Reproduce This! Art Contest By Girls, For Girls: CALL FOR ARTWORK INSPIRED BY THE THEME: MY BODY, MY CHOICE

She’s the First is a non-profit organization that teams up with grassroots leaders to make sure all girls are educated, respected, and heard. As the co-organizers of The Global Girls’ Bill of Rights®, we stand by Right #5, which states: “All girls have the right to comprehensive sexual education and access to free, quality, reproductive healthcare.” 

To uplift this right around the world and rally girls together, our Girl Activist Fellowship’s Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights Committee, a youth-led group in STF, is hosting the Reproduce This: Art Contest. The theme of this Art Contest is "Your Body, Your Choice," and we will be accepting all types of visual art mediums (sketches, watercolors, color pencils, acrylic, oils, etc). 

*The only eligibility requirements: being a girl* who is less than 22 years old!

The Reproduce This: Art Contest is an art contest hosted by girls, for girls, and will raise awareness for reproductive rights around the world in a SAFE way. All girl-centered and anti-oppressive entries to the Reproduce This: Art Contest will be showcased on our website, and if that's not enough... Selected entries will be showcased in two simultaneous GALLERY SHOWS located in New York City and Nairobi, Kenya, on International Day of the Girl, October 11, 2023. 

Create a difference, embrace your talents, and sign up today! Submit your art today!

Use this link to commit to creating artwork (deadline for submission is August 15): bit.ly/reproducethissubmit

*gender-nonconforming, genderfluid, transfeminine experiences included!

Download the flyer here.

End period shame, stigma and poverty.

Author: Hope Wambui Ochieng

I am a slum girl, sooo what. Being a slum girl does not make me less a girl, iam proud because I know my right of equality. 

Going to school using a rug like a pad and oops I stain my dress, pointing fingers and laughter becomes the talk of the day, I gain courage to be strong for I have no one to defend me but am still proud to be a slum girl.

I can't fit in the group of girls, speaking fluent English, with branded clothes and a rich lifestyle but am still proud to be slum girl and cannot complain of what my parents didn't offer to me, could be that is what they had.....let's end  period stigma, shame and stigma.

I hope wambui ochieng as a stands for the girl child to get free sanitary towels in my efforts to make this world a better place towards ending period poverty, stigma  and shame. Iam I will and I must join sdg 17 in partnership to support sdg 

3 for good health and well being

4 for quality education

5 for gender equality

And because iam a slum girl I salute and appreciate those faces that smile back when they hear my name HOPE the slum girl.

#endperiodpovertyandshame

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the Global Action Week for Education.

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Hope Wambui Ochieng, 12, was born and raised in Kibera, Nairobi, Kenya. “I started poetry at the age of 6 years, creating awareness and sending messages of hope. During covid era, as the school were closed down due to the pandemic, I saw girls stain dresses for using rags, and some approached me to talk to mum on their behalf so she could get them sanitary towels.” Hope used poetry as a way to advocate for for her school to provide sanitary towels to girls from vulnerable families . “I took up the task of requesting sanitary towels from well-wishers, organisations and try restore their dignity and respect back. My request is for more well wishers, organisations, partners from all walks of life to come on board, support my initiative and be the change she desires in life.” Follow Hope on Instagram at @hopethepoet.

Give Me a Pen

Author: Sukeji Modi, She’s the First Girls Advisory Council Member

Living in a world where I call my home 
Yet I feel marginalized with pain & grieve 
Asked questions as to why I felt so!
Society defined me in a way too doom!
I cry and mourn every to live my dreams 
Give me a Pen!

Allow me to discover the lioness in me 
That can change society and sprinkle a light 
Far above all sentiments enacted on me 
They call me names and put me in chains 
Robbing all my dreams and fantasies 
I want to live and make a change 
Give me a pen!

Witnessing abuse and denial from school
Abandoned from play and all my games 
Kept in dismay behind the walls
Hooked in toxic beliefs and wicked counsels 
Kindly break the chain and hear my pen 
Give me a pen!!

