The Girls Club went to Astor Center for our first healthy cooking lesson. Who would have thought a bunch of girls would choose to eat healthy. After seeing the movie Food, Inc., we’re all willing to throw out the old and bring in our new eating habit. We chose to make a Chinese dish which consisted of fried rice, chicken stir fried, and a delicious salad.

Of course I love to eat but cooking is not one of my special skills, but after today, I don’t believe I will fear the kitchen any more!

My fellow peers and I had a chance to sit down at the Astor Center eating lounge and dived into our food as if there was no tomorrow. Sitting there was beautiful because you can hear every fork and knife hitting against plates as the food disappeared in their mouth.

I loved it today and I cant wait to see for the next cooking lesson!

Cocktails for Camp consisted of fun and enjoyment. Renée, one of the staff members, led a group of people of all ages in doing a silly song like the ones we sing at camp. I loved seeing an older generation engaging in the Go Bananas song.

Cocktails for camp was wonderful. Where we had the event was breathtaking! The building we were in reminded me of camp because you where able to see the sunset and the trees but we were on the balcony of the Penthouse so everything was below us.

I can’t quite remember a time where I had fun fundraising for something I have a passion for. Camp is everything to me. Being able to have a chance each year upstate and gaze at trees and swim in the lake is totally cool but, to find other individuals who do believe teens should have a chance to do this is even better to be surrounded by them.

What I loved the most of this day was the food. I loved eating homemade hamburgers and hot dog with corn on the side. Just remembering this makes me hungry and sort of down came to an end so quickly after having the chance of fundraising the money. Maybe next year we would be able to fundraise more money to attend camp for a whole month or two.

I want to take also this time to say thanks to all the supporter in allowing city kids to see a whole different lifestyle from what we are use to. Thank you!

Today the Girls Club had a chance to visit women in diverse job fields. I had a wonderful time with Ariel who gave such a great inspirational speech about owning her own nightclub. Hearing her talk about her work gave me the ability to see dreams do come true. If you are determined to work for it, you will get it. I loved hearing her speak. She has this raspy voice, which is filled with so much enthusiasm. You can’t help but want to hear more of what she has to say. Ariel mentioned how she and seven other man invested in this bar four years ago and how each one of them dropped out because they couldn’t manage or stand the pressure to run a successful bar. When the men decided to leave, she finally had an opportunity to make the bar a success with her ideas. As of today the bar, now called Sutra, turned into one heck of a successful nightclub. Ariel told us life is all about hustling and going after what you want. Hearing her say that everyday, she works hard and refuse to slack off because she has the belief of when someone slacks off, that’s when things start going down hill.

I loved it today because I know for a fact, when I grow up I want to work for myself and not for someone else. So hearing Ariel speak made me realize I shouldn’t ever have fear of not being able to make my dream come true. This career week was powerful and fun. I loved being surrounded by powerful and entrepreneurial women.

Being a woman is wonderful and yes indeed we can do it if we put our mind to it.

It’s funny how nowadays having a baby its a must. This fashion trend comes from celebrity and has only brain washed teenagers into believing having a child is the new HOT thing on the market. The Tyra Banks show asked Sierra and I to come and be the leaders for these teens and stand up proud and show them “I don’t have a baby and my life is complete.” Going on the show only made me feel that I’m way smarter then the girls who were the Teen Mother guests on the show. Some of the girls who spoke felt their decision in wanting a child was because Juno and Britney Spears’ younger sister (Jamie-Lynn) made it look easy and fun. In the back of my mind, I was wondering do the girls know that a child cost money? Celebrities have the money to afford to have baby. On top of that, it takes time to take care for a child.

Raising a child is no joke. Once a teen has a child, it’s like throwing your dreams and your life in the trash. I’m so upset to see that these teenagers didn’t care. All they wanted was a child to be like their idol or to keep their boyfriend in their life and also to complete a void.

It is my second day in Washington, D.C. and I have to say that so far everything is great. We had a chance to go to Capital Hill and we met one of Hillary Clinton’s staff members.  We asked some of the women how they got to where they are now and what path they took to work for a politician.  This was so great for me because we touched base on information I am passionate about.  Some of the topics are education, health care, tax reform and how the Government could help more with social service organizations such as The Lower Eastside Girls Club.  I loved doing all of this but, what I loved most was going to the Busboy and Poets restaurant.  Being there was so amazing because the setting was great and comfortable, and the vibe was terrific.  The people there were racially and economically mixed, which I absolutely love.  Having dinner was so delicious and I give my thumbs way up to their dessert.  Gosh, just thinking of their food makes me hungry again.  Well, that’s it for now.  Tomorrow is my last day in D.C. and hopefully it will be just as fun as today, if not more.

