TEEN GIRLS
Secondary school girls range in age from 14 -19. They are at the highest risk for assault in the general population. NMNW Training begins with an analysis of assault and it’s various forms – from harassment to life threatening. Students are asked to utilize ALL of their personal strengths: Spirit, Mind, Eyes, Voice and Body. By the end of the 6 week class cycle girls have learned dozens of options to use for the many types of conflict they may encounter.
GRANDMOTHERS
In 2006 grannies in Korogocho slum Nairobi were under attack. Elderly women were targeted weekly for particularly brutal assaults. It was their stories of rape and murder that led Lee to establish a permanent team of Empowerment Defense instructors to help women protect themselves. The grannies began their training in 2007, and many of the original grandmothers are still in our program. They are currently developing a special Grandmothers class and plan to teach other grannies in nearby slums. Their story has been featured in over 30 media outlets and there are currently 2 short award winning films made about them. There have not been any reported rapes of Grandmothers in Korogocho in almost 2 years.
TEEN BOYS
Yup! It’s time. Our new ‘Your Moment of Truth’ (YMOT ) boys violence prevention/intervention curriculum just completed it’s first 6 week class cycle with over 1000 boys. These uniquely designed classes were developed by Edgework Consulting to teach parallel curriculum to the girls class content. Preliminary research on the YMOT class show that male students gender-negative attitudes towards women and girls were transformed to a more positive and supportive set of beliefs.
PRIMARY SCHOOL – AGES 10- 13 YEARS
May 2013 marks the introduction of new Violence Prevention Intervention classes for middle school age boys and girls. We will pilot both classes throughout the year.
NMNW CURRICULUM
Each NMNW class follows a set curriculum from the official NMNW training manuals. This curriculum was developed over 2 years with Lou Bergholz of Edgework Consulting, Jeannie Cheng of San Francisco State Center for Teaching and Faculty Development, input from top Self- Defense instructors in United States and the study of Self-Defense research, books, articles and classes. These experiences, plus Lee’s familiarity with organizing safety classes in slum communities has culminated in the creation of a global curriculum that specifically addresses assault experiences common in high-risk areas.
Only the most effective, memorable and practical Empowerment Safety strategies are taught and ongoing research assesses the impact of the curriculum in the lives of students.
The NMNW curriculum will be available free on our website in late summer 2013.
