The girl within me wants to ....

The girls at Transitions Global have simple dreams of the most reasonable kind. We met last night for our first session and after we did a fun introduction exercise and warmed up and connected to the energy in our bodies, we did a writing prompt. Here is the prompt and some of the responses from the girls.

"The little girl within me ...."

Wants to be a good housewife.
Wants to be a good cook.
Wants to be a doctor.
Wants to have a happiness family together.
Wants a lot of friends.
Wants a bicycle to ride to school.
Is trying hard every day.
Wants to be a smart woman.
Wants to be a good person.
Wants to feel calm.
Wants a good job.
Wants to meet good people.
Wants to be a traditional dancer, a doctor, a tour guide and a yoga instructor.
Wants happiness family.
Wants happiness family.
Wants happiness family.

After that, we started our large body map mural, tracing shapes of three of the girls and illustrating the map with our words, magazine images, and artwork. We will work on the mural all week long, adding to it each night with more words and images from our experience together.

We finished with a song with gestures that one of the girls who is a graduate of the program and a yoga teacher taught us. . They do it in their yoga classes and it begins "I am brave, I am bold."

I have shared this same work with many girls by now and I am happy to report that the process played out pretty much the same as it always does. We had girls who were really connected to the process right away. We had girls who were not feeling it and likely, not feeling much of anything. But here at Transitions Global in Cambodia, what stood out for me was the fact that all the girls really did their best to offer what they could. And by the end, when we stood to sing our song together, I was nearly blown over by the energy in the room, the collective energy of these beautiful young women.

"I am brave, I am bold."

Indeed.