The American Visionary Art Museum is on a historic site in the Inner Harbor at the base of Federal Hill. What is visionary art you might ask, well visionary art refers to art produced by self-taught individuals, usually without formal training, whose works arise from an innate personal vision that revels foremost in the creative act itself. In other simple term, visionary art is begins by listening to the inner voices of the soul, and often may not even be thought of as ‘art’ by its creator.
For all those who don’t know visionary art is way different from folk art because folk art is art of or by the people. But, at AVAM they don’t define their art as folk art. Unlike folk art, visionary art is entirely spontaneous and individualized.
For those who are willing to volunteers and intern at the American Visionary Art Museum they are open to all individual.
On the other hand, AVAM is such a wonderful museum that seeks to build upon the American Vision Quest who seek to draw attention to forward-looking innovators, optimists, dreamers and doers – and they high light the sense that America is at her best when she actively remembers that many of her greatest citizens were very much self-taught, self-made pioneers.

At the American Visionary Museum they have seven educational goals for everyone one. And those seven goals are: 1) Expand the definition of a worthwhile life. 2) Increase awareness of the wide variety of choices available in life- particularly students. 3) Engender respect for and delight in the gift of others. 4) Encourage each individual to build upon his or her own special knowledge and inner strengths. 5) Promote the use of innate intelligence, intuition, self-exploration and creative self-reliance. 6) Confirm the great hunger for finding out just what each of us can do best, in our own voice, at any age. 7) Empower the individual to choose to do that something really, really well.
With all that’s said hope to see such a wonderful place who so focus on art and empowering individual in America.

Even though I am a member of The Lower Eastside Girls Club, I never had a chance to sit down and chat with one of the woman behind such a wonderful organization. Therefore, today was my chance of having an inside scope on Jenny Dembrow (my personal favorite female role model…but ssh this is our secret) about her career at the Girls Club.

Jenny has been at the Girls Club for eleven years but she started out as an intern. She found out about the Girls Club through her NYU professor Lyn Pentecost (one of the Co-Founder of the Girls Club), since she had such an interest in Metropolitan Urban Schools in Crisis. From then on, she joined the Girls Club in 1996 working with with youth.

Jenny has recently acquired the title Associate Director. As a director she oversees a lot of things, such as staff and programs. Her typical work day is answering emails, make calls, having meeting, preparing programs for the girls, dealing with volunteers, and lending a ear to any girls (and staff) issues. After hearing this, the first thing I said was, we have Wonder Woman incognito.

We talked about what she really likes about working for the Girls Club and the first thing she mentioned was having an opportunity to work with such passionate dynamic women, who are fully devoted to their jobs and the girls. Also, getting to work with young woman such as myself. What’s best about working for the Girls Club is, Lyn has created an environment where every voice can be heard and the idea of being able to provide innovative programs.

One of the challenges of working for the Girls Club is being able to be organized, because of the events that keeps happening everyday. Also to learn how to be less stressful from everyday day issues. The most important things is, when the youth Jenny works with are going through some issues in their life, it deeply effects her because she feels the person’s hardship has become hers too. When she started it was hard going through this with the girls but as time passed, she became better at dealing with them.

The advice she giving to young woman who are thinking about their future career is being true to oneself. Try different things in life, but also do a lot of internship. “Internships,” she says, “allows you to find out if you like doing this sort of work. “It easy to say I want to be an architect, but not knowing what an architect does is sort of a downfall. You as an individual should be able to get a real world experience. Most importantly, follow your own passion and not other people interests because it is you who will be working and it is only right to be happy in the career you yourself chose.”

I asked her what was the best professional advice she has ever heard and that was from Mary Spink. ” I don’t just have a job, I have a mission” says Spink. Also, she says Lyn has been her mentor through out her career at the Girls Club.

I was curious to find out where she might find herself in the next five or ten years and she said she sees herself still at the Girls Club because she can’t imagine herself working some where else. “The Lower Eastside Girls Club,” she says, “is like a second home” (my thought exactly).

