Thirty-five girls from different schools attended a Camp Glow mission, aimed at empowerment, organised by the Talitha Project in partnership with the US Peace Corps from December 11-14, at the Tonga Football Association.

Vanessa Heleta, founder of the Talitha Project said the camp focused specifically on Gender Equality and Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions which are among the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals to end poverty.

“Young people have a key role in the implementation of SDGs not just to be aware of what SDGs are but to effectively participate in advocating for change and contribute to the development of our society at all levels.”

Vanessa said that girls identified ways to achieve these goals, such as having more women elected to parliament, participating in voluntary work in the communities, women playing rugby, changing laws to allow women to own land, speaking up in church discussions, and other issues.

One of the camp sessions addressed Cyber Bullying. Digicel’s CEO Ben Kealy urged the girls to use the internet wisely as it is a powerful tool that can be used to advocate issues they’ve learned from the camp.

Other sessions included a visit to parliament and the Police Department, and they also learned how they could start their own businesses.

Vanessa said the camp ended with girls displaying their talents through art, song, spoken word and dance.