Tuesday, September 18th, 2012
Dear Friends,
We’d like to invite you to spread the word about a unique opportunity we have for 15-20 girls ages 15-17 in our region to engage with girls from Chile and Sri Lanka in a program training Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights. The information below will give you more details about the program. Please request anyone interested to fill out the application then email it back to us or mail it in to our PO box listed below.
We are looking for a diverse group of girls to participate and are eager to get applications as soon as possible. To be considered as one of the two girls traveling to Sri Lanka in December, we need applications by September 26. For everyone else, we have extended the application process to October 5, which will be the last date for applications to be received. We’ll be reviewing applications and will let all applicants know whether or not they have been chosen by October 8. Since we have openings for 20 girls, there is a good chance of being accepted.
Here is the schedule of the activities girls commit to by applying:
OCTOBER 13 - 3:00-5:00 P.M. Get Acquainted get-together
Girl Ambassadors begin to think about what they’d like to share about their ideas of freedom with other sites in our first call with Girl Ambassadors from Sri Lanka and Chile and what older woman they would like to interview about her ideas of freedom
OCTOBER 22 - 6:30-8:30 P.M.
Our first dialogue with all the girls sharing ideas about freedom, plan our presentation for the girls from Sri Lanka and Chile
OCTOBER 26 - 9:30 - 11:00 A.M. This is a school day so we’ll work with your school to get permission for you to be absent.
First international call with girls from Sri Lanka and Chile sharing ideas about freedom
SESSION TO BE SCHEDULED: Training in video equipment and oral history interviews
Two more local dialogues (in January and March) and two international teleconference dialogues (February and May) GIRL AMBASSADORS WILL DECIDE DATES
December 1-5 - two girls travel with Gage representatives to Sri Lanka
March 6-12 two girls travel to Chile with Gage representatives
May 1-6 Girl Ambassadors welcome girls from Chile and Sri Lanka to the Gage Center, all present a public program
Thank you for helping us reach out to girls who would like to participate in the program.
Gratefully,
Sally Roesch Wagner and Vanessa Johnson,
Project Directors
Original post - August 9, 2012:
The Matilda Joslyn Gage Foundation (Fayetteville, NY) has been awarded a grant to participate in “Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights”, a one-year project which will bring together girls from the Villa Grimaldi museum (Chile), the Institute of Social Development (Sri Lanka) and the Gage Foundation. The participating museums are all members of the International Coalition of Sites of Conscience, which partnered in the grant awarded by the Museums Connect Program, which is made possible by the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs and is administered by the American Association of Museums.
In an effort to help inspire and equip a new generation of women activists, the Girl Ambassadors for Human Rights program will bring together 50 teenage girls from Fayetteville, Sri Lanka, and Chile to explore and share the parallels between gender issues past and present through facilitated dialogue, social media technology, and international exchange.
Under the mentorship of community leaders, the girls will use the museums’ exhibits as a launch pad to explore local women’s history and roles in social change, questions of identity, gender-based discrimination, and definitions of what it means to be a free woman. They will share what they’ve learned through public presentations and dialogue, both virtual and in-person, to identify common goals and tactics that transcend differing cultural expectations and desires.
“Cultural exchanges are an incredible way to show the world America’s unique creativity and spirit,” said Ann Stock, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs. “That’s why the United States supports programs like Museums Connect-to foster the people-to-people connections that strengthen a museum’s presence in its community, and the community’s presence in the world.”
“We are delighted to provide this opportunity for Onondaga County girls to develop friendships and a deeper understanding of women’s lives internationally and to highlight our museum and community to our international visitors,” Dr. Sally Roesch Wagner, Executive Director of the Gage Center, responded.
Each site will choose 15-20 girls, ages 15 - 17, to participate in the project and a total of four Central New York girls will be selected to travel with Gage Center Staff to Sri Lanka and Chile to meet with their overseas peers. In addition, the Gage Center will host the girls and museum staff from Sri Lanka and Chile for one week during the project year. Teenage girls interested in participating should email foundation@matildajoslyngage.org for an application. Located at 210 East Genesee Street in Fayetteville, the Gage Center for Dialogue on Social Justice Issues offers tours by appointment.
