Ah, finally back to Toronto! There’s nothing simply nothing like sipping a cup of hot water at 10 PM in front of your computer on a wet rainy night.

New York was truly spectacular. I’ve been racking my brains for a word that really expresses my feelings for this but I really don’t think it exists. But I’m sure some people are curious as to what we did in New York so here it is!

Over all, I thought the youth orientation was very nice mix of people. There were some extremely enthusiastic kids who were truly happy to be there, the confident teens who feel that and of course, the shy kids who are a little intimidated. Surprisingly, I saw some boys in the group. (About 10%-ish?) This was very important for me to see there are boys there since it is very important to emphasize the role of boys in achieving gender parity. Boys are an integral role in society. Together with girls, they help to shape our future. It is so very important to make sure that boys are included as part of the solution and that they too, realize that the world would be so much better if there were no gender discrimination. We need to make sure that boys are knowledgeable about this topic and that when they become fathers, will pass down the right ideas and principles for the future generation. Only together will girls achieve gender parity and the respect they deserve! Of course, this issue was explored in more detail at the Girl-Boy Dialogue, one in which Donnady participated.

At the actual UN sessions, however, the atmosphere was drastically different. Gone were the action-orientated agenda and instead, I found long speeches with long. Yes, to be fair, the people there did address many issues facing girls such as violence and poverty but their language was completely inaccessible. This is a huge issue in the UN. During my panel speak, I also found that they somewhat alienated me from the rest of the panelists. The audience as well, generally shied away from asking girls questions. During Donnady’s “Because I’m a Girl” event, despite the fact she got tremendous applause and response from the crowd, again the audience avoided asking her questions. It is extremely important for people to realize that it’s GIRLS’ issues that they’re talking and so they MUST involve girls. After all, it is the girls’ lives we’re trying to change and if you do not include girls in the discussion, then it’s pointless! How can you know what progress you’ve made? Absolutely none! For any girls interested in attending these events, definitely grab a glossary by your side! The UN throws out a lot (and I mean A LOT) of acronyms and it can get pretty ugly. Don’t bother memorizing it, by all means, but if you find that something is mentioned more than a couple of times, it’s best to check it up. It is also advisable to grab some summary sheets they always have at the front so you have a better idea of what they’re talking about.

At our Because I’m a Girl event – Universal Day of the Girl, it was a pretty big hit. We’ve managed to fill up the house and I think we’ve managed to get our point across. We’ve had our table set up and we came in early. All right, I’ll be honest here. The truth is, we pretty much procrastinated the whole “participatory activity” part of our event until literally few hours beforehand. Before this, we managed to meet up with the Girls’ Scout and the WAGGs. Just a few pointers: 2 hours is NOT enough for planning!

Next time that I host an event like this, I would definitely try to get contact with the partners as SOON as possible and plan the event WITH them from the beginning! What you’ll find is that if you take the lead of it, explaining it to the partners will take a long time and often, they will want to change some things. It is important to them from the start what your objectives are, what is allowed, and what isn’t. Make that super clear so during discussions, this type of thing doesn’t show up again! Of course, it is nice to have back-ups to your event and support you. However, since we met up with them a little late, I found that our styles during the presentation varied drastically. It might be preferable to simply get more people from your organization instead of having partnered up with others.

Also during our event, Saba and I kind of panicked when we realized that the whole thing only took up 20 minutes. It worked out okay at the end, but it might’ve been nice to make something longer. I would definitely say to have a much longer audience participation activity as ours only took up like 3 minutes! Make sure that you have a longer participatory activity and get the audience engaged. THIS IS KEY! In so many events we’ve attended, there was minimal audience participation. In a lot of the other events, we had to get into groups and brainstorm. To be honest, this is not as successful as one would seem. The talkative ones who would talk regardless usually dominate this and the quiet ones would just stay quieter. It’s kind of awkward for a lot of the people to be participating just because they don’t know each other that well yet.

When we were trying to hand out our postcards and flyers to people, we were met with a lot of cold looks but also keen interest. Having a smile definitely helps so don’t be discouraged if anyone tries to turn down your stuff. For interviews, it was REALLY fun to do! I made this mistake a couple of times but it’s important to talk slowly and clearly, especially for radio and TV! Be confident and realize that you KNOW what you’re doing. Of course, it’s always great to have a couple of stats on the back of your mind (which is what Saba and I had) but if you can’t answer a question too well, just roll with it! Just… make sure it’s right. The most important thing is to simply BE YOURSELF! Anywhere, the interviews, panels, presentations, there are people who want to hear from GIRLS. Saba and I didn’t try to be pretentious and big-talking. We realized that we can’t do that well anyways, haha. So we decided to simply be ourselves and talk to people as such.

The receptions are pretty fun events to attend to… if you actually know the people there. I was very delighted to meet the Canadian minister and hear from the people of World Fund and such but it is rare to find girls there. I believe we’re the only girls in the Canadian and World Fund receptions. They have free food there but it’s usually just finger food. I enjoyed most of it since it’s cultural food. However, if you have a sensitive stomach, I’d advise you to come prepared. They have drink as well but the non-alcoholic ones usually run out fast so bring some on your own if needed.

We also got a chance to look at New York and do some shopping. There’s a LOT of shops in New York so don’t get pushed by a store clerk into buying something! Most of the stuff there is also cheaper than ones you can find in Toronto. Also, definitely prepare some time before hand to schedule everything! Plan to visit the nearby places… well, nearby and if possible, walk! New Yorkers are pretty nice people in general but there are some not-so-nice ones as well. Be smart and make sure the situation is okay and always keep tabs on your personal belongings!

Of course, in New York, we had to juggle between a LOT of things. Don’t try to do too much. When we were tired, we forgot about the schedule and simply came back to the hotel and rewind. We, Saba and I, watched a lot of kids’ shows like Dora the Explorer in middle of the day when we had nothing to do so that we can simply let the stress melt away and forget about everything for awhile. The hotel had a gym and pool and it’s a pretty good idea to check them out if you want. Saba said the pool was pretty nice but I didn’t have either gears so I was out of luck. At the end of the day, health is most important so we followed our schedule to our bodies above all! There are plenty of places to buy fruits, water, and healthy food so make sure to get some of that as much as possible.

Thank you so much, everyone from the Girls' Speakers Bureau and Plan! Saba and I would definitely have not been able to enjoy this experience or even have it if it were for your support!

On the last note… Central Park looks absolutely dreadful on a rainy March cold day.