Amy's Reflections

I have been putting off writing this post, partly because of how ridiculously tired I feeling after such an intense two weeks and then , but mainly because reflecting on my experience at the Girls' World Forum reminds me that I'm not there any more.  Being able to talk to girls from so many different countries all at the same time, sharing our cultures and our views on development issues as well as silly inside jokes, was a unique experience in every way and not something I'm likely to experience again any time soon.  Although the forum has definitely inspired me to apply for as many international Guiding events as possible!  And one of the advantages of Facebook is that I've been able to talk to loads of the delegates since I got back, so hopefully the friendships I made will be ones that last forever.

Thinking back to July, I had no idea what to expect of the week ahead of me as I flew to Chicago with Issi, and Helen.  All I had known beforehand was that I was going to be hearing from speakers about, and discussing, the UN’s Millennium Development Goals 1, 3 and 7 –poverty, gender equality and sustainability.  There were to be 300 girls, with two delegates from over 90 countries and each of the US Girl Scout Councils, each creating their own Take Action Plans for their home communities.

 

When I got there, I found that the whole event was planned and run by girls the same age as the attendees, 14-18, so they really understood what we would relate to.  They picked truly inspiring speakers, relevant to the kind of change we could make, from Sejal Hathi, who founded the international NGO Girls Helping Girls whilst still in high school, to Dr. Tererai Trent, a Zimbabwean girl who never stopped hoping and went from having no education at all to earning a PhD.  They also led most of the sessions on the causes and possible solutions to the issues we discussed, giving the whole Forum a ‘girl-led’ atmosphere, which made us feel like we really could make a difference.  We spent most of the sessions in patrols, which meant that we became really close with the rest of our patrol and got the chance to learn about the issues we were discussing in the context of each other’s cultures.  Thanks to my patrol, I now have great friends from the US, the Philippines, Germany, Rwanda and the Caribbean.  The socials were a great chance to make friends with girls from all over the world and to just have fun together!  My favourite evenings included each country’s traditional dress and performances at International Night, testing out my French running round Chicago on a scavenger hunt with the Francophone African girls and sumo-wrestling and sharing dance moves from around the world at the party on the last night.

I was amazed to see what brilliant work Guiding is doing in so many different countries, and it’s made me really passionate to tell as many people as I can about the wonderful sisterhood we are a part of.   As one of the chaperones said to me, taking the ‘elevator’ will never be the same again after travelling up 46 floors with girls from Pakistan, Malaysia, Peru, Finland, Canada, Togo and New Zealand all at the same time.  It is really hard to describe the unique experience of being part of this international community, but the thing that struck me the most was not the interesting cultural differences between us, but how similar we all were. 

The issue that I felt was most relevant to girls in the UK is the lack of female participation in Politics – currently only 22% of our MPs are women, compared with 56% in Rwanda.  This is something we want to raise awareness of and begin change.  So the ‘Take Action Project’ that Issi and I are working on is creating a badge that encourages girls at all stages of Guiding to gain a greater understanding of and start to get involved with political issues.  

I am so thankful to have been given the chance to be a part of the Girls' World Forum - it's something that will stay with me for the rest of my life.  The global network that Guiding gives me makes me realise that I’m a part of something really special that can empower me to make a real difference.  I can’t wait to get on with our Take Action Project and share all my exciting experiences with as many Brownies, Rainbows and Guides as possible! 

Helen's initial reflections

I thought it would be good to reflect here on the GWF and to consider the learning, as well as how to take it forward.  I am now back home in the UK.  After an extremely intensive conference programme, it is strange to be back, trying to find ways to articulate what was a life-changing experience.  Those of you who know me will know that I don't like clichés like 'life-changing', but it really was.  Let me try and explain...  

To meet Girl Scouts and Girl Guides from all over the world is itself, fascinating.  To be able to strike up conversations with absolutely anyone at the conference, purely because we had Guiding or Girl Scouting in common, is hard to describe.  From the moment we arrived at O'Hare airport and met several of the international delegations, I knew this was going to be an engaging and unique experience.  We sat with the delegation from Burundi as we travelled to downtown Chicago.  The freeway is either side of the trainline.  They don't have trains in Burundi, and they certainly don't have skyscrapers.  Even travelling from the airport to the hotel was an extraordinary international experience. 

