My favourite moment of Girl Talk is at the end, when the session is over and the girls have this look on their face, I like to call it the face of new freedom. It usually hits when the girls receive information that’s imperative. When they are taught that rape is 100% the rapists fault, that they do not deserve rape and that they have every right to stand up for themselves.
It almost felt like these girls have been living in a cage of forced oppression where they are made to feel like they are responsible for the violence they face. That changes after our talks, and our last Girl Talk and at Kacheta Primary & Secondary school was no different. We had two sessions, 100 girls and I saw that look on each face. These girls were finally being taught body autonomy, they were receiving information about their Sexual Reproductive Health Rights that they had never received in their lives.
They finally had a space to talk about issues that affect them, they finally felt heard and validated. These young girls, aged 14-18 were given a space to feel at home, experience a sisterhood and be handed information that would change their lives.
Girl Talk Zambia, has made it our mission to help raise the next Feminist Generation, to create spaces for them that help them grow and experience life with liberated minds and free hearts.
With Kacheta we helped change the lives of 100 girls and the people in their lives. We taught them to question and understand the world around them so that they could help build a world that treats them as equals and valuable members of society.
Ann Kay Hollande
GT Coordinator, Zambia
