Helping The Clubs by building A Safe Space

2018 - 2019

For 2018, The Seraphine Project's main goal was fulfill a long time dream of GSGC and lead a critical effort to fund the first permanent safe space for the girls. This space is intended to serve several important purposes and give GSGC a true home base in Victoria Falls.

First, the girls need privacy and confidentiality to share the most challenging issues they face. Although there is a current meeting place for every club, many of them are quite loud and open to other students or the public. Having a dedicated, private space allows the girls to speak more freely.  It also serves as a place for Aunties and girls to talk 1:1 outside normal club meetings.

Another use for this space is as a special meeting place for clubs within reasonable distance to meet regularly. The Aunties also need to meet regularly with each other to discuss their work, share ideas, and help each other solve complicated challenges.

Finally, the is a resource center - which is actually a really big deal. The GSGC girls have little access to books, art supplies and basic technology. Many things that most every girl in the US has at home are very hard to come by in Zimbabwe and Zambia, so for the clubs to have access to materials like this is huge. Even basic WIFI is hard to come by. Having reliable internet access will allow Aunties and girls to connect beyond their communities. 

In addition to all this, a permanent safe space is somewhere that GSCG leaders work, meet with visitors, and share the vision of what's being accomplished. This means they will also have access to technology, making their jobs much easier and allowing them to continue to grow and expand the number of clubs served by GSGC.