Life Skills Workshops- Bring Change
“To be empowered to make good choices and build inner strength. To build skills and confidence for looking to the future and making school, job and career choices. “
“To be empowered to make good choices and build inner strength. To build skills and confidence for looking to the future and making school, job and career choices. ” Lotus Girls Essential Agreement
This was the aim of our third Lotus Life Skills. The girls continue to demonstrate a high level of enthusiasm and interest towards the activities that focus on building self-identity, confidence and personal agency to aid them in their future choices. Guiding them with essential language to identify these qualities has been on-going. Using specific vocabulary such as strong, resilient, courageous, hard-working, kind, Lotus helps foster the capacity to see their strengths and to build on them in all aspects of their lives. As they set goals for the future, such as where they wanted to see themselves in ten years’ time, they were asked to identify those qualities they had and those would serve them in attaining the goals.
One highlight was hosting a women’s panel of ‘career experts’ so that the girls could hear about how these women entered into their professions. We were blessed, of course, to have Dr. Phoudalay who manages the rice research farm, a woman who works in IT, a teacher, a nurse, and a woman working in the tourist section. The girls spent time framing questions to ask the panel. Ms. Thipp (our amazing translator and co-teacher) and I then role-played how to present oneself in a job or school interview. The girls prepared a bio on themselves and practiced interviewing each other. This culminated with some of the girls giving the interview in front of the whole group. Being a Lotus Girl was included as an essential part of who they were!
