Girls Universal Empowerment Sports Tour

I am Catherine Curtin. Over the past years I was able to visit Egypt shortly before the Arab Spring, and on a later trip both Thailand & Cambodia.  In each country I was charmed by the people but struck by the poverty and lack of opportunity, especially for young girls.  I wanted to do something, but North Africa and Asia are just too far away.   

Two years ago, with a lot of help from family and friends, I started GUEST, a program to use volleyball as a way to empower young girls because if you can reach someone through sport you can impact them in other ways too.  I chose to begin GUEST in Cuba because it is largely poor, and is so close by that I could make an ongoing commitment. 

On my first trip to Cuba I went with a friend from school.  Through the Cuban embassy I contacted Barrio Habana, a community group that works with at risk girls in Havana.  We raised funds to purchase team shirts and knee pads (much appreciated as the girls play on concrete).  Despite not having much, the girls we met were very friendly and played a pretty good game of volleyball!  We had a great time playing, making friends, and learning a lot about each other.   

Just this July, I went back with a life-long friend, Salma Abdelbarry, who shares the same desire to help empower other girls.  Again this year we raised funds to bring team shirts, but we expanded our gifts to include chess sets and school supplies.  In addition to playing ball we explored different communities and the Cuban arts scene.  It was great to see friends from last year, and make new ones with Salma!   

Salma and I have been raising funds at both of our schools to buy badly needed sneakers and fresh knee pads for the Barrio Habana team.  So far our Girls Volleyball Team and Spanish Club have raised almost Eight Hundred Dollars with more to come.  Many thanks to everyone who contributed, we can use all the help we can get!   

March, 2018 Update: thanks to the generosity of Under Armour, we were able to turn the money we raised into 42 pairs of sneakers.  In light of trade restrictions our next creative challenge was getting the sneakers to Cuba.  For that we turned to our friends at Cuba Educational Travel who put us in touch with another youth group heading there to play baseball.  We are grateful to all the kids and parents of the Takoma Baseball Academy for bringing the sneakers on their trip!

Plans are forming to return to Havana at the end of this senior year, only this time with a full team to challenge the girls of Barrio Habana!  My long-term goal is to host 6 Cuban girls who could play as a team in a tournament that happens every February in Washington, DC.  If this kind of adventure sounds like fun please let me know so I can fill you in as the trip gets closer.  Oh, let your parents know that we found Havana very safe, the trip is chaperoned, and they would be welcome too.   

Thanks for listening, hope to hear from you!