Perceived as a tool for marriage, a puppet, and less important human 
Yet with my pen, I can do wonders
Liberate my world and speak justice 
Unleashing all the pain and speaking the gain 
The truth of my power and strength of my days 
Give me a pen!

Ready to change history 
Ready to break narratives
A rising of what empowerment  means to every girl 
It's every  girl that has a pen that step in and brings the change 
I need to rise to build myself 
Give me a pen!

I dream so big every day 
I need a school and a pair of shoes 
I need some books and a piece of chalk 
I want to read and write my truth 
I want to fly and to reach the sky
Give me a pen!

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A girl with an education is unstoppable—but barriers like gender discrimination, poverty, and exploitation prevent many girls from reaching graduation. Our Youth Ambassadors created the Power of Poetry campaign to amplify girls' voices about this issue for Poetry Month and the Global Action Week for Education.

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Sukeji Modi Sube, 21, is the Executive Director of Girls' Voices for Change in South Sudan. She is also a girl child activist, public speaker, and a member of the She's the First Girls Advisory Council. Currently, she is a first-year student at the University of Juba studying Medicine. She is passionate about fighting gender-based violence, empowering girls, leadership, creative art, and public speaking. During her free time, she likes to sing, dance and read.

How Girls in Uganda Are Facing COVID-19

Many girls worldwide are starting month six of school shutdowns, without concrete plans to return for the foreseeable future. She’s the First’s partners are vital sources of support for thousands of girls, ensuring that girls have basic necessities, protective personal equipment, and access to continuing education whenever possible.

Hear from three girls served by our partner Arlington Academy of Hope (AAH) in Uganda on how COVID-19 has shifted their educations and how AAH is stepping up to meet their needs as a community-based organization.

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My name is Elizabeth N, and I’m a teenage student in Uganda. I stay with my mother who takes care of my siblings and me. I’d like to share a story with you about how I have been affected by COVID-19.

Previously when everything was normal, I used to go early to school and carry out my lessons like any other girl or student should. I was always able to have my two meals at school, breakfast and a nice lunch. I used to play with my friends and the teachers around me could always guide me on the best things to do.

But due to the outbreak of COVID-19, schools closed and now here I am, at home with my single mum. My mum has to do several small errands for other people like fetching firewood, digging in their gardens, grazing animals like cattle to support us at home. Sometimes, having a meal depends then on whether my mother has work to do during the day or not. Life has changed in this way, because when schools were running, I was always assured of having meals. The girls’ coordinator at AAH has made sure I can continue to receive meals, and I am so grateful for this.

Our school at AAH does provides us with weekly work to do about different educational topics, so we are always kept busy while at home. Many times, I face the challenge of being unable to read at night, because we do not have electricity or solar lights at home, so I make sure to utilize every free time I have during day. I really miss school, my teachers, friends and the care I get while schools are open and am excited to return!

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Hello everyone! My name is Fridah, and my dream is to one day become a doctor.

I’m a senior student in my class, and pre-COVID-19, I was going to sit for my national exams this October. Now schools have been closed and I shall not be able to pursue these exams. This is painful, so painful to me coupled with the fact that I knew that I would be going to another class level next year. 

At the moment however, I’m keeping myself busy by helping my mother sell in her small retail shop. Through this, we are able to raise some little money for our necessities. During my free time while at the shop, I get to revise my books so that I can always keep myself informed and updated so that even after this, I will be able to perform my best at school when they open. I believe nothing can stop me from achieving my goal!

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My name is Salama. I am in the seventh class at the Arlington Academy of Hope. I love my school so much. I also love going to school because it is fun and enjoyable there.

During this lockdown, I have learned a new skill of mending. Whenever my slippers or clothes are ripped or broken, I can mend them on my own so I do not need to spend any money on this.

I encourage all other girls in my community to learn similar skills which can help them and also enable their families to save money, which could be spent on other needs instead of a task that can be easily done.

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Your support of the COVID-19 Response Fund ensures community-based organizations like Arlington Academy of Hope and girls in Uganda can survive through this pandemic. Make a contribution now!