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The train between the lanes of the freeway

On arrival, the magnitude of the event started to dawn, as we were ushered between different rooms collecting information, t-shirts, a water-bottle and all sorts of other goodies for the event.  We were also issued with translation equipment.

There then followed an intensive programme, separate for delegates and chaperones.  The girls' programme consisted of a series of practical workshops, talks, interactive discussions about the three MDGs we were focussing on.  The chaperone programme looked at how we as chaperones can support the girls with delivering their Take Action projects when they get home.  Once the delegates had worked out an action plan for their project, there was a session run by Zeenat Rahman, who is Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's Special Adviser for Global Youth Issues at U.S. Department of State.  The delegations had the opportunity to tell everyone about their plan, and to ask Zeenat to advise on how to take the project forward. 

Amy and Issi outline their project to Zeenat Rahman and the other delegations.

It was made clear to me how important it is that the delegates themselves deliver the project, with support from their chaperone. The whole purpose of the GWF was to enable girls who have been put forward by their Council or MO, to put together their own action plan. In one of the Chaperone sessions, we were asked to affirm our commitment to supporting the delegates, then all of these pledges became leaves on a tree:

My pledge

The pledges became leaves on a tree

So what happens now? The delegates have written an action plan, and we are soon talking to think about how to take it forward. Nothing is set in stone as yet, but more will follow. You can read the delegates' blog posts about their plans, that's for them to explain. I've learnt a lot about how important it is to take a step back, to allow the girls themselves to take charge of the plan. The whole purpose of the GWF was to empower the young delegates to deliver their projects, after training them in how to do so, and our programme was very much 'how to support' the delivery of this. It was an extremely useful programme for me, which I will put into action in various areas.

Guiding and Girl Scouting provide a unique opportunity for girls and young women to engage with these global issues, in a way that other activities do not. Please keep reading our blog because we will be using it to tell you about the girls' project, currently called 'Living a Political Life'.
Thanks to you for reading this. It was lovely and encouraging to receive comments, e-mails and texts from people.

If you are in Guiding, I hope it has conveyed the importance of the international side of Guiding, which should be delivered in every programme - Rainbows, Brownies, Guides, Senior Section; it is crucial that our members realise what they are part of, and how as individuals and in groups, they can work together to bring about change. Members have 10 million sisters around the world - Guiding is most definitely not just another evening activity! It is part of something huge.

If you are not in Guiding, maybe this has inspired you to think about becoming involved. We have giant waiting-to-join lists across the country, of girls who would like to join units. There are all sorts of opportunities for adults to get involved, to fit around your existing commitments. Come on - help to change the world! Look here for more details. Maybe you have been reading this without realising how huge Guiding is, and how powerful the Guiding and Girl Scouting family can be when it gathers together to learn. Imagine what is going to happen now that delegations from 89 countries have got together, shared ideas, written action plans, and have now returned to their Member Organisations!
I'll leave it there today. Am off to unpack and pick up the different strands of life. Thanks again for reading this, and please do keep reading as the project evolves. Best wishes, Helen BB

Reflecting... Issi's Post

Hi Everyone,

We thought that it would be great if we did a 'reflecting' blog just so that you can all understand how each of us have personally travelled through the emotional rollercoaster of this magnificent trip...

When I first arrived at Chicago's O'hare Airport I think we were all stunned by the level of security we had to go through in order to enter the country - it made you feel like you were smugling drugs even though you hadn't done anything! Yet once we got through, all our worries, especially Helen's, subsided. We then met the girls from Burundi and Ivory Coast who spoke french and as Amy and Helen speak french fluently I just listened and laughed at them trying to decode the girls' rocket speed way of talking.

After waiting a while for the coach we finally arrived at the hotel. The organisation was absolutely fabulous! You were wisked from one station to another for forms you hadn't filled out (Helen!) or simply t-shirts to collect. However, what simply made me feel so welcome in Chicago was the Opening Ceremony. Each of us have commented about it in our previous blogs but it was simply amazing!

