Powerful Play Experience Team-building Workshop!

The new Guiding year is fast approaching and Edmonton Area Council started it off with a bang and a team building workshop. We learned about each other, had fifteen points for team success, danced, sang, made Kinex models and laughed- a lot. I had a great day!

Here is a picture of Edmonton Area council in our snazzy blue shirts made especially for the event.

The day started off with an opening involving multicoloured jelly beans, glass houses (aka clear candy containers with adorable little scoops and a story about the different branches of Guiding. I should have taken a picture of it, but the jelly beans were delicious :)

Next we talked about what we did over the summer break and how it related to the Guiding law... The Girls World Forum pretty much covers the whole thing! I really felt proud of what I accomplished this summer.

For the next activity we had fifteen points of being a good team that were scattered about the room on five different tables and we had to pick a table to sit at based on which points we