Aragon’s Girl Up Club had their first meeting of the school year on Sept. 19 to discuss upcoming plans for the year. Girl Up is a United Nations foundation focused on helping girls in developing countries have equal opportunities. There are currently 300 active Girl Up clubs in 44 different countries. The international organization aims to inspire individuals to become leaders advocating for girls in developing countries.
Girl Up president and junior Monica Mai has been fascinated by Girl Up and the organization’s mission since her freshman year. After attending a Girl Up workshop at Stanford University last year, Mai was inspired to start her own club at Aragon. She says, “I am really passionate about equality for girls. I [want] to advocate for the education of girls.”
Co-vice president and junior Allegra Aguiar talks about her prior experience with women’s rights, saying, “I wasn’t super ‘go out and protest feminine power’ but now I want to make a change. Now I want to go out and be active in my role against gender discrimination and volunteer my time to help girls in developing countries.”
Junior Caroline Mameesh is a new member this year who attended the first Girl Up meeting of the semester. Mameesh says, “I joined this club because it supports a really great cause, and I think we all need to work towards bridging the gap between boys [and girls] in foreign countries and [make] sure girls have the same opportunities as males.”
Mai says, “This school year, I plan on doing more fundraisers and drives. We started kind of late last year, so we didn’t have time to do any of that. The money we fundraise will be donated through the Girl Up organization in order to provide clothes, education, and other basic necessities.”
Club secretary and junior Magali de Sauvage comments on dress drive plans, saying, “We’re going to do clothing dress drives for girls who don’t have the opportunity to buy dresses because all they really have is one set of clothing.”
The cabinet not only plans to financially support girls in underdeveloped countries, but also to emotionally support and connect with the girls. The club will be communicating with girls through letters.
Mai says, “The letter exchange will help us get a better understanding of their situations as well as providing a friend. It is comforting to know someone understands you.”
De Sauvage describes this year’s plans for Girl Up club, saying, “We want to have a guest speaker soon from Genentech. She was chosen by one of the bosses as one of the most reputable and hardworking woman.”
Mai has a particular goal for her club: to help girls in developing countries develop the same self-worth as boys. She says, “Girls in developing countries need clubs like this because they need to know that they are valuable and have so much potential.”
Club member and junior Noah de Guzman has his own personal goals, saying, “Whenever my friends say something sexist, I think my goal is to prevent those sexist slurs to be slipped around the school.”
De Guzman comments on currently being the only male member, saying, “I don’t think it’s anything special. I encourage more guys to join the club. I think just because it’s a club about women’s rights it’s not a club that should be solely for girls. I think guys should step up and help women in those countries.”
The club officers see a bright future for Girl Up club, hoping it will make a difference in the Aragon community. De Sauvage says, “I think the Aragon community doesn’t have a good perspective on women’s rights. We have a lot of animal charities but not necessarily on the perspective on human women rights.”
