Out of Ethopia we get a new superhero series, in the form of Tibeb Girls. These are three adolescent girls with superpowers that they use to fight injustice and harmful practices towards girls in Africa.
Tibeb means “wisdom” and these girls aim to impart wisdom to their counterparts. There’s
- Power Girl, who has superhuman strength and speed (in a red and white costume),
- Whiz Kid Girl, who has the power to see the future (in a white and black costume) and
- Empathy Girl, who has the superpower of feeling what others are feeling (in a green and white costume).
Tibeb Girls is set to be featured in comic form and as a radio show. Using their powers to see the past and future, Tibeb Girls draws the audience into the typical lives of Ethiopian girls, building empathy for their hardship and a vision of a brighter future. Tibeb Girls puts girls’ issues at the center and provides examples of girls asserting themselves, problem-solving, and implementing solutions. By broadcasting a program that will examine harmful practices and explore girls’ agency in addressing those challenges, Tibeb Girls will foster a culture of conversation among girls, families, and throughout the broader community.
In a place such as Ethiopia, where social supports are often inadequate, adolescent girls struggle to find a path into a healthy and secure adult life. Many adolescent girls struggle with limited access to high-quality education while simultaneously facing traditional practices such as child marriage and health risks such as high maternal death rates and HIV infection. According to Girl Up, (a campaign of the United Nations Foundation that aims to promote the health, safety, education, and leadership of girls in developing countries), only 38% of girls and young women between the ages of 15-24 in Ethiopia are literate, one in five girls is married before the age of 15, and girls ages 15-19 are seven times more likely to be HIV positive than their male peers. Furthermore, 12% of girls between the ages of fifteen and nineteen are mothers or pregnant with their first child.
Bruktawit Tigabu (CEO of Whiz Kids Workshop) directed and wrote The Tibeb Girls idea. Also contributing as writers for the series are Shane Etzenhouser, Tinbit Daniel, Tedi Ware and Awa Momtazian.
We hope they get the funding they require so that we can witness the Tibeb Girls in action.
*Additional information taken from Whiz Kids Workshop
