Girls MMA Club

I’m using this blog to update people about what became of the Girls MMA Camp last December. It took a good six months of meetings and proposals to convince Lempu Jr Sec School to allow us to hold a Girls MMA Club on campus. We posted signs advertising for the club, made announcements in our Guidance Counseling classes, and claimed an unused classroom. We managed to obtain use of only half the mats. It didn’t matter much because for two weeks, no one showed up. I would try and recruit girls passing by the room, make announcements at the morning meeting, I even brought candy. Finally Lucas brought in a few girls from his PACT Club so interested girls wouldn’t be reluctant to enter if she was the only one.

For a while the PACT Club girls were the only ones coming (all 4 of them). But at least I was teaching someone. One week we went from 4 to 14. The deciding factor? Dodgeball. Lucas hand-stitched 2 balls from cloth found around the village and stuffed them with bubble wrap. We split the group into two teams and had them back up against separate walls. We drew a line in the middle of the room and placed the two balls on the line. Girls would race to the ball and attempt to hit each other with it. Girls were ducking, jumping, and having a great time. Pretty soon there were 50 sets of eyes looking in. We invited girls to join, and thus became the start of our club.

The following weeks we taught basic punches, defense, kicking (they love kicking the pad), and started showing wrestling takedowns. Boys constantly try to sneak into the room. I think the girls get a cheap thrill out of telling them it’s for girls only. I’m hoping the club encourages the girls to feel better about themselves and build some self confidence. Most of our girls are boarder students who are more at risk because they have no adult figure to look up and confide in. And they are trapped on campus 24/7, with other boys. Girls that age (14-16) across the globe struggle with self esteem issues. In a country where teenage pregnancy and HIV rates are high, it can be a threatening situation. The club offers them a chance to be physically active and provides an environment where they can be encouraged and excel at something.

We just started the club for Term Three of the school year. Classes end in late November. We plan on hosting another Girls MMA Camp this year in December and picking the club back up the start of Term One next year. It’s unlikely the club will continue on after we leave in June, which I took into consideration before we started this project. But my hope is that the few girls I do reach in the two years I’m here will make some sort of an impact in their lives and somehow improve their chances of living an HIV free life.