For the Girls
Recent Update!
Learn about our latest updates on the Girls’ Book in Kutupalong, Bangladesh!
“This book is very important for our life and community because in this book, we can learn about the 5 Stages of Womanhood. From this book, we could learn through the drawings and how we will lead our lives in a good way. This book is different from our class / school book. It is very important for our community.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“We think every girl should get this training and this book in our community.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“We think this book is very important for us. Because we didn’t know and have knowledge of different cultures of the world and the 5 Stages of Womanhood. From this book, we could learn so many new things, which are most important for us. It’s good that this book was translated into 3 languages, especially in the Rohingya language.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“We think each girl from every family in the community should get this book. Because if a girl can get training like this book, the girl could teach others in her family.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“We think each girl from every family in the community should get this book. Because if a girl can get training like this book, the girl could teach others in her family.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“As this book is translated into our Rohingya language, most of the girls could read and understand easily if we get training. This is really new and important, the 5 Stages of Womanhood. Our community never got training on this kind of training. We are really enjoying this training by this book.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“We could gain knowledge on how to take care of infants. Now, our community can lead our life and children themselves, but if we get this book, hopefully we can lead our life in a better way.”
— Rohingya adolescent girl, Bangladesh
“Do you have a book with girls that look like us?”
By girls, for girls. Our team of female artists from around the world designed this book for Rohingya adolescent girls.
Along with basic health practices, the book encourages creativity, innovation, and community-based work throughout all phases of life. The picture-based approach is designed to encourage girls to ask questions and spark conversation among their peers, regardless of their literacy level.
Rohingya is an unwritten language. We collaborate with linguists and translators to create a written form of their Rohingya language. Because of this, we go through a verification process to ensure that the vocabulary we use is the most-widely understood for the focus community.
Normally, the girls in our community don’t participate in these types of education programs. I was wondering if they would even come regularly to these sessions. But they are so excited about the sessions and love the book so much!
– Rohingya Teacher, Bangladesh
Piloting Phase
To ensure cultural efficacy, we are piloting our For the Girls project in the Rohingya community. This is a time when we gather feedback on illustrations, translations, and contextualization.
The book is broken up into 5 sections based on the stages of womanhood:
- Infancy
- Childhood
- Adolescence
- Adulthood
- Seniorhood
Each section highlights “essentials” in each phase that girls around the world share. This page introduces the “essentials” and the rest of the section elaborates on these ideas through interactive activities and detailed information.
This book serves as a supplementary learning material that can be used in addition to a formal curriculum. It is meant to encourage learning, creativity, and community engagement. We hope this book provides useful life skills that girls can use to empower other girls around them.
This program is not limited to the Rohingya community. Based on demand and feedback on our pilot project, we will expand to other communities.
How Can I Get Involved?
The “For the Girls” book simply and beautifully depicts the life stages of females, through both a universal and contextual approach. Through positive repetition, the universal characteristics of “I like” to learn, to be healthy, to create, to help, etc. are illustrated and reinforced in every stage from infants to seniors. Additionally, these universal characteristics are illustrated through vibrant, contextualized cartoons relevant to this particular community. The beauty of this book is that the basic universal framework could be contextualized for various populations as needed. I especially appreciate the positive focus of this book, which motivates and empowers girls and women to keep growing and learning throughout their lives. The helpful and practical Teacher Guide is formatted for easy access to objectives, excellent ideas for both specific and general discussions, and accompanying fun, activities for each lesson.