The Shona Project deliver workshops to schools helping girls improve self esteem

Studies have shown that a girl's self-esteem drops dramatically when she enters her teen years compared to that of boys.

With a lot of pressure put on girls from an early age to focus on their appearance and look perfect at all times, young women and girls often suffer from extreme anxiety. When I was a teenager I had little to no self-esteem and had terrible body dysmorphia. This came from a mixture of peer pressure and the pressure to look like the celebrities I saw in magazines. The Shona Project took form in Ireland in 2016 and has since travelled around the country helping young girls and women improve their self-worth. The project helps girls see themselves as more than just their appearance and focuses in on setting career goals, encouraging hobbies like music, science and sports and teaching young women how to respect one another.

"We celebrate women from all over the world Those who succeed and those who overcome, those who lead and those who think, those who win and those who learn. We share our stories so that we don’t feel alone."

As well as delivering workshops to schools The Shona Project also runs a website filled with inspirational women from Ireland and across the globe. If you have a teenage daughter I would highly recommend getting her to follow The Shona Project on their social media channels and maybe even signing up to their mailing list. Even though Ireland was recently named one of the top ten countries with the best quality of life for women many Irish girls are still falling victim to the pressures of social media but organisations like The Shona Project are a great step on the way to improving self-esteem for young girls.