JAPAN: HOW YOU CAN HELP

The tragedies in Japan have startled the entire world. So, what can you do to help?

You know that change sitting on your dresser drawer? Or, the allowance you were thinking of spending at Starbucks with friends? How about the extra mullah from your afterschool job? Any donation, no matter the size, helps.

Some of the organizations we recommend giving through are The Red Cross, Salvation Army, Save the Children and Unicef. We also really dig Living Social, where you can pick specifically what type of donation you want to make for the cause. You can donate to help the children of Japan,
buy shelter boxes, get more emergency supplies, put your dollars into a general fund to help disaster relief and more.

So, count up that extra money (whatever you have means a lot), and talk to your parents about using their credit or debit card to make your donation with one of these trusted organizations on their website. If you don't wanna do it online, it is also easy to make a cash donation, just hit up your local Salvation Army or Red Cross locations.

Our thoughts and hearts go out to the Girls in the Hall in Japan, and everyone coping with this tragedy.

GLOBAL GIRLS IN THE HALL

globe two, originally uploaded by !!Kayla.

We started Girls in the Hall over a year ago to be a platform for girls all over the world trying to be themselves and get through high school, JUST LIKE YOU! Thrillingly, blogger has given us the stats about our readers and the results are in (drumroll, please)...


We have readers in twenty five (count 'em below, 25) countries! Where are you from? We wanna know.

Bosnia and Herzegovina
Brazil
Canada
Denmark
Ecuador
France
Germany
Hungary
Iceland
India
Indonesia
Iran
Japan
Lebanon
Malaysia
Mexico
Netherlands
Pakistan
Philippines
Russia
Slovenia
South Korea
Thailand
United Kingdom
United States

See that link that says POST A COMMENT, right below this line? Go ahead and click on it to let us know which country YOU are from.

OUR SECOND TEEN CONTRIBUTOR

We are proud and delighted to share our second Girls in the Hall Teen Contributor Winner! Details are below on how YOU can enter to be the next teen published on Girls in the Hall and win a Barnes and Noble E-Gift Card.

THE MASQUERADE OF LIFE
By Leanna, 17, Utah

Wake up.
Clean canvas.

Time to decide.

Is it to be, Which?

           

A day of drama,
A day of love & romance,

Which mask to wear?

Will it shine and glitter         

        

to hide the pain,

or shall I fade into the background,

so no one sees the tears?

To costume, we move.

Attract or hide?
comfort or aesthetics?

All a mask.

Smoke and mirrors to get through the day.

But even masters can't hide their eyes.

So called windows of the soul.

Framing what we all wish to hide.

Walking down the halls. 

gossip.  judgment.  expectation.

What we dread,

we do. 

we all hide.
who are we?

As a collective, closer than ever;

as an individual, more lost and alone.

Fake smiles.
Fake people.
Empty eyes.
Heartless black-holes.

Will we survive?

Painted faces.

Empty shells or emotional prisons? 

A gilded cage. 

What if we forsake it all?
Would we know our selves?

Pain & Questions.
Where is the joy,

Where are the answers?

"all the worlds a stage,"

     

Whose mask do you wear?

___________________________________________________

Do you have an original...

Short story? 

Poem?

Essay?

Photograph?

Book/Film/TV review?

Recipe?

Editorial?

Send it to us at girlsinthehallblog@gmail.com for a chance to be published on Girls in the Hall and win a Barnes and Noble E-Gift Card. You could be next!

GIRLS IN THE HALL: ECUADOR EDITION

 

Remar Orphanage, taken by GIRLS IN THE HALL

The streets are lined with stray dogs, litter and vendors selling everything ranging from fresh popcorn to sunglasses. The background is dappled with lush green mountains, and the sky alternates almost to the minute with fierce sun and cloudy mists of mystery. Welcome to Quito, the capital of Ecuador. This was my home for two weeks at the end of February.

An imposing metal door clicks open as I ring the bell, the security guard is a girl no more than thirteen years old with spiral curls and a New York Yankees sweatshirt. Chaos of little hands grab at my clothes as young children spring up around me, I am the unfamiliar face piquing curiosity amongst everyone inside the walls of this place, the biggest orphanage in Quito. I have a smattering of presents for the little ones, but they are not why I have come here. I look around and see all of the reasons why I have traveled to another continent....