The last question was, as a Cascading Leadership member, I was wondering if they might be any way I and my peers may help her. She passionately respond that we may help in many ways, because seeing the roles that the CL has been doing is inspiring to watch. The CL in a way will become the next generation of environmental, entrepreneurial, and ethical Leaders. Being with the Girls Club has been great because of the way we all assist with program, way we work together as a team, and the support we give to one another. Lastly the New experience that we have with one another and for those coming up.

The Bronx gone green! Can you image, seven years ago; the Bronx was well known for being a trash borough. As time went by, the south side Bronx started gradually to see more green area rising up and much more gardens in the neighborhood. This formation was pushed into action with the help of one small woman better known as Majora Carter. Majora Carter started this organization known as Sustainable South Bronx in 2001. Her hopes were to improve a neighborhood she lived in all her life. As time went by she successful created riverfront parks, improving environmental stewardship training programs, and scoring over a lot of money for funding to renovate the Bronx.

After hearing her speak I was so proud to see that one minority woman took it upon herself and demand to see her community clean and beautiful. Not only that, her action allowed other minorities to have a chance to find work instead of being unemployed individuals. I have so much pride in seeing how she did something so wonderful for her community. This action only makes me recognize her as being a strong-minded person and very unselfish woman. If everyone was like this woman, slowly by surely, Americans would see more green then pavement.

This may be my last day in Bioneers but all the knowledge I accumulated has empowered me to go back to the city and inform people on how to make our world something to be proud of. I’m so proud to be here because I came here so ignorant of Mother Nature, and the other issues about our world, but now I’m leaving with so much knowledge. I have to say thank you to Bioneers because now I understand with this knowledge, I have the power to change all the wrongs we as human created. Like Evon Peter said, I’m owning up to my faults and going back to the city to fix those faults with the information I gathered these three days at Bioneers.

Where to begin to discribe such a phenomenal movement…There is no place to begin but to say that I’m so proud to be a part of Bioneers this year. Today I feel as if history has been made. It may not be written in history books but it is engraved in people’s mind and heart to be orally passed down from one generation on to the next.

The day started out with speakers all over the nation talking about their momement toward a social change in our society. Two of the speakers, Eve Ensler and Van Jones, blew my mind off. Their speech not only made you proud to see such action take place but also re-engerize you into making your own step to something better for our generation. Eve and Van made me realize you shouldn’t allow yourself to believe your dream may never come true. The best part of having dreams is having such strong hope and faith.

Van Jones the founder of the Ella Baker Center For Human Rights gave us such wonderful ideas that saving the world can be down in a lot of ways. Saving the world shouldn’t stop you just because you don’t have the funds to do it but to just go out in society and demand for a change.

On the other hand, Eve, such a strong minded person has touch me so deeply because of her new action of helping the women in my country with the on going rape situation. Democratic Republic Of Congo seemed to have a whole lot of population of woman who are being raped while we in other countries are not of wear of what’s going on. I felt such joy that she as a well known person took it upon herself to shed light on what happening to my country. Just her story of a ten month year old girl who was raped and died made me cry and realize that saving the world shouldn’t only be about nature but also the ongoing violence towards women. Mother Nature is important but so is what is happening to us, woman. So therefore, I have to say thank you to Eve Ensler for beginning the Vday organization…

These situations shouldn’t stop us from finding a solution…

Hi and Goodbye and this is Justine Kayumba and i’m proud for being part of history.

Today October 19, 2007 was a new experience for The Lower East Girls Club. We had a chance to participate and explore what Bioneers had to offer. At the place, we had the opportunity to experience the council and just chat about what we want the future of Bioneers to be.
The council was a great program where a group of people had a chance to sit down and speak from the heart and listen. I loved this program because it allowed a person to really be honest with themselves and also with the people around them. Imagine if issues such as violence, hunger, and mass destruction would be no part of this world. I love this program because it sort of allowed me to try to live a life of honesty and openness. Our brainstorming on making Bioneers better was terrific because we had so many opportunities to speak our mind and be able to say what we want for a better tomorrow. During this time the girls and I had a chance to meet new people and appreciate other people’s great point of views.
Bioneers is a beautiful event for everyone because you not only have a chance to meet new people but also enjoy Mother Nature’s gift to human kind. This place was way out of my element but I have to say it was one great thing to be a part of it. When I have to go back to the city, I know I would have such great memories but also a chance to inform people on how to change our community one step at a time.