One Year Later!

I am absolutely blown away that it has been an entire year since the Young Women's World Forum 2010 in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. It feels like yesterday that I was waking up in my hostel in London after three days of extreme tourist-ing, getting all packed up, and maneuvering around the tube with my huge backpack. I remember so clearly getting to Heathrow and having no idea where I was (even though it was where I had got off my plane three days earlier) and seeing a small group of young women with ties and trefoils. I was so relieved and excited that it had finally come! I was finally ready to go to the Forum! The energy in the meeting room on the first day was incredible- we all just chatted and made small talk- sometimes across different language barriers and we were quite comfortable with each other because even though we were from all across the world, we had something in common, we were a part of a global organization- the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. I remember thinking that everything my leaders had said throughout the years was true! There really were Guides around the world and they all wore different uniforms and spoke different languages, but we were all connected.

I really believe that YWWF2010 changed my life. It helped to give me a sense of purpose and a platform for making a difference. I know that I have been really slow in getting things started for whatever reason, but now that I am going it has become a hobby, almost an obsession. I am constantly thinking about what I can talk about in my next blog or what I can add to my next project- if the more than one hundred people who were at the conference feel a similar way than the world will be in a much better state.

I am so grateful that I had this opportunity and I look forward to seeing what will happen next both in my personal projects and on a global scale. I also cannot wait to go to Chicago in July 2012 to experience the Girls' World Forum. I think it is really cool that I will have attended the first and the last of the Forum series to celebrate the Centenary`s of Guiding. :)

Exciting News!

I am typing this on my iPod so if the font is wonky or if there are a bunch if errors that is why.
This morning I got an email from Girl Guides of Canada inviting me to attend the Girls World Forum in Chicago,IL in July 2012 as a chaperone for two youth members. The conference will sort of be split in half because WAGGGS is asking for the chaperones to be members who attended another one of the world forums. I am very honoured and excited to again represent an organization that I really love on a global scale. I accepted the opportunity and am looking forward to getting to meet the young women I will be traveling with.

In other news the website is launched and has already got a lot of hits from all over the place, but I would love to have more members so sign up! It will be a lot of fun!

Thanks for listening.

Past Two Weeks

It amazes me how fast time flies! I have been incredibly busy since about mid-August with school, work, and of course Guiding! Since I last blogged I have started Sparks up again and gone to two camps, plus some other very exciting things, but I will talk about that at the end.
          - I have eight girls in my Sparks unit and I love how enthusiastic they are about EVERYTHING! It makes me so excited to see them grow and learn through out the year and I love teaching them about Guiding and the world around them.
         - Standing Committee Workshop was last weekend and it was a lot of fun. I am one of my area's international adviser's and I am fairly new to the position so I wasn't really sure what I was supposed to be doing. We had some great discussions about challenges and trips and even got some advice from the Chief Commissioner which was awesome! I have a lot of ideas now and I am excited to get started.
          - Campfire Magic is the camp that I just got back from. It was amazing! I learned so many new tricks, songs, games, and activities over the weekend and I had a lot of fun. My favourite part of the event was our Saturday night campfire and it was so beautiful with sparklers, flaming arrows, and colourful fire. I also got a lot of ideas for my classroom and my work with Sparks.
         - I have a Twitter that I try and update at least once a day so check it out!
        
Here comes the exciting news:


As of tomorrow Monday October 3, 2011 at 6 PM- www.girlguideforchange.com will be live!!!! I am very excited about this as the finishing touches are all coming together, but this will be another way to get involved.

CHECK IT OUT!