Global Ties U.S. MENA-USA Empowering Resilient Girls Exchange (MERGE) Programme 2022
Deadline: September 16, 2022
In order to foster emotional resilience abilities, MERGE brings together young women and girls from the Middle East/North Africa (MENA) and the United States in a safe online environment.
Participants engage in both synchronous (live) and asynchronous conversation while discussing and experimenting with a range of stress-relieving and coping skills under the guidance of experienced facilitators.
Programme Details
You will learn about mental health over the eight (8) week virtual exchange program called MERGE, with an emphasis on building your own emotional stamina and empowering your community. During your first week, you’ll engage in activities that promote cultural exchange while creating a supportive global community. Over the next five weeks, we’ll examine doable strategies for boosting emotional toughness. You will work in a group of 20 people, including 10 young women from the MENA region and 10 from the United States, and you will support one another as you apply these tactics to your own lives.
Throughout the program, your facilitator will lead you, provide materials, and moderate discussions. You’ll use apps like Flipgrid to communicate with other young ladies through text and video. Throughout your program, there will be two live discussions about emotional resilience and leadership. Alyson Watson, a businesswoman building digital tools to evaluate mental wellbeing, and Bilqis Abdul Qadir, a coach/activist supporting Muslim girls in sports, were previously featured speakers. Your five-person team will produce a piece for the website for MERGE’s digital resilience techniques in the last two weeks of the project to share with your neighborhood and the rest of the globe!
Benefits
By participating in MERGE, you will receive:
- A Certificate of Completion in leadership and mental health awareness;
- Access to the U.S. Department of State’s International Exchange Alumni network;
- Eligibility for unique project funding opportunities of up $1,000 from the Stevens Initiative Alumni Small Grants programme.
Eligibility
MERGE participants must:
- Reside in the United States or a MENA region country (Algeria, Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Libya, Morocco, Oman, Palestinian Territories, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia, United Arab Emirates, or Yemen);
- Identify as a girl or young woman;
- Be between the ages of 15 to 19 as of September 26, 2022;
- Speak English at an intermediate level or higher;
- Be available during the program dates listed above;
- Have access to a reliable, internet-connected device (smartphone, tablet, laptop, etc.) that can be utilized for at least three (3) hours a week for the duration of the program;
- Have an interest in mental health, community building, and international exchange.
Application
The second cohort starts September 26, 2022 and ends on November 18, 2022. The programme will require three (3) hours of time each week, generally carried out on your own schedule. You can choose when to complete most activities during the week they become available. You will also join a scheduled video call with your MERGE section at least three times during the programme, the timing of which will be determined in advance.
