Little Haiti Housing Association, Inc.
"Building Homes, Building Lives, Building Community"

October 26, 2007: Girl's Day: Haitian-American Association Against Cancer speaker, Pascale, provides an informative presentation on Breast Cancer to the girl's of the Clubhouse.

Our Girls Day program at the Little Haiti Computer Clubhouse has been in operation for five years in response to the observation that the girls attending the Clubhouse tended to be less productive, more self conscious about trying new software programs and projects, and more easily distracted in a mixed-gender environment. This follows a national trend in other Computer Clubhouses throughout the country. Since the implementation of Girls Day at the LHHA site, results have been dramatic:

• girls who had never used the music studio (except as “groupies”) actually made first attempts to create their own beats and music
• girls were less hesitant to try something new, and their projects showed more creativity as well as a new willingness to “take it to the next level” with the creation of more complex projects
• recently, several girls have produced their own web pages for the first time
• another girl has begun to design her own fashion portfolio in preparation for a career in fashion design industry.

Girls Day is an instrument for social change by providing young girls with the opportunity to experiment with new technology at their own pace, and build their skill level in a much less threatening and more relaxed atmosphere, with emphasis on building their self confidence and developing realistic Clubhouse and life goals.

The Girls Day program is a community where all of the young girls can reach their full potential since they have the freedom to explore their own interests – which are usually vastly different than the boys’ – and to find support from each other as well as from mentors and staff.

In October of 2003, we introduced a “Speak Your Mind” session during the third Friday of each month, in which girls are encouraged to come to our “Green Table” to discuss topics of interest to them. These discussions have been highly instrumental in revealing to us how girls are thinking about themselves, their goals in life, and the barriers that they perceive to achieving their goals.

Please contact Sandee Nye at 305.759.2542 ext.119 or by email at snye@littlehaitihousing.org, or Sidney Irvine at sirvine@littlehaitihousing.org for the North Miami Computer Clubhouse if you are interested in becoming a mentor for the Computer Clubhouse.