5/23/2018 GLOW Gazette December2016/January2017

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GLOW  Gazette  Issue  24  (December View  this  email  in  your
2016/January 2017) browser

Winter is Coming

This week we had our very first snow of the season. Whether we like it or not, we are all feeling the chill as
winter comes rolling in. Maybe the weather is getting to you and you have been sick and feeling down as

that cold and cloudy weather creeps up on us. Maybe some of the magic of camp has faded since the last
time we saw each other. Maybe you have even experienced some unexpected failures and you're feeling

like you might have aimed too high with your goals.

Winter is coming and there is nothing we can do to stop it, but all is not lost when it comes to taking care of
yourself, rekindling the magic of camp, or making your goals become a reality. Here are a few things you

can do:

1. Bundle up with a cup of delicious and festive tea. Slice about a tablespoon sized piece of fresh ginger into

thin slices and put them into a mug. Next, fill the mug with hot water, and add a spoonful of honey and a

generous sprinkle of cinnamon. For the finishing touch, squeeze a wedge of lemon into the cup and then

drop the wedge in with the rest of the tea. Give it a stir and enjoy! While you sip, think of some other ways
you can take care of yourself over the winter months and write them down in a journal.

2. Think of the lessons you learned and the friends you made at camp. Don't let the good memories of camp

slip away from you. Take a moment to remember something funny that happened at camp or a particularly
meaningful lesson you learned. Reach out to a friend and tell her that you are thinking of her. It will brighten

her day as well as yours.

3. Remember that GLOW girls are resilient and everyone has bad days. GLOW girls are able to dust their
shoulders off, focus on what is working in each situation, and keep striving to achieve their goals. Learning

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to fail is part of being successful, and every successful person has been there at least once in their life. You
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can do anything. Yes, you! Yes, anything!!! (Well, not ride a unicorn to the moon, but you know what I'm
getting at.)

4. Gain inspiration by reading the GLOW Gazette. In this edition of the GLOW Gazette, we get our second

dose of realness from 2010 GLOW girl Vlora Ibrahimi. She tells us about some of her most memorable
moments and memories from GLOW Camp. We also get a She GLOWs spotlight on one of our favorite

GLOW girls ever, Natalija Krstevska. Club Corner fills us in on the happenings of some new GLOW clubs

around the country, 2015 GLOW girl Ane Aleksovska tells us about an experience she had at different camp

she went to this year, and we say goodbye to some of the best staff members GLOW Macedonia ever had.
Enjoy!

GLOW Love, 

Coco Shin 

GLOW Communications Coordinator

Do you want to see your writing in the next edition of the GLOW Gazette? We
are accepting submissions on any topic you would like to write about! Email
your submissions to glow.communications@gmail.com. We are looking forward
to reading what you have to say!

Click here to watch all of the latest camp videos!

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GLOWing
Issues

  by Vlora Ibrahimi     

We walk through life guided by everyone, not knowing that each step is a
process of metamorphosis, a need to adapt, to survive. As for the weak ones,
nature takes its course… Like it or not we are someone’s product, with each
person we encounter in our lives, we make a symbiosis, not being aware we
give and take without permission and we continue our journey.
My GLOWing began in the first day of camp. I approached the kitchen and took
a plate, while sitting down I heard my name called by a senior lady with perfect
white hair that very politely made it clear that I shouldn’t take someone else's
plate if I wasn’t listed as a vegan person. I didn’t make a big deal out of it, I just
said that I would keep it in mind for the next time and sat down. In my head I
was surprised by the politeness of her approach. Usually outside of my family
this interaction  would result in a big screaming and yelling conflict, because
we think that the more we yell the stronger our facts are, but in reality it's all
the opposite. I didn’t feel bad because I wasn’t noted as a vegan. In every meal
the administrators would confuse my style of eating, in the exact moment the
same lady came to me and apologized very gently for her confusion,
apologizing million times for making me feel uncomfortable.  This was my
second shock. I had never experienced a senior person apart from my parents
apologizing to me. That feeling was very bitter because I realized how cruel the
society I lived in was regarding its youth.  Until now it is the one and only
apology from a senior that I have heard.  What more can I say?  To this day, I
still dream of a place filled with people having that kind of sophisticated
culture, it made me resemble even my appearance.