I then had spectacular Toolkit Sessions in the days to follow as well as eye opening talks on topics such as self-esteem, living a political life and poverty. The Toolkit Sessions included our facilitators providing us with the knowledge and resources to complete successful Take Action plans that would have a sincere impact upon our communities back at home.

I made friends from all around the world at the Forum and friends that I will keep for life. Moreover, just being able to walk over to anyone at the Forum and strike up a conversation was a really big confidence booster for me because it made me realise that if I can do this with these girls then surely I can do it with anyone else.

Finally, the Forum has been so ispiring, I feel like I can return home and conquer the world. There is no problem or issue too large that we cannot overcome if we all join forces and work together.  So I am going to end on my favourite quote of all time and one in which I believe sums up the Forum extremely well; "Be the change you want to see in the world." - Gandhi.

Yours, Issi.

Our Take Action Plan by Issi

Hi everyone,

Just arrived at the Crea's household after an upsetting farewell to all of the international delegates. I realised that all was not that bad after all as we are all returning home to put our plans into action. We had an amazing closing ceremony and party - I will put pictures up on facebook when I return home... I go by "Issi Mahoney" - I'm the only one so I'm pretty easy to find if you want to add me. However, what I really want to let you all know about is our Take Action task that we have planned to do. We were given a  "Women in Politics" seminar whilst at the Forum which opened our eyes to the ridiculously low percentage of women in Politics within the UK - only 22% of the seats in parliament are held by women!!!!!

So we want to do something about it... We have planned a 'Living a Political Life' badge which will promote girlguide members doing the badge to understand the lack of female empowerment in the UK (MDG3) and to do something about it to change the statistics. The badge will have seven different stages that will include activities such as reading the newspaper each day and attending a civic and political event (this could be done as a unit). Though these activities may not sound all that inspiring and fun for the younger generation, we believe that it will be the way each task is conveyed and presented to the girls that will shape and form how they view themselves in society and what they can achieve as a woman - after all, Girl Guiding is here to empower girls!

I hope you like our idea, we have not finalised anything yet so there is still a long way to go but like Dr. Tererai Trent said to us at our closing ceremony; "If you desire those things, it is achieveable!"

Yours, Issi :)

Chicago Scavanger Hunt

What better way to explore the sites of Chicago than running around its streets on a scavanger hunt with loads of my new friends from Francaphone Africa?  I dropped French after taking it at AS level a year ago, but with the speed at which these girls talk it wasn't long before it came back to me. 

I didn't really take an active part in planning the route for the hunt because, typically, I was talking too much!  But I learned so much about the political and educational systems of their countries as well as finding out that they knew much of the music that I'd listened to while I was in Ghana last summer.  These girls have a totally different energy from my friends back home, and as we walked the streets of Chicago, taking in how beautifully lit up it was at night, we sang and danced and posed for pictures - much to the amusement of the locals.  Every time we walked past another group on the scavenger hunt we cheered like mad!  I also loved showing a girl from Madagascar who wanted to go into photography how to use my camera and seeing her delight at the pictures she could take with it, as well as a girl from Burundi telling me that she liked to be in pictures, not take them!

 
By the end of the night, I was half thinking in French, but more importantly I had become very inspired by the stories they had told me of female empowerment in politics in their countries.  It seemed to put the United Kingdom to shame, which got me thinking about my action plan....

International Night

We have had two grilling days discussing the causes of and possible solutions to gender inequality and unsustainability which have provided me with so many ideas for what I could do for my  Take Action project that I don't know where to start!  But after our packed schedules, the planning team have put together some amazing social activities for us in the evening to let off steam and have fun with our new friends.
On Saturday we had International night, where everone set out a table which reprsented their country and wore traditional dress.  On our United Kingdom we had Union Jacks, red double decker buses, shortbread, Olympics posters, photos of our lives in England and objects which represented the Beatles, Harry Potter and Doctor Who.  We were a bit stuck as to what to wear for traditional British dress, but we ended up going 'Ascot style' - fascinators and all!  As I have had happen to me all week, people were constantly coming up and squealing over our 'cute British accents'!  When I get home I'll miss people automatically liking me because I'm British.

