The Get #GirlConnected screening and panel discussion on gender biases was truly a global conversation. Audience members hailed from every corner of the globe: Haiti, India, Kenya, Israel, Guatemala, Canada, Cote d’Ivoire, and major cities around the US. Classrooms in Colorado and Virginia, domestic non-profit organizations working with at-risk youth and victims of sexual exploitation, […]
Thank you for an empowering #GirlConnected screening and panel! We are inspired by our thoughtful conversation on how gender stereotypes constrain girls’ and women’s potential, and how we as a global community can support girls to transcend them. If you didn’t get the chance to watch the Girl Connected film it is available for free online, along with the Girl Connected […]
Over 30 girls in Kabi Nazrul Bidyapith School in Satkhira, Bangladesh watched and celebrated the 500th screening of the Women and Girls Lead Global documentary, Girl Connected. They were joined by a very special guest- none other than one of the stars from the film, Latifa!
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to India, Koen meets Ayesha, an international Karate champion and advocate for women’s safety. Koen remarks, “Girls as young as six years old come to her weekly class…When she enters the park for her training sessions, everything changes… Her speech becomes louder and clearer, and her body is strong and determined… This is where Ayesha is at her best, fulfilling her dream to become a teacher to other girls.”
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to Bangladesh, Koen meets Latifa, a fourteen-year-old anti child marriage activist, driven by her own narrow escape from the fate of a child bride. Koen shares, “When you hear Latifa argue with the adults, you’d think she was 18… Then as she walks on to the next village, a duck crosses her path. She starts chasing it with a friend, giggling their way through the high grass. You look at her then and she’s twelve years old again, living the moments she missed when she went into hiding, fearing for her destiny.”
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to Kenya, Koen meets Michelle Buyaki, one of six female engineering students in her class, and a powerful advocate for girls’ leadership in every field. Koen recalls an intimate evening with Michelle and her family in their Nairobi home. Over food and dancing, Koen reflects, “Once you get to know Michelle’s family: her mother and father, her aunt Vanessa, her grandmother and her siblings, you start to understand where goodness in people is born.”
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to Jordan, Koen meets Ghazal, a stereotype-defying artist who invites other women and youth into her creative world. Koen reflects, “Ghazal might not seem so different from my own teenage daughter and the girls she hangs out with, but in her country she is truly unique…. Ghazal challenges the perception of onlookers, the common people on the street, while involving other women in achieving it…. I can’t think of a more peaceful, colorful and beautiful way of using creativity as a motor behind the liberation of young Jordanian women. “
In this blog series, Koen shares some of his experiences from the making of Girl Connected. In his visit to Peru, Koen meets Josi, a youth activist and reproductive rights advocate from the Amazon. Koen recalls, “Josi proved to me that it isn’t necessary to be outgoing in order to be passionate. You just have to believe strongly in what you are talking about, and then the words will come by themselves.”
Girl Connected captures complex and inspiring stories of girls in five countries taking on the enormous challenge of tackling issues like child marriage, gender-based violence, reproductive health rights, and the many forms of discrimination girls face all over the world – all while balancing their lives as teenage girls. The film launched globally on our […]