There is a girl in the corner, sweeping up the dirt that has crept into the dining hall. Two girls lift the trash of the day's breakfast into the dumpster. Three girls sit on the concrete wall and take turns holding each other's babies. More girls help out with the toddlers, who respond to them as if they are being raised by not one mom, but a pack--which is true. The girls, who range in ages 11-22, are the foundation of this orphanage. They are the mothers to the motherless, even though most of them do not know who their mothers are or, if they do remember, most of them wish they didn't.

As I am introduced to these teens, all of the girls are distant and polite, tolerating me because they know it is important to be nice to the volunteers coming from around the world. When I try to take their pictures, they look away, cross their arms, or glare--the photos from the afternoon turn out to be a manifestation of just how uncomfortable one can look when posing for a picture when uncomfortable inside the trap of low self esteem.

The head of the orphanage, a passionate and incredibly resourceful woman, speaks to me kindly, but it is all business. She doesn't have time to give to the volunteer from the United States. It is clear that I must find my own way, somehow, with these girls. I then think of what the next day has in store and smile to myself.

When I raised the money to go on this journey, my core friends and supporters of Girls in the Hall sat with me for hours coming up with ideas of just what to do once I had raised the money to go to Ecuador. A good friend, Michael Aaron Capps, who is also a personal stylist to the stars and elite of New York alike, said to me, "Let's cut their hair. That is what I want my donation to go for." Michael's mantra is CHANGE YOUR LOCKS, CHANGE YOUR LIFE. It was to be the first real interaction I had with the girls of the orphanage.

The next day, I had arranged with my host mom for two respected stylists in Ecuador to travel to the orphanage to do thirty haircuts, complete with highlights. We walk into the orphanage, and the girls are nervous. All in Spanish, many of them say, "No one is touching my hair, it is all I have." Then, we unpack the bags of scissors, dye and hope. Slowly, the girls circle around us, asking we are doing this for them. They are suspicious. I say the lines that I have learned in their language, "We are doing this as a gift to you from the world because you are a gift to the world. You are beautiful, and we want you to look in the mirror and see it."

With trepidation, one girl volunteers to go first. Then a second, then a third, then a fourth until they are enraptured of the process. The stylists consult on which cuts are best and what color of highlights the girls want (there's an array of reds, blues, blonds and whites). Slowly, the images I have captured on my camera go from smileless faces, like this:

To after photos when the girls have finished their haircuts:

I talk to the girls about their new haircuts, and the universality of the need for self worth within all of us girls becomes abundantly apparent. A simple thing that many of us take for granted such as a good haircut, one example of how we each show our identity to the world, can transform and make one feel great from the outside on in.

The next day, Diana, one of the girls who had her haircut the day before, yells out, "Hola!" to me as she opens the door to let me into the world of the orphanage. Instead of looks merely tolerating me, I am welcomed with hugs and questions asking what we are doing for the day. We all sit down in the cafeteria and I pull out stacks of composition books brought from the US and a bag containing a zillion creative possibilities. I ask them how many have a safe place to record their ambitions, worries and thoughts--a place that is truly their own for what is going on inside their brains. They all say no. So, we create them by covering the composition books into a diary of dreams for each girl. Andrea's has a glitter heart with wings and Anita's name is emblazoned across hers in blue letters. They proudly hold up their works of art that will soon have the insides lined with pencil filled reflections:

The next days are filled with sharing, laughing and communicating. We even record videos on the flip cam that a generous friend loaned me.  Suddenly, these quiet girls have let me in and I go from being an outsider to becoming a friend, which is one of the greatest presents I have ever received.

These girls changed my life. They showed me that at our core, we all share the same heart, soul and needs. I watched in awe at their perserverance and positivity to get through the days and enjoy life. We all need to learn about the world around us. We all need to do things to make us feel good about ourselves. We all need to do things to bring out our creative spirits. Despite where we came from, where we live, what we do---around the world, we are all girls in the hall.

For more photos of the Girls in the Hall trip to Ecuador, including before and after photos with the haircuts and journal craft day, check out our Facebook page. Leave us a comment about what you think!

BEING BRIGHT

everything is illuminated, originally uploaded by lagordajarra.

How many times have you known the answer in class, only to argue in your brain as to whether you should raise your hand and risk talking in front of the class? Moreover, how many times have you decided not to raise your hand for fear of being considered "nerdy", or worse, getting the answer wrong?

