I had a woman power kind of weekend which generated great reflective food for the Runoia blog thinking about women and girls their connections and their need to be allies in life.  First my daughter won the penalty shootout trophy at our coed, rec, soccer program.  Great that her skills have progressed not so great that for the second year in a row she received a trophy with a figure of a boy on it.  It was empowering to see how outraged the girls were!  At 8 and 9 years old they noticed that this was not OK and suggested ways that I their coach could help to fix it for next year.  We went online and found other styles of trophy that would suit either gender and sent them along to the head of the program who apologized profusely as it had never even dawned on her.   I felt like we had turned a situation around and I modeled for the girls  how to listen to their voices, advocate and not be satisfied with gender disparity.

Sunday I joined hundreds of people mostly women to walk to raise funds for breast cancer support services.  What a ‘fine Maine day’ by the ocean feeling the strength and power of people making a difference.  Women were out in force with their coworkers, girlfriends, daughters, parents and family members to have fun while showing their support and raising money for a great cause.  How cool if we get a Runoia team together for next year and for other events to help our girls spread the Runoia love and invest together in the world around them.

How often are our girls empowered by other girls and women around them?  Do they have female allies who stand with them and help them be the best that they can be?  How are they supported in our communities?  Luckily at camp we work intentionally to create an amazing, safe place for girls to grow and challenge themselves in a caring, supportive environment I hope that will support them as they move through the rest of their world.  Parents check out this great webinar provided by hardy Girls Healthy Women http://www.hghw.org/node/328

This year we are committed to reinforcing the bonds our campers share and will do what we can to get our girls together to have fun!  We hope that our campers, alumnae, families and friends will join us.