Asunción, 11 August 2014
The idea to run the Free Being Me programme arose from a commitment made by our delegate to the 9th Helen Storrow Seminar where she experienced Free Being Me along with young women from all over the world.
Free Being Me was delivered with GG/GS from the city of Luque. We used the programmes with girls aged between 7-10 and 11-14 and over.
The programme started off being delivered during weekly meetings with the GG/GS, culminating in our Winter Camp held from 25 to 27 July at our Association’s HQ in the city of Areguá. We used the theme of Free Being Me for the camp as we believed it important to finalise the programme as all the girls involved had demonstrated a high level of enthusiasm during the weekly sessions. We also realised that a number of the girls had been enabled to talk about their self-esteem and body confidence as they had been experiencing discrimination or bullying in school as a result of beauty stereotypes that exist today.
The outcomes achieved were extremely positive. The girls learned a lot and were eager to continue with more Free Being Me activities. Each girl made a commitment to herself, her school, community and home to share the message of Free Being Me and to help many more children to regain self-esteem and confidence. The aim is also to teach the importance of self-acceptance as this gives them the confidence to do all the activities they enjoy and develop their fullest potential.