Girl 2 Girl

Hello,

Today's program that I am featuring is the Girl 2 Girl run by Oasis for Girls, a project of the Tides Center. They focus on young girls from 11 to 24 years old, many of whom are immigrants or from marginalized groups, in the neighborhood's of San Francisco who are struggling to fit into our culture while maintaining their own heritages. 

Oasis for Girls "provides a safe space where girls and young women are inspired and empowered to become strong and creative leaders in their communities. Oasis For Girls provides culturally relevant and gender specific Arts and Arts Education, Leadership Development, and Life Skills Education programs that support the growth of low-income and immigrant girls and young women of color in urban communities. Through these programs, girls and young women have access to a community of adults who support them in creating change and integrating their skills to address issues they face in their lives and in their communities"

Here is a video done by their Girl Leadership Institute discussing teen pregnancy, safer sex, abstinence, and abortion from their own viewpoint. This video made by young women is intended to educate other young women about their options.



The Girl 2 Girl project is focused on girls from 11 to 14, helping them to find and reach their potential. Being a young girl in an urban environment can be quite challenging; "just walking down the street can be an exercise in sexual harassment. Overtures from gang members - both male and female - are a daily reality, and even the youth-focused community centers can be dominated by boys and young men. In an effort to protect their daughters, many parents require their girls to come straight home after school, rather than hang out, unsupervised, with friends. So if you're 13, where do you find a haven, an Oasis?"

The project provides and environment for the girls to be themselves and to escape the pressure of their lives. It helps them to become leaders in their community.