By Tess Dunn | Program Manager
Hello friends! We are sending gratitude to You, our supporters, and positive wishes for good health as we continue to navigate the pandemic together.
This month, we are wrapping up the 2020-2021 cohort of Project Soar Girls across the country with COVID-19 safe graduation ceremonies. Keeping this momentous milestone in mind, we could not help but continue the festive spirit by highlighting our amazing Empowerment Facilitators, who make it their priority to ensure that each girl completes the PSB program feeling as though she is celebrated. Your donation to this campaign helps provide support to the Facilitators who play the most crucial role at Project Soar as they dedicate their time to ensuring the PS Girls have a safe space to reflect, learn, and flourish.
One such woman to be celebrated is Project Soar's very own Program Coordinator and Program Facilitator, Kawtar Ait Malek. Through her dedication over the past 2+ years, Kawtar has now directly led over 40 girls succesfully through completion of the Project Soar in a Box program and has indirectly impacted hundreds more through her support of Facilitators across the country. In total, Kawtar has supported 30 Facilitators across 17 sites in Morocco and continues to add to her already amazing achievements with Project Soar by assisting in the support of Empowerment Facilitators working in communties of internally displaced people (IDP) in Northwest Syria.
When asked what Kawtar loves most about supporting the Project Soar Empowerment Facilitators, she says "I love seeing the Facilitators through all their ups and downs. I'm able to motivate them and pass positive energy to them when they feel challenged and share appreciation with them when they succeed. Since I am a facilitator too, I am able to empathize with them and understand them emotionally." In terms of being a 2 year facilitator, she states that "while it is not always initially easy to create the safe space we need to thrive, the fact that the girls eventually trust me enough to approach me, tell me their feelings, and ask me for advice - this is the most precious reward."
Kawtar recently shared an experience she had with one of her fellow facilitators, saying "I am so inspired by so many of the other Facilitators I work with. Ghita, one of my co-Facilitators, inspires me in particular. Her attitude has really touched me personally because although she has a speech impediment I watch her stand there every Sunday, speaking in front of the PS girls, emanating so much confidence and positive energy. She never dwells on the way she sounds, but rather focuses on passing her positive emotions on to the girls no matter what. She is never embarrassed or shy -- she just wants to give the girls her all."
Ghita, like all of the Empowerment Facilitators, embodies the Project Soar spirit by showing the girls that while her skills may not be perfect, she is strong, she is smart, she is capable, she is a leader, and she is a feminist. What's clear is that Empowerment Facilitators are not just teachers, but rather mentors, confidantes, and champions of change.
It is safe to say that without Faciliators like Kawtar and Ghita, the lasting impact Project Soar makes would not be possible, and we are forever grateful for their enduring spirit. Stay tuned for more stories of these incredible women, and never doubt you are making a difference!
Warmest Wishes,
The Project Soar team
Project reports on GlobalGiving are posted directly to globalgiving.org by Project Leaders as they are completed, generally every 3-4 months. To protect the integrity of these documents, GlobalGiving does not alter them; therefore you may find some language or formatting issues.
If you donate to this project or have donated to this project, you can receive an email when this project posts a report. You can also subscribe for reports without donating.
