T&T is hosting the international pilot programme of Girl Be Heard (GBH), a New York-based women-led empowerment programme that uses socially conscious theatre making to "develop, amplify and celebrate" the voices of young women.
Abigail Ramsay, GBH's director of global partnerships, said GBH will be acting as mentors to local NGO 2 Cents Movement as they implement the programme at Bishop's Centenary College in Port-of-Spain.
"We're bringing best practices from working with GBH (in New York) and letting them add their genius to it. We chose T&T for the international pilot programme because many of our girls or their parents are from the Caribbean and also because of the warm reception we received when we came to T&T for the first time in March 2016."
The pilot, which runs from January-June 2016, will see the girls writing shows based on their experiences; the shows will be put on in March and June. The GBH teaching artist–in this case, Penelope Spencer–would interact with the girls in workshops using a girl empowerment curriculum.
Ramsey said, "The programme is a listening model where the teachers get the content from the girls to build the lesson plans."
Co-founder and executive director Jessica Greer Morris said the programme has received the same reaction in each of the seven or eight countries it's performed in.
"We talk about bullying, body image, gender-based violence, domestic violence, incest, anything affecting a girl, and then so many girls come up to us and say, 'Me too, I'm being bullied,' 'I hate my body,' 'I'm LGBTQ and I'm ashamed,' 'I've been a victim of incest,' and it's the same thing everywhere. So we use the healing power of art and come up with ways to recover from trauma.
"First you have to have awareness, then acceptance and then you can have action." Morris said GBH had learned it was important to take into account the trauma the girls would have suffered and how this affected them.
The first run of the programme is being funded by the US Embassy, although additional funding is being sought for other schools.
The embassy's public affairs officer Stephen Weeks said when the group came to T&T, they received an overwhelmingly positive response.
"Empowering girls and fighting gender-based violence is a big priority for us at the embassy. We hope that by bringing people together who have experienced some of the same things, they can help each other to heal and to address the issue from a cultural or even policy perspective."
He added, "A lot of the girls (...) their eyes were opened. I think a lot of girls didn't realise you could talk openly and creatively about these issues and were very inspired by it."
Activist Nicole Chin-Joseph of Ms Brafit, a T&T-based breast health company, initiated the project. Chin-Joseph said she first saw GBH in New York and immediately knew she had to get the group to come to T&T.
"I was at a conference focusing on women's rights and human rights issues. When I saw GBH perform, it struck me immediately that this could be something that we would benefit from as a nation and I said to them I am bringing you to Trinidad. I knew GBH wanted to go global, and said why not here?"
Weeks said GBH found a natural partner in 2CM, and he admired the way they had taken the opportunity to expand the spoken word space in T&T.
Managing director of 2CM, Jean-Claude Cournand, said there were three main benefits to working with GBH. The first is that T&T would get a fully developed curriculum from GBH that had already been tested, at no cost to the country, while the programme has also created jobs. Secondly, 2CM could use the curriculum to develop other programmes for use with young men and for other issues. Thirdly, partnering with GBH would also allow 2CM to expand their platform for outreach, as most of 2CM's members are male.
Thespian and teacher Penelope Spencer has been hired as the GBH teaching artist, while Deneka Thomas from 2CM is the assistant teaching artist, with Tishanna Williams as understudy.
Following auditions, 15 girls have been chosen to be a part of the programme. Thomas said the programme gives the girls the opportunity to address issues affecting them and other girls through theatre, writing and perfor�mance.
"These girls have things to say and not enough avenues to speak out. Many come from troubled homes, have seen terrible things, have been broken or are simply not courageous enough to address things they care about. This programme helps them learn how to advocate for world issues artistically."
She said society needs programmes like this, as "girls need empowerment, to feel wanted and cared for, to realise their full potential and excel beyond their cir�cumstance or predisposi�tion."
Spencer said she was humbled by the talent shown during the auditions. "The girls are so talented and they're just wanting to be seen and heard. Right now they think they're limited and nobody wants them [...] or nobody hears them. Some of these girls are very trauma-filled."
Spencer said she was look�ing forward to the opportu�nity to help shape the girls' talent and their lives.
"This programme will give them a space [where] they can be themselves without judge�ment. When I was younger, I was told to shut up for a long time so we want them to know they have a voice. It's about teaching them to be leaders, to be able to think critically and make the right decisions and choices for them.
"If this programme con�tinues happening over the next 20 years all over T&T, we could have a whole bunch of women who are strong, who understand their power and know that they have val�ue. That's the kind of woman I want to pave the way for. That's where I want to go."
ABOUT GIRL BE HEARD
Started in 2008, Girl Be Heard is a New York-based organisation that "provides a space for women and girls between the ages of 12 and 21 to write and perform their own work," said a BuzzFeed story on the group.
It uses this writing "to raise awareness about violence against women, economic insecurity; trafficking, and other issues," said a web page on the group hosted by the New York Women's Foundation. "Their Girl Empowerment Program allows youth to express and heal from traumas such as bullying, sexual abuse and body image dysmorphia."
On Guidestar, a website where NGOs share their goals, mission and funding information, GBH wrote, "We are growing steadily, and have grown from a volunteer organisation in 2008 to ten full-time and nine part-time staff in 2015." On the same source it said its donors include the Novo Foundation, New York Women's Foundation, Common Sense Fund, New York City and the US State Department.
More info: Go to www.girlbeheard.org, find Girl Be Heard Trinidad and Tobago on Facebook, call Jean-Claude Cournand 301-9033 or email Takiyah De Four at takiyahdefour@gmail.com