Seeing everyone else in their traditional dress was amazing too and it made me jealous that we don't have such interesting traditions.  We had great fun posing for pictures with each other and explainging why we were wearing what we were wearing. 

While this was all going on, we were treated to some amazing dancing and singing from delegates from all around the world, and most of the audience joined in by clapping and cheering and dancing along. 

As the Korean chaparone pointed out to me, this kind of show is priceless - nowhere else would you get to authentically experience so many different cultures in the space of a few hours. 

I managed to get up the courage to perform one of my own songs (because I'm English, so that makes it English!), which I think looked a little bland next to everyone else's performances, but I was happy to find that it got an amazing reception.  Another unique experience was doing the Cha Cha slide with the Africans, many of whom had  never heard it before, but could still perform it better than I ever could!
I returned to my bed that night exhausted, and wondering how I was ever going to say goodbye to all these people - good thing we all have Facebook to keep in touch!

Chaperone programme today - 2 of the sessions

We Chaperones attended four sessions today, whilst  the delegates were having their programme. 

The first session was called Mentoring Girls for Healthy Self-Esteem and we explored the factors which contribute to low self-esteem amongst girls and also amongst leaders.  We thought about strategies which we can use when mentoring, to ensure that it is a positive experience for all concerned.  We talked about the qualities a mentor should have, relating this to our own experiences of mentoring.

Later I had a fascinating session on Partnering With The Community.  I was in a group with Lisa, the Deputy Commissioner for Trinidad and Tobago, and Evita, the Deputy Trainer for Liberia.

We talked about the benefits and challenges of working in partnership with other organisations.  The benefits include raising awareness of the organisation and increasing visibility locally; giving credibility to an organisation; shifting the girls out of their 'comfort zone' by challenging them  and encouraging them  to try new things; in the US, Girl Scouts is a 'brand' and engagement brings credibility to this brand. The idea of Girl Scouting and Guiding as a 'brand' was not something which everyone in the room was familiar with,  which made for an interesting discussion.

In terms of the challenges, we talked about diverging expectations; the importance of defining roles, the importance of liasing with the right person in the organisation; as  well as remembering at all times the purpose of  the activity.   Perhaps it is counting towards a community-based piece of service, in which case the aims must be closely monitored. 

There is often scope for more partnership work if a partnership is successful, for example, there may  be a longer term relationship which can be developed over many years. 

It was interesting to hear about community partnership projects in Trinidad and Liberia,  and to learn about how the Girl Guides there instigated the projects.  Great discussions. 

International conversation - Liberia,  UK, Trinidad and Tobago

Benefits and challenges of community work



Return to Brookfield Zoo

Attendees at the GWF visited local community projects today.  I went back to Brookfield Zoo where we helped to plant some vegetation.  I was delighted to meet Hazel, the International Commissioner for Zambia, as Girlguiding LaSER currently has a team there working with Book Bus, and Hazel has been liaising with them and will be meeting them in Zambia next week.  As the song says, it's a small small world.

The Zambia delegation, including Hazel the International Commissioner, with Helen BB

Planting trees together

Chaperone session - how do we support?

I enjoyed a session with a different group of chaperones today, where we looked at how we as Leaders can support the girls who are going to be carrying out the Take Action projects in the future. 

The Take Action projects will be designed to address the root cause of a problem in  our community, and our delegates will be working out an action plan for this whilst we are here.  This will develop their leadership skills as well as strengthen local Guiding and community links.  We talked about the practicalities of doing this, including the support that the young people will need from us, from the MO and from other young members. 

There were some great ideas about raising awareness and about how to get the message out.  Various MOs use different methods of doing this. 

It was fascinating to sit around a table with Leaders from Trinidad and Tobago, Georgia (the country), USA, Taiwan and Bangladesh, sharing ideas about leadership development  and how to support.