The next morning was interesting too.  We had a visitor, a salamander in the
little ladies room that I was not informed of. After I finished my meal, I met one
of the administrative staff who told me that there was a problem in the
bathroom. Since my father is a biologist I kind of felt a need 555to step up and
show the girls that there is nothing to be afraid of. When I walked in the ladies
room, the salamander was in the corner. I could only think that I should grab
the tiny animal by the tail and while catching it, it made me realize a life time
lesson that EVERYTHING IS AS STRONG AS ITS WEAKEST POINT. There is no
reason to be afraid. Just start from somewhere and keep on going with
determination. Each time I face something that makes my adrenal glands work
harder, I remind myself of my salamander experience  and push myself to go
on. What the eyes see is never the limit; our minds are designed to reach the
unreachable.  

In between  story telling and writing, reciting Laws of God and Laws of Man,
self-defense class, kickboxing, learning Spanish que yo lo adoro, Chinese - wo
ai ni, and Tagalog - Miskita :D, and the contagious song Macedonian milk moo
moo moo moo, I had a taste of what culture and society really should look like.
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Indirectly from those days in camp I understand that:
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Being away from my family didn’t mean that I was
unprotected.  Nothing changed. I could stand on my feet and take
care of myself.  Independence is the  step of division between
expecting from others and doing things by yourself.
Being different wasn’t embarrassing.  It was shining.  It was feeling
special for who I am.
Being healthy and  taking care and maintaining yourself is
obligatory. There is no way to help anyone if you can’t help yourself.
Make friendship bracelets and interact, network, communicate,
LISTEN, give lots of hugs and kisses, and spread love all over and
everywhere you go. This makes life even more gorgeous.
Be ambitious, do it all by yourself, give yourself credit even for small
steps that you take, make plans, NEVER FEAR THE UNKNOWN, just
STEP FORWARD, little progress is better than no progress.
Blossom, just breathe, everything is temporary, remember patience
is gold.

We hope you all had a great Tree Day this year!

She GLOWs:   Club Corner

 
This month on Club corner we will
Natalija Krstevska  be taking a look at our NEW CLUBS.
by Allison Smith  That’s right, since we had our most
  recent camp this July, five new clubs
have started up- including three new
GLOW Clubs and two new YMLP
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Clubs. We are so excited to have

Subscribe Past Issues them join our club family- here’s a
little bit about what our new GLOW
clubs have been doing.
GLOW Prilep began this September
by a large group of campers from
2016. They have had some amazing
ideas for their club and really hit the
ground running. They have had
meetings to discuss Healthy
Relationships and held movie nights
watching Legally Blonde. This past
month they participated in a
community service project with the
Red Cross by helping them raise
money for The Week of Hunger.
Amazing job girls!
GLOW Kichevo was started this
September by some of our campers
from Groups F, G and D. Under the
mentorship of camp coordinator
Coco, they have had some amazing
meetings including self defense and
finding your inner leader. They
participated in the Ajde Makedonija
clean up day on October 1st to
fantastic results. Way to go GLOW
Kichevo!

GLOW Club Strumica was started in

September by ladies who attended
camp last year including some
Cronuts and a foxy female! With
“I can be a change in someone’s life even if it’s Camp Counselor Priscilla as a
a minor thing.” ~Natalija Krstevska mentor, GLOW Club Strumica has
learned about the toxicity of
Name: Natalija Krstevska feminine and masculine stereotypes,
created henna tattoos and
Age: 17 celebrated and American style
Thanksgiving. They are doing a
Location: Stip fantastic job!
A self-proclaimed introvert Natalija often finds Thanks to all our amazing GLOW
herself contented in an observant state of mind Clubs who have encouraged our
when among her peers. Inspired most by new clubs, and a special thanks to
individualism, the power of self and Beyoncé (of all the local leaders who worked so
course), Natalija sees herself as just an hard to get the clubs up and
running. You are all GLOWing!
“average” girl. With a common daily routine of
school, homework, video games and social
media it is no surprise she feels this ideal
represents her. But there is far more than meets Wonderful Days 
the eye with this extraordinary young lady! One
prime example is her vocal support against the  
often conditioned notion of competition By Ane Aleksovska 
between women. Passionate about the  
unnecessary divide that mentality can create Last year I visited GLOW Camp,
fortune smiled on Natalija by way of an which gave me an incredible

