A Ribbon of Support
How did BOWS get started? When I first got to Beijing a lot of people kept mentioning how there’s no place for support groups here. Also, I have a friend with eating issues, and when she got here the stress of moving and living in a new place was really hard. Hearing all this made me think support groups would be a great outlet. In March we launched Support Sister, a women’s support group for anyone in Beijing. Is your eating disorder support group open to men as well as women? We want to leave it open, but we do realize that many men don’t admit or know they have an eating disorder. If you want to come, we want you to come. Do you do any outreach programs? We have partnered with Sun Village, which is not an orphanage, but all the kids there have parents in prison or who have received the death penalty. Other family members don’t want them because they think they’ll be bad kids, so instead of having these kids in the street, there’s a children's village. We'll start teaching there in May, with classes about basic body and health stuff. What about Women Who Wine [a women’s social wine and dine event]? That sounds like a support group, too! [laughing] I think it’s a different kind of support ... It started in the US and we’re working on setting up meetings here now. Lastly, how did you choose your name--is it because girls like ribbons and bows? It’s actually really cheesy. We originally thought we’d be working with much younger girls, so we wanted to find something girly that sounded like a club.

Details

For more information on support groups or other activities organized by BOWS, or to volunteer, visit their website at http://www.bowsforgirls.org