My friend
Pippa from the UK has kindly asked me to enter her blog competition for her
organization Speak Out Reach Out Camp Out. I met Pippa at the Young Women's
World Forum in England and she has been a huge inspiration for me to continue
working with Girl Guide for Change! Please visit her website at http://www.soroco.org.uk/
Enough
with the lollygagging let's get down to business!
I have
been in Guiding for seventeen years, that is most of my life and I can honestly
say that it is responsible for shaping me into the person I am today. I think
that the issue I would like to talk about is Guiding and why it is necessary to
girls in our society. It might not be as crucial as ending world hunger or
finding a cure for cancer, but it is something that I am passionate about and
it is the main focus of Girl Guides for Change.
I often
think about what my life would be like without Girl Guides and it scares me a
little bit to think about. I come from a pretty typical middle class Canadian
family, a mom, a dad, and two sisters. I went to Catholic school and had piano
and swimming lessons, got to go on little road trips around my province with my
family, and played school in the basement- my childhood was overall pretty
standard. I am very lucky for the life I have and Guiding was an asset to it. Without
it I probably would not have ended up living on the street or arrested, but I
know that there are some people who might have. I have met people throughout my
Guiding career who have said that being a member of Girl Guides saved their life.
Being a part of a community where they felt valued, safe, and protected was
everything to them. That is why Guiding is important.
While I
was thinking about what I would do for this post I went back and looked at the
report I submitted for the Young Women’s World Forum and this line caught my
eye “I want to get girls and women excited about being a Girl Guide and
inspire younger girls to believe that they can make a difference in the world
and matter in the grand scheme of society.”
As much
as I love Guiding I think there are definitely a few things that need to be
changed in the organization. Most of the decisions are made at a national level
where girls are not part of councils. If I could change anything about Guiding
in Canada that is what it would be. Millennium Development Goal #3 is all about
female empowerment and what better place to reach this MDG than within a girl
based organization! The girls and young leaders know the program, understand
and value its importance and should be listened to.
After all Girl Guides of
Canada’s motto is “Girl Greatness Starts Here!”
Thanks
for listening!
No comments:
Post a Comment