By Amanda Ojeda and Colleen Meosky
Hi East! We are Amanda Ojeda and Colleen Meosky, the co-Presidents of Girl Up. Mrs. Fey-Daly is our awesome supervisor. Girl Up consists of over 4,000 clubs and groups spanning through 125 countries, including our club at the school! Prior to this year, Girl Up has been an integral club in the Williamsville East community. However, due to the pandemic, we are currently in the process of reinstating Girl Up as an official virtual club. The group has already had one successful meeting, full of young adults eager to inspire change. Girl Up is a global organization whose main goal is to inspire this generation of girls to make an impact in gender equality and social change. Members of Girl Up recognize the disparities for women across the world, and use their powerful voices to spread awareness and combat these inequalities. This year Girl Up is celebrating its 10th year of advocating for young women all across the world.
Image from act.girlup.org
The Girl Up community focuses on three main issues that encapsulate a majority of women’s problems. These three are health, safety, and education. Women, especially those in third world countries, oftentimes do not have access to a hospital or any type of healthcare services. The nearest health center could be ten miles away, and without access to transportation, getting there is nearly impossible. Around the world 132 million young women and girls are out of school. This can be simply because some countries just don’t offer girls education, or due to tradition, they are expected to do household duties like cooking, cleaning, and taking care of their siblings. Along with their educational and health related struggles, women are often victimized and prone to be the targets of crime. At Girl Up, we educate and do what we can to eliminate these issues for modern day women, in the hopes that the next generation won’t need to.
Our usual meetings include discussions revolving around the many stigmas and challenges girls and women face around the world. We also love to host movie nights and are always open to suggestions! Throughout the year, we will be organizing donation drives to women’s correctional facilities, as well as domestic violence shelters. We have lots of ideas and plans to make Girl Up an incredible experience and source of learning for everyone, and we’d also love to hear your ideas! Please join our Google Classroom using the code: dn7gxpi and follow our Instagram @wehsgirlup
We are looking forward to a fantastic year, and we hope you’ll join us for it!