My international discussion group

Brookfield Zoo

After a very early start today, we headed to Brookfield Zoo for a day of workshops and activities focusing on MDG 7 - Ensuring Environmental Sustainability.  We started off in the dolphin enclosure, listening to a presentation about the dolphins who live here, the oldest of whom, Tapiko, is 30-years-old.  We learned of the dangers of befriending wild dolphins, though thankfully there are not too many of these in London. 

In the next session we learnt about the plight of the orangutan (which translates as 'old man walking in the woods'), which lives in the wild in just two places in the whole world.  We heard the mating call of the male orangutan and learnt that they share 97percent of our DNA. 

Orangutans are threatened by deforestation, where areas of their habitat are being destroyed.  There is also illegal poaching, orangutans are stolen to be pets, or even to kick-box to entertain tourists in Thailand.  We learned about the FSC mark which is given to items which have been made without ruining these habitats.  All sorts of products, from paper to furniture to musical instruments are made with the FSC mark; this is worldwide, so please look out for it. 

We were also taught about palm oil and the impact that the production of this is having on the environment.  There is a Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) which certifies that products have been made sustainably, without destroying areas of forest.  Please check for these marks on products you buy which contain palm oil, because this is having a serious impact on the environment. 

This is not an orangutan

Nor is this

The next session was about climate change, and we had a workshop about the impact that humanity has had on the climate and thought about practical ways in which we can do positive things to reduce our emissions.  Even changing the way we drive, such as not leaving the car engine running for any length of time, car-sharing, switching electrical appliances off completely when they are not being  used (i.e. not leaving them on standby - they called this 'vampire energy') can have a positive impact.  We were encouraged to tell our families, friends and members of Guiding about how doing these things can have an impact.  We have a shared responsibility.

It's quite hard to articulate how it feels to be here with so many WAGGGS members from around the world, representing 89 countries.  I'm not quite sure who is reading this, but if you are not directly involved in Guiding, (perhaps you are someone I have been telling about this event for months, in which case thank you for reading...), let me tell you how it is structured in the UK: each girl is a member of a unit, which is part of a District, which is part of a Division, (not all areas have Districts, it depends on their size) which is part of a County, which is part of a Region, and these Regions make up the UK.  The UK is Member Organisation (MO) of WAGGGS, and there are 5 World Regions within WAGGGS - Asia-Pacific, Europe, Arab, Africa, Western Hemisphere - and all of these World Regions are represented here.  Everyone has similar ideals towards bringing about change, and there have been a lot of great discussions about how we can do this together.

We have been encouraged to develop Take Action projects in our communities which relate to the 3 MDGs we are focussing on - eradicating poverty, empowering women and environmental sustainability.  The girls will be thinking about how to bring these about.  Watch this space. 

Happy Chaperones at the Zoo

Parallel Programme for Chaperones

Each delegation to the Girls’ World Forum consists of 2 young members and 1 chaperone.  The young members and chaperones are taking part in different sessions during the Forum. 

The first session for the Chaperones explored the MDGs, and was a chance for us all to share our understanding of these goals, which are supposed to be achieved by 2015.  It was fascinating sharing discussion groups with people from many different countries in WAGGGS, representing all 5 Regions.  There were  series of stations around the room, and we moved between them doing activities about a particular goal.  We all talked about projects our organisations are involved in, and I talked about the Together We Can resource pack which many leaders in Girlguiding UK are using in their units. 

We looked at the history of WAGGGS, then considered how this event is the final of three major events which have taken place over the last two years.  We played 'Declaration Dominoes' which looked at the Declaration which was produced, then analysed it in relation to government, civil society and WAGGGS.  We then looked at the GAT badge and considered how it is used in our various countries.  We also discussed the 'Stop the Violence' campaign, thinking about how our areas are engaging with this.

In the second session, the Girl Scout Council chaperones and the chaperones from the MOs had separate workshops, and we considered the structure of our organisations, after an activity about communication and how although WAGGGS is huge, with 10 million members, we speak with 1 voice. 

We have signed up for sessions later in the Forum to help us to support the delegates with rolling out a Take Action programme in their areas.

A very interesting session, working with MO chaperones from across the world.

