The story of a girl activist - Belize

http://www.theguardian.com/global-development-professionals-network/2013/dec/12/girl-advocates-thandiwe-diego-belize-interview

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My fight is for the empowerment of the girls in my community, through information, education and exposure to positive ideas.

<strong>Biggest challenge:</strong> Most girls in my community are poor. Most of them don't have access to the internet and other basic things such as food, water and electricity. Some of them live in abusive and dysfunctional homes. These factors stunt the girls' emotional, intellectual and physical growth.

<strong>Proudest moment: </strong>We broaden the girls' experiences by creating a traditional Garifuna [people of African and indigenous origin living in central America] singing group. We learn songs in Garifuna and sing them at the annual Garifuna Settlement Day re-enactment. Experiences such as these give the girls the chance to shine and be noticed positively by the whole community.

Accurate, fun and interactive information helps the girls to make better and more informed decisions. Higher self-esteem is also a big part of our fight to empower girls – because they are poor many of them are sneered at by the rest of the community. With higher self-esteem the girls can allow themselves to dream big.

When you have accurate information you tend to be more confident and are more likely to make better decisions. We use this philosophy in our fight to minimise the number of teenage pregnancies affecting the girls in the community.

When a girl gets pregnant most cannot go back to school, either because the school won't accept them or because of the burden of raising a child. Without education the girls most likely won't be able to achieve their career goal or get a decent paying job, thus continuing the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and exploitation.

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