When I was little, I was told that I was smart, like really smart. The years passed and I fell into the trap sometimes known as the high school classroom, where answering a teacher's question sometimes was in tandem with social ridicule. As a result, the nagging feeling of incompetency crept into my confidence and I began to doubt, well, myself. The girl who was on math team in elementary school needed extra tutoring to get through Alegbra II. I blinked and didn't know what had happened to the pint sized smart spit-fire of my early childhood days. I knew I had changed, but didn't really know why. As a grown up, trying to manage a company is still a challenge for a lot of the reasons that linger in my brain from high school. "What did I do to make them upset me?" "How come that manager gets what he wants without as much effort as me?" 'Why do I second guess my choices?" and, most detrimental, "Why am I so freakin' hard on myself?"

A Girl in the Hall forwarded us this fascinating article, THE TROUBLE WITH BRIGHT GIRLS, in the Huffington Post. In it, Dr. Heidi Grant Halvorson, details the facts and her viewpoint on a study of how "bright" girls and boys digested and attempted to tackle tasks in fifth grade. The result was astounding--the girls who were considered the "brightest" were the first to give up on a task, while boys (the rowdier, the more attention they got), plowed through the tasks without every questioning their abilities.

We are all "bright girls" in some way--whether you can ace the SAT, play an instrument with drive and skill, are the top of the list for babysitters in your area, run the fastest mile or are always there for your friends--we all have a light inside, a brightness that is beckoning to get out in some way. Maybe, just maybe, if we can give ourselves the gift of confidence while still in high school before being let out into the halls of adulthood, our gifts can shine out into the world.

GIRLS IN THE HALL GOES INTERNATIONAL

mapped, originally uploaded by scoremat.

Have you ever taken a leap and done something completely out of your comfort zone? Tried out for a sport you have never told anyone you were interested in doing? Auditioned for the school play even though you have stage fright akin to a deer caught in headlights? Submitted a letter to the editor of your school paper about a hot topic at school, worried what people would think about you? If you haven't, I am sure you have thought or even dreamed of conquering a fear and going for "it"--what "it" may mean for you.

In a few weeks, I will be conquering a major "it" on my list. With the Girls in the Hall mantra of every girl being themselves while surviving the hard times of teen years, I will be flying to Quito, the capital of Ecuador, and volunteering in an orphanage with at risk teen girls. What does that mean? There will be 30 girls, ages 13-22, who want to learn about the arts and, in turn, about themselves. Some of these girls were left at the orphanage as babies and don't know any other sort of life. Others were left by their parents later on in childhood, and remember their families. The older girls in the group are moms themselves, and their babies live at the orphanage too.

The plan: to get together every day for nearly two weeks and learn about ourselves and each other through writing, expressing emotions and sharing. Then, I will blog about it for all of the English speaking Girls in the Hall to hear about what life as a teen in Ecuador really is about--the real scoop.

The catch?

My Spanish is bad. I mean, really really bad. MUY MALO! So, this is probably the biggest experiment of my life. Will I be able to share the Girls in the Hall spirit with these girls without knowing all of the words and communicating through emotion and understanding, and then accurately relay the journey to all of you? Time will indeed tell.

Here's where you come in! Have you wondered what it is like to grow up in a country so different from your own? We are collecting questions from teens here to ask the girls over there. Then, we will blog the answers to your question directly from the girls in Ecuador. Leave a comment on this post with your questions or drop us an email at girlsinthehallblog@gmail.com. We want to hear from you to ask real questions, from teen to teen.

OUR FIRST TEEN CONTRIBUTOR

Here is our first Teen Contributor entry! Have something to say? Look at the bottom of this post for details on how you can be featured on Girls in the Hall and win a Barnes and Noble E-Gift Card.

 _____________________________________________________________

MIRROR, WHO ARE YOU?
A poem and photo by Lee, 18, Florida  

I look in the shining glass with white covering these empty walls.
All I want is to be loved by myself and the ones around me
Like these walls I have scars and bruises I can never get rid of:

Love can be a very good thing
sometimes walls cover candy pink and apple red
Then again Love can be a damp thing
covering the walls of gloomy blue and coal black
At times I feel like re-painting these walls
to make them what I feel is happening 

Then the tears start running down my face
and the sunshine fades to a thunder storm
It’s hard to pick the pieces up after a long day of crying

As I talk to my friends and family
the storm suddenly ends and possibilities come my way

So mirror on the wall I look at you in awe wondering 

where you are taking my life when will you finally show!

_____________________________________________________________

Do you have an original...

Short story? 

Poem?

Essay?

Photograph?

Book/Film/TV review?

Recipe?

Editorial?

Send it to us at girlsinthehallblog@gmail.com for a chance to be published on Girls in the Hall and win a Barnes and Noble E-Gift Card. You could be next!