories that highlight dedication, courage and resilience. Four true stories that focus on a different background each time: a female member of the Greek Muslim Roma community of Thrace, a mother of an LGBTI+ child, a refugee and survivor of gender-based violence, and a filmmaker empowering young female activists through digital media education. The aim is through these stories is to strengthen the voices of women from all walks of life, offering the public the opportunity to hear first-hand people they would not meet in their everyday lives talking about sensitive issues, about paths of personal development that inspire, for the transformative power of solidarity. https://www.snfcc.org/WOWStories
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NEWSWEEK: SOPHIA RISING: THE STORY OF ONE GIRL DEFYING THE ODDS
FROM NEWSWEEK
Author: Laura Powers
A new film is changing the narrative of young woman and girls in Africa. Produced by young women, “Sophia Rising” follows the story of Sophia, a nineteen year old in Northern Kenya, as she escapes child marriage, female genital mutilation (FGM) and limited access to education to graduate high school and apply for university. The film was written, filmed and produced by Kenyan and Tanzanian girls, as part of the UNEARTH project, is a collaboration between BRAVE, Global Girl Media, and Samburu Girls Foundation, and puts young women and girls at the center both as the subject and as the storytellers.
The challenges that Sophia has faced are not uncommon. At 14, her family (predominantly her uncles) pressured her to marry a 58 year old man. With the support of her father, she was able to avoid that life and attend school instead but not all have been as lucky. According to UNICEF, in 2014, 23% of women in Kenya were married before the age of 18. Sophia’s older sisters were married by the age of ten, and there is pressure for her younger sister to follow suit.
With the pressure to marry at a young age, receiving an education can be challenging. In Northern Kenya, 19% of girls start school, let alone finish. But studies have shown that higher rates of young women with an education and an independent income reduce violence against women and improve overall economic strength. Women often bear the brunt of negative impact from climate change, political violence and economic downturns, but without access to education, it is difficult for them to enter spaces where there voice will be heard on these issues.
As the film and Sophia’s story highlights, women in these difficult situations are not without agency. Without being handed the space to speak out, women in places like Kenya are increasingly creating their own spaces to tell their stories. Non profits are supporting these efforts, like Fempo in Democratic Republic of Congo, which gives women the training and tools necessary to run for public office.
One of the co-producers of the project, BRAVE, has discovered a unique way to support young girls and provide them with skills and self-confidence to speak out: Travel. BRAVE takes young women and girls facing violence, child marriage and FGM and takes them on a trip across their country, which is often the first time these girls have left their communities. India Baird, the founder and director of BRAVE, says, “BRAVE uses the challenge of travel and adventure in wild places to create opportunities for girls, and works with those who can provide the resources, knowledge, experience, and safety that girls need to lead.” The trips create a safe space for them to speak about their experiences, while learning about things like conservation, advocacy and even filmmaking. By learning from other girls in different situations, as well as discovering the experiences of people in other parts of the country, these young women gain understanding of issues that they face, and brainstorm solutions.