Chaperone discussion group

Issi's first post

Hey everyone,

Not quite akin with blogging but i'm gonna give it a go.... Today we started with the opening ceremony which was spectacular! We were given several speeches from many inspirational women, including Sejal Hathi - google her, she has achieved and so much (i'm not even going to try and list it) and she's not even twenty; which really enabled me to understand what a supportive and amazing association i am part of.

Later on we focused on MDG1 - Eradicating Global Poverty, and started our Take Action Plans which we will complete upon our return. I'll update soon and let you all know some more about whats going on, Issi.

I've been at the Girls' World Forum for over a day...

I've been at the Girls' World Forum for over a day now, and I still haven't got over how cool it is to be having conversations at dinner with girls from Korea, Japan, Portugal and the US, or taking the lift with girls from Slovenia, Togo and New Zealand!  The opening ceremony this morning involved a representative from each country parading in carrying their flag - I got to represent the UK.  It was only then that it hit me what an amazing and unique opportunity this is, to be part of such a diverse community or sisterhood of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from around the world.

We met our patrols today - mine, called G12, is pictured above, and included girls from the US, Germany, Rwanda, the Phillipines and the Carribean.  Together we learned about the causes of poverty, as well as some examples of solutions.  We then discussed ways to implement the Take Action initiatives that we will be designing later in the week with regards to MDGs 1, 3 and 7.  My favourite speaker from today was Sejal Hathi, who founded Girls Helping Girls after recovering from anorexia at the age of just 15.  It was so inspiring to hear of what a difference she has made to girls in countries all overthe world before she has even turned 20!  I also loved the video we saw about Heifer International's work in Nepal, which showed just how far the multiplier effect can take a project, and that once women are empowered they can do so much to fight poverty.
My favourite moment of the day was talking to Arlette from Rwanda about a scheme to give laptops to children in her country that I had learnt about at school.  It was just amazing to hear first hand about how that has affected people!

The bus tour of Chicago that we took this evening gave me a chance to get a feel of the city, seeing the Great Lake, and tall building after tall building.  There are so many tall buildings close together that it feels quite claustrophobic!  After all that I've done today, and since I'm still rather jetlagged, at this point I just can't wait to get into bed, so I'll leave you there.
Amy xxx

Opening Ceremony

This morning we attended the official opening of this amazing event.  Flag-bearers from every country attending the Girls' World Forum processed into the hall as the names of the 89 countries represented were read out.  It was a moving experience.

The 18-strong 'Girl Planning Team' who have been planning this event for the last 18 months introduced sections of the ceremony, which included a keynote speech from the inspirational Sejal Hathi, who founded the international organisation Girls Helping Girls when she was just 19 years-old. 

The flags from the 89 countries process into the hall.  This is the Ghanaian flag.

The girl planning team introduce the event

Sejal Hathi addresses the Forum

There were presentations about working together, WAGGGS and the Millennium Development Goals, which are the focus of the event.

We all sang together - 'I am one voice and I am singing, I am not alone', up to 'We are a million voices singing, we are singing, we are not alone'. 

Arrival

The Girls' World Forum officially opens tomorrow with an opening ceremony. We arrived after a smooth flight and were met by GSUSA as planned. We shared a bus with numerous delegations from all over the world, including Burundi, Ivory Coast, Germany & Slovenia. On arrival at the hotel, we registered, collected our credentials and received a bag of information and surprises. We spent the evening mingling with the delegates,then enjoying dinner together, followed by an opportunity to network and swap items from our various countries. Looking forward to starting the programme tomorrow!

Anticipation

We are currently less than a week away from flying out to Chicago for the Girls' World Forum which is perhaps too much of a crazy and exciting concept for my mind to comprehend.  I'm busy trying to balance finishing everything off at school as well as packing and attempting to make 200 friendship bracelets as swaps to give to the other girls.  I'm not quite sure how there is any room left in my brain to think about all the things I must get done before we leave, what with the constant excited thoughts about meeting Girl Guides and Girl Scouts from all corners of the world, discussing ways of tackling poverty, gender inequality and sustainability issues, and seeing America!  Feel free to explore the rest of this blog to find out more about the Girls' World Forum and Issi, Helen and myself, and I look forward to updating you with our adventures!
Amy xxx