During the pandemic, teachers Hillary Swann and Yooga Kumar took notice to students withdrawing from their work and disconnecting from those around them. The duo decided to create a space that students can use to connect with one another and talk, discovering that the majority of attendees joining were young women. Based on the topics discussed between students and teachers they noticed a common theme, a lack of self-esteem and self-worth. That is when the Empowerment Program was started.
The Empowerment program, “It’s run for young women as a way to build their sense of self-worth, their self-esteem, their self-efficacy, and essentially explore opportunities that might not be in front of them,” says Ms Swann. She added that the program helps smooth the girls’ transition to life after year ten. The students that were involved in Empower have been taking part in a range of activities and discussions that are all organized to suit the needs of the girls. Ms Swann added, “A lot of the discussions were about the stereotypes that society put on young women and the restrictions they felt that they had to limit themselves to,”
Body image and body positivity were common topics, that raised conversation about physical activity in general. They also had sessions about both hormones and menstruation, that allowed for in depth questions to be answered. Giving the girls the chance to experience conversations that they may not feel comfortable having elsewhere. Some activities included, learning to box, learning to ride a bike, and more.
When Empower was first created, Ms Swann and Ms Kumar both encouraged the attendees to apply for a scholarship program that is aimed at socio-economically disadvantaged students in Canberra. Student Lin Yi-Tong won the scholarship and stated, “it shaped my school life and who I am as a person. It’s helped me realize that I do have a lot of options open, because initially my ideas of my career path and what I wanted to do was quite narrow-minded.”
Ms Swann said that plans for Empower 2023 are already being worked on, with the program next year focusing on community activism. Hoping that students can identify changes that they want to see in the world and through the use of community speakers and other connections, mentor them to start acting on those changes they want to see in their communities. Ms Swann stated, “It could be something super small in our community, or something a little bit bigger across Canberra.”
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