Great time today supporting my good friend Winnie Ainembaabazi and the Girl Power Foundation. Today we met with girls aged 14-25 in Kihihi, South West Uganda, many of whom were young mothers. We explored communication, self-esteem and how to set goals for all the different areas (physical, mental, emotional and spiritual) in our lives. 
The biggest challenge for the girls was the idea that they are worthy of love and that this is true despite any challenges (Loss of parents, early pregnancy, loss of job, poor education) that life might through at them. In the end I held one of the girls’ beautiful babies and asked them:
“Do you see this beautiful baby? Is she worthy of love?”
“Yes”
“Does she have a job?”
“No”
“Does she have money?”
“No”
“Does she have success?”
“No”
“Is she worthy of love?”
“Yes”
“We are all born equal and equally worthy of love. This does not change with time, no matter what challenges we face or mistakes we make, we remain worthy of love”
Then, because it felt like what was needed in that instance, we all turned to our neighbours and told them (in the local language) “you are worthy of love”.
This was quite a powerful moment, and many of the girls reflected afterward that it never occurred to them to love themselves and that they were worthy of love.
Sadly too many girls grow up thinking that their worth in life is only relative to the money they can bring in to their families or the marriage they can achieve. Too many girls spend their lives being judged on their physical looks, or preconceived societal notions of what it means to be “female” but not on the person they truly are. No matter who you are, you are worthy of love.
