A girl who knows her strength is harder to silence — and in Georgetown's Tiger Bay community, many girls took their first steps toward finding it on Saturday.

STRIDE592, a wellness and empowerment organisation, officially launched Girls on the Move at the Promenade Gardens, bringing together more than 50 participants, mentors, and community leaders to mark the beginning of Guyana's first structured running and life-skills programme for girls.

The 12-week programme will see girls aged 6 to 18 train alongside accomplished female mentors every Tuesday and Saturday, culminating at the SOCA Heart Project Celebration 5K on September 27.

"What makes this programme powerful is not only the running," said Onika Jervis, founder of STRIDE592 and a two-time marathoner. "It is relationships.

It is a young girl from Tiger Bay training beside a doctor, an engineer, or a corporate leader and discovering that a version of that future is possible for her. Running is the vehicle. Empowerment is the destination," she added.

At the heart of the programme is a mentorship model that pairs girls with professionals drawn from medicine, communications, entrepreneurship, engineering, and Guyana's oil and gas sector, who train alongside them throughout the full 12 weeks.

The curriculum extends beyond fitness, covering bullying, mental wellbeing, nutrition, time management, and personal confidence.

Older participants will earn CPR certification. The programme also includes two field trips and concludes with a shared celebration at the 5K finish line.

The Women in Sports Commission was represented at the launch. Chair Nicolette Fernandes urged the girls to pursue excellence across every dimension of their lives, saying true success is measured not only by professional achievement but by the impact made within families and communities.

MODEC, a sponsor, said the initiative aligned directly with its commitment to community engagement and the empowerment of young people.

The launch concluded with a commitment circle, accompanied by a live drummer, in which every participant pledged her involvement in the journey ahead.

"A girl with a village around her is harder to harm. A girl on the move is a girl with a future," Jervis told the gathering.