Tuesday was chilly! When the library was unlocked we huddled into our training room and played a game to warm up while others trickled in. After we all arrived we decided to follow-up the conversation from yesterday. We used our time in the morning to develop a more thorough discussion about our personal experiences trying to realize our sexual rights while holding up our responsibilities in our lives.
As the morning went on we happily followed the conversation as it led towards trying to reach a more nuanced understanding of what it means to have a right. We spent time talking about things like guidance versus control, virginity, etc..
After a tea break we started working with condoms! We wanted to learn how to advocate for safe and effective condom use in our communities, which of course, starts with condom balloons. We spent a while becoming comfortable handling, stretching, and blowing up and playing with condoms before learning how to counsel others in proper condom use.
Before lunch we all sat together again for a conversation about the place of negotiation when it comes to condoms and our role in demanding safe sex for ourselves. We are so thankful to Ansell for their donation of condoms, and Jamie at Destination Handmade for her donation of carrying cases! Having such thoughtful materials helped tremendously to create a more comfortable atmosphere around condoms. We were so excited to see that some of our Supergirls were able to take extra condoms at the end of the day to begin distributing on the street and they found that they were greatly appreciated!
After lunch we got to hear from Winnie, the Matabeleland Region Chapter Chairperson of “Sally Women’s Institute“. Winnie shared her own story of leadership through Sally Women’s Institute and the impact that her “pay it forward” concept has had on her own life and the community around her. Winnie encouraged us to be the candle to light the candles of other women, not the wind that blows the flame out. She encouraged us to see ourselves as the leaders of today, not apologizing for chasing our dreams, but rather, standing up and taking what is ours. Conversations about future initiative plans started immediately after she finished speaking.
*Side note: Winnie is the only reason we were able to get this workshop together when we landed in Bulawayo, and Sally from Sally Women’s Institute was our sole connection to Zimbabwe when we started actually putting this project together. We are SO THANKFUL for these two amazing women.*
Tuesday was good. We facilitators calmed down our nerves about awkward silences and learned how to step back a bit more today and let the magic happen in its own way. We are amazed by this opportunity to learn and so thankful for this group of girls who has come together to work on this conversation with us.
SUPERGIRLS OF ZIMBABWE 