"This trip made me stronger as a girl. I learned that I am entitled to my voice and opinion, and that my voice is something that nobody can take away from me."
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Alexis, 14, Girls' Wilderness Program
"I learned the beauty of being with a group of women in the wilderness. I saw that we can provide a safe and nurturing environment for each other where we can challenge ourselves to grow, try something new, and learn from each other. I wish more women know how special this experience can be."
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Martha, 43, Green River Canoe Trip
For almost a decade, The Women's Wilderness Institute has been offering wilderness trips, classes and overall awesome experiences for women and teen girls in the Rocky Mountains and the deserts of the Southwest. Not only do they open the door for women and girls to learn wilderness skills; they enable a life-changing, strength-building environment. The gals that attend these trips set powerful goals and kick some serious sass while they're at it, but the ladies that run this nonprofit are quite incredible.
They even provide awesome activities for girls. The Girls' Wilderness Program is nothing but inspiring in the way that it is truly accessible to all girls. In 2006 alone, 118 girls, ages 12-17 spent a combined total of over 800 days in the backcountry. 52% of the girls on open-enrollment courses received scholarships and 36% were from families of less than 150% of Federal Poverty Guidelines and 35% were Latina, African-American or Asian-American.
Some of the programs for girls include the Wilderness Expedition, Adventure Camp, Leadership Course, Latina Girls' Course, Girls' Rock Camp, Wild Voices, Wild Moves and the Wild Expressions Course. And no one has to be an outdoor expert to participate or even enjoy it. There seems to be something for everyone.
The women's programs are pretty awesome: hiking and backpacking, rock climbing, mountain biking, fly fishing, yoga retreats, creative courses, reflective retreats, wilderness recovery and the grace grit. You might see me at the "Writing from the River's Edge" retreat with
Page Lambert. (So I'm not all that into rock-climbing or digging a hole for my you-know-what ... but give me a pen, paper, great gals and an amazing wilderness getaway and you've got one happy lady.) For years, Lambert has been conducting river writing workshops for women.
Oprah magazine featured them as one of the "best all-girl getaways."
These ladies can't be stopped. In 2008, they will launch three community-based programs for girls:
*An 8-month transition program for girls entering high school
*A summer camp for 9-11 year old girls
*An after-school program for middle-school girls
That's not all. TWWI will also pilot a Women's Leadership Training program, offering experiential, woman-specific leadership training to women in the corporate, nonprofit and political sectors.
Their recent fundraiser at the end of April, the Gear & Cheer - silent and live auction of outdoor gear - was quite the night. "It was the biggest and best Gear & Cheer we've done! There were about 300 people in the room, all having a blast. Everybody was thrilled - sponsors, supporters and exhibitors," says
Wendy Gruenberg, marketing director of TWWI.
There's always something going on at TWWI, and with summer right around the corner, it'd be silly not to get involved somehow.
www.womenswilderness.org is where you want to go.
Whether you're into it or not, just reading their Web site is quite inspiring, I must add.