Dear Gaia Community,
This is the age of revealing and feeling which I believe are the first steps in healing. Much that has been lurking in the shadows is coming to the surface to be seen for what it is. Women in the #metoo movement are using their voices to reveal what has been in the shadows for too long. In facing the truth, we can feel the outrage, sadness, and despair that are healthy responses to a world out of balance. From that place of raw truth, we can, with integrity, make amends for the wrong we have done, and move forward into a more resilient and healing future. And this week, we witness the Pheonix beginning to rise from the ashes with a powerful wave of women stepping into political office. We at Gaia Girls are celebrating as the midterm elections brought the highest number of women in history into the United States Congress!
Join in the movement to support our earth’s girls and future women leaders at our 2nd Annual Gaia Gala on Friday December 14th for an inspiring and fun evening, featuring musical performers MaMuse and The Fula Brothers.
STANDING WITH THESE POWERFUL ROLE MODELS FOR OUR GAIA GIRLS!
Women and girls have had a vital role in social movements that have brought positive change throughout the ages. Intrinsically women and girls make great leaders as we are life-carriers, built with an innate sense of what it means to care for life in our bodies. And, because girls and women live in a world that is still rampant with sexism, we have an important perspective of what needs to change in order to bring justice, equity and care to all people.
So much of the messaging that becomes part of who we are is set in childhood. The forces of sexism and objectification of girls’ minds and bodies is still strong, and no girl that I have met is immune to it. It is our job to provide girls with the tools to access their fierce power and vulnerability, know how to assert their boundaries, and learn that their voices are essential. It is our job to feed the river of justice and hope grown by women of extraordinary courage throughout the ages, through nourishing our girls with what they need to say YES to what they know to be sacred and true, and NO to the lies and the perpetuation of harm.
As Gaia Girls turns towards our 5th year in action, it is clear that Gaia Girls is supporting our next generation of female leaders. This past year alone, we served 160 girls through empowering nature based groups, including school year programs and summer camps. We continued to provide a free of cost West Oakland group at Hoover Elementary, and we offered $35000 in scholarships this year.
Our goal this year is to enhance our curriculum through participant survey and feedback, and consulting with experts in the fields of girls’ psychology, equity, and nature connection. We want to be sure that we are providing the best spaces possible for girls to stay connected to their core selves and when they inevitably are led astray by society’s messaging, help them reveal, feel, and heal, in order to step back into life with courage and confidence. Join in the movement to support our earth’s girls and future women leaders at our 2nd Annual Gaia Gala for an inspiring and fun evening, featuring musical performers MaMuse and The Fula Brothers.