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invitation to GLOW Camp in the summer of experience, and this year I visited

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2015. Her time Issues
camp granted her passion an Wonderful Days, a festival camp
outlet and bridged the gap between her in Denmark. I’ll try to describe this
thoughts and taking action. experience, but I’m not sure if I'll
do it properly, because there
Additionally, Natalija’s experiences at GLOW aren't enough words for it. Firstly
Camp brought her to her most recent roles as we stayed in Aarhus and then we
both a GLOW Club leader in her community and went to the festival place. The
a GLOW Camp Counselor in Training (CIT) this days in Aarhus were amazing, as
past summer. Both leadership roles give her the well as their program. We had a
opportunity to be a voice for young girls that challenge which gave us an
enjoy being a girl while blurring the lines opportunity to explore that
between what is “expected” of one. A former beautiful city with the groups they
member of the junior infantry for the made. Also all the activities aimed
Macedonian military this GLOW girl enjoys her to show us the importance of
makeup and getting her hands dirty! This self- trust, team working, solidarity and
actualization compelled her understanding of empathy. After Aarhus we went to
the importance of volunteerism; “I never really the festival place. It was my first
understood volunteerism until I met PCVs and camping time (with tents), so I
saw what it means to them and how they make was really excited about it. In the
our communities better.” Seeking to travel the festival we had a lot of concerts
world as a flight attendant, in the future Nata as well as fun. There were
hopes most to be remembered as one person different tents as skills, sports,
making a change that ripples outward in many music, wildlife, tree house… The
directions. thing I like the most about the
activities during the festival was
Natalija Krstevska was referred by United States the night when we had a
Peace Corps Volunteer, Allison Meredith Smith. challenge like surviving or rather
  We solute you and your passion for female we had a marked path, we had to
empowerment, supporting the importance of follow it and there were different
inner beauty, and breaking cultural gender challenges we had to pass.
expectations Natalija! Keep leading by example Wonderful days is an
and making a positive impact on your unforgettable experience – a
community and the World! chance to explore Denmark, to
meet new people, to make new
For more information about how to create
your own GLOW Club and to locate a Club friends, to try new things, to see
near you follow us on Facebook here new cultures. I’m really happy
https://www.facebook.com/glowclub.macedonia? because I had an opportunity to
fref=ts try this and above all I want to
give an enormous thank you to all
people who helped to organize
Farewell to GLOW 2016 Staff and make the festival incredible.

Sadly, some of the staff from this year's camp is

leaving Macedonia. As we wish them good luck in
their continued adventures in America and
elsewhere, remember that we will always have
the wonderful memories made with them. Thank
you for everything!!!

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Gwen Schaeffer - Programming Coordinator
Rebekah Brown - Communications Coordinator
Eileen Swinehart - Logistics Coordinator
Audrey Voorhees - Instructor
Katie Burk - Group A Counselor
Susie Cheney - Group G Counselor
Kait Bowdler - Group H Counselor Wonderful Days with Ane
 

Start a GLOW Club 
in your community!
Do you want to share what you learned at camp with
others? Do you love discussing important issues with
other young women? Do you want to help your
community through service projects? Then starting a
GLOW Club may be your next project!
 
If you are interested in starting and leading your own
GLOW Club, please
contact clubs.macedonia@gmail.com for more
information on how to get started!

Wonderful Days with Ane

   Gostivar Glow Club

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