I am not dead I promise!

Wow I am so embarrassed. How is it already the end of February!? I know I always make up excuses to explain my long absences but I am just going to come out and say it. I'm really busy! I am currently doing my final round of student teaching which is a lot of work and I still have all of my other Guiding commitments. Now I  am not complaining I just feel like I have to give an explanation. I guess what I am trying to say is I'm sorry. I'm sorry for making promises and goals that I cannot keep because of my schedule and I am going to try to update as often as I can and especially if something exciting is happening.

Thanks for listening and understanding. :) 

Happy New Year!

It is pretty embarrassing that I have not done a blog post in so long that I forgot my password to this account...

At any rate HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope that 2012 brings a lot of fun, change, excitement, and opportunities for everyone who has ever stumbled across this blog. It is pretty hard to imagine that I started this blog one year ago today and I am happy to say that I am proud of what I have accomplished in the past year regarding the Young Women's World Forum 2010 and the aftermath of that. I have to admit that I have also been disappointed in myself and my lack of action on some of the things that take a lot of work or I am not 100% sure how to do. I have a lot of ideas about things that sound amazing in my head and then I try them out in real life and I either get no response from others or I cannot find the time to follow through.

I feel like I am rambling so I will just continue on...

Last year I wrote down a few goals for the year so I will continue that "tradition" and write a few down for 2012.

1) Increase the membership on www.girlguideforchange.com to at least 20 people by the end of the year.

2) Complete and distribute a crest program for all branches of Guiding on advocacy and standing up for what you believe in (full blog on that next week)

3) Make connections at the Girls World Forum 2012 in Chicago in July with girls and young women from around the world and be a better support for their projects and the projects of the girls I will be mentoring.

4) Update website and blog at least once a week (I am putting this on here again because it is something I really want to work on)

Sorry for the short post, but I wish everyone a very happy new year and we will talk to you soon!

-Shannon

I know, I know...

So I have been MIA for the past month (WHAT!?) Basically I am in my final year of university and my time is filled completely by school, work, and volunteering so I haven't had a whole lot of time to do anything exciting with the projects. I am sorry and I will try to make it up to you over the Christmas break because I do not have school from December 15 to January 9!

I thought I would share all of the articles I have written about my projects for my area newsletter because I am in class right now and should be paying attention.  :)

This one is from the January/February 2011 Newsletter:

“Little steps, huge impact, lifetime legacy.” These six simple words became the theme for the Young Women’s World Forum after Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee spoke about changing the world. In October 2010 I was fortunate enough to be one of two representatives of Canada at an international Girl Guide conference in Oxfordshire, United Kingdom. Sixty countries, in all five WAGGGS regions sent young women to discuss and take action on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) set out by the United Nations ten years ago. The three focus goals at the Forum were ending poverty, achieving gender equality, and attaining environmental sustainability. By the end of the forum we had discussed, campaigned for, and created a declaration outlining what governments, civil society, and WAGGGS can do to achieve the MDGs.

 Girl Guides from around the world were brought together to discuss important issues, learn about each other’s cultures, and make connections that will last for a long time. But it was not all work; we had a lot of fun as well! We celebrated the end of Girlguiding UK’s centenary in style with the Chief Guide, fireworks, and a video of us saying our promise broadcasted throughout the UK and on a huge screen in Trafalgar Square in London. We had guest speakers including a female Member of Parliament, representatives of non-profit organizations, WAGGGS World Board members, and even the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom!  Not many people can say that they can travel anywhere in the world from Australia to Malawi to Norway to Brazil and have a friend to visit, but because of this forum I can proudly say I fall in this category. The honour of representing Girl Guides of Canada at such an inspiring and motivational event was life changing and now that I am back home I want to make changes in my community, city, province, and even country. Because most Canadians do not have to struggle with the MDGs like other countries do I want to promote awareness for the goals and help people, especially Girl Guides, understand that even the smallest actions can and will make a difference and standing up and fighting for something you believe is one of the most powerful things you can do to show your girl greatness!

This one is from the most recent one November/December 2011:

Do you want to change the world?

www.girlguideforchange.com

< is a brand new website for Girl Guides around the world who want to make a difference. After attending the Young Women’s World Forum 2010, I am driven to change things and help to accomplish the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. This website is a part of my project. I want to make others aware of the MDGs and inspire them to make changes in their own life for the better good of the community. There are forums, photos, blog posts, and resources related to making a difference in your own community and around the world. Still not convinced? Coming January 2012 there will be a full challenge program for Sparks through Rangers about taking action on things they are passionate about and making a change launched on the website (crests included!). This is my challenge to you, my fellow sisters in Guiding- check it out, think of what you would like to change in the world, gather a team together, and get involved.
Join the movement.

I know this isn't the most exciting post, but I had to get something up! Talk to you again soon.
-Shannon

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!

10 Years Have Passed

***I wrote this yesterday and for whatever reason it didn't post so when I say today

I do mean September 11***

Today marks the tenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks in New York City in the United States and it is hard to believe that it has been so long, but at the same time it feels like it should be longer than just ten years.
I remember that day very clearly despite the fact that I was eleven years old when it happened. I was sitting on my parent's bed brushing my hair like I did every morning and my dad came in and turned on the TV. I heard that there was a plane that crashed into a building in New York and everyone was scared. I remember just sitting there watching the TV and hoping that nobody was hurt and then another plane hit the other tower and the cameraman started swearing and running. There was screaming on the TV and my dad told me to go and get ready for school- I think he didn't know what was going to happen next and if something worse were to happen he didn't want me to see it. At school we said a prayer for the people in New York and then my grade six class watched the news all day. That is all we did and I remember it was a boy in my class's birthday and he was mad because we didn't sing to him. It wasn't a time for singing. After school we went to the grocery and there was already a newspaper about the attacks. I was shocked! Newspapers come in the morning, not at night- that was one thing that really surprised me.
So many things have changed since that day and I do not think they were for the better. I might be upsetting some people by saying this, but September 11 sparked a campaign of unjust hatred for certain groups of people like Muslims and Arabs and made things like racial profiling acceptable. It is even more difficult to travel and feeling taken advantage of or violated in an airport is not uncommon. There are wars in Iraq and Afghanistan that should not be happening and were started for a terrible reason. I am completely against having Canadian soldiers in Afghanistan because the Western World cannot just swoop in and fix something that they do not understand- it has been done before and it has failed several times, just look at the history of wars in Afghanistan. 
I hope for a world in the future that does not judge by skin colour or facial hair or religion or ethnic group and tolerance for all people. We are all in the same boat together and September 11, 2001 made it difficult for us to work together and make the world a better place for everyone. 

Thanks for reading,
Shannon