And that's a wrap!

Last night, I read through the girls emails telling me more about themselves. The stories are inspirational - being the first in their family to be educated, losing parents at an early age with no where to go, taking care of a large family with an income of a teacher, and one girl has hopes of becoming a doctor. All of this reminded me of my family's story, which is very similar to many of these women.

This morning, I began with my story. It seemed only fair since they had so kindly and openly shared theirs with me.

My grandmother married at 11, had her first child at 13, had 10 children (1 passed away early on), lost her husband when her last child was 2 months, and managed to raise 9 beautiful and wildly successful children. All starting from a village in Bangladesh. My parents were the first in my family to immigrate to the United States, hence I was the first to be raised and be fully educated abroad.

Initially, I asked the Camfed manager (who bears a strong resemblance to Bailey from Greys Anatomy) to tell it for me, worrying that the girls wouldn't understand me. She encouraged me to try as it would be more genuine coming from me. When I finished, there was a round of applause! Not gonna lie, I almost lost my marbles for a moment. Got it together before anyone noticed and charged forward with another typing exercise!

They spent the morning writing about what they learned, how they will apply their new computer skills in their lives and each told me how much their confidence has grown from Day 1. It was amazing to see each girl stand up and speak, projecting their voices and looking proud.

The filming guy arrived in the morning. My coworker and I were both interviewed, as well as some of the girls. We'll be given about 3 minutes of air time on CNBC showcasing my company's initiative and the work we have done in Tamale, Ghana.

We wrapped up with internet exercises and email. Then the women gave me some lovely notes that they had written which was accompanied by a heartwarming speech. Let me tell you, some of these women speak like they belong on the news (but they carry emotion in their voices). Just brilliant.

Group shot


Overall, it was a great experience and am very grateful to have been able to come to Ghana to spend time with these confident and ambitious young women. I wish each of them the best and hope to keep in touch via email.

Thank you for reading, I know this was a long one :)

She said to me "Take a picture and show people how we carry our babies in Africa"