Sunday Snippet: An Empowering Place!

Anyone who has experienced a summer at WeHaKee understands the empowering nature of the experience ~ it is invaluable in building self-confidence and independence that remains with each girl well beyond her time on the shores of Hunter Lake! We thought we’d explore how empowering girls and young women is an intentional element of the WeHaKee experience.

“Above all, be the heroine of your life, not the victim.” ― Nora Ephron

The term empowerment has an emphatic impact, perhaps because the word ‘power’ is embedded in the center.   It’s definition implies an internal force or drawing power from within.   We are empowered when we feel the ability to accomplish something.   But empowerment can be drawn out externally, by others around an individual.

In an article found in both Psychology Today and Pure Inspiration Magazine, Maureen Healy writes about advice for parents to help them empower their children (Empowering Kids).   She discusses the words parents use that either encourage or discourage a child.   “(Children) listen with their minds and hearts to every word their parents, caregivers, teachers and friends say.   Words shape their world”.   

She also goes on to share five inner qualities “that facilitate a child to feel empowered”.   They include Confidence (think you can), Courage (heart-to-heart), Connection (together), Self-Trust (only you) and Optimism (happy surprises).   From a WeHaKee perspective, these qualities are modelled, emphasized, embraced and embedded in all we do at camp – in our activities, in our cabin life, in our camp community and our entire camp culture!

“The act of EMPOWERING children is a process of instilling in them
BELIEFS and FEELINGS that THEY ARE POWERFUL NOW!”

The WeHaKee Camp for Girls experience is one of empowering girls and young women to not only become all that they can be, but to share what they become to make our world all it can be!

Thanks for joining us and have a great week!