Your Dreams Are Valid

“No matter where you’re from your dreams are valid”
Lupita Nyong’o

Last year, Director of Camp G.L.O.W Grenada, Ayisha Sylvester-John invited me to speak to over 30 girls aged between 14 and 17. Camp G.L.O.W started in 1995 in Romania by Peace Corps Volunteers and is now a worldwide Peace Corps initiative with 21 camps taking place around the world. I was proud to learn that Grenada was the first Eastern Caribbean island to host Camp G.L.O.W in 2012. During the camp, the girls participate in workshops that help them to build their self-esteem, increase their self-awareness and understanding of womanhood and develop skills in goal setting and career planning. Every summer, girls from around the island attend and leave feeling empowered to be great leaders that can make a difference in their community.

I shared with them every single dream I had as a child and how I made it a reality. I watched as their faces illuminated with the belief that if someone who looked like them could fulfil their dreams, perhaps they could too. I wrote this blog during the height of the pandemic, inspired by the fact that these four young Grenadians, dreamt of embarking on careers that would put them in front line positions. Jobs that would be so essential in guiding humans through coping with a global health crisis mentally, socially and technologically. This blog is still relevant amid the pandemic against black lives, because the harsh reality is, based on their environment they may endure the most challenging, unexplainable obstacles to fulfil those dreams because of the colour of their skin.

I’m sharing the dreams of these four attendees of Camp G.L.O.W on Kiki’s Blog in the hope that it will encourage them to continue to pursue what they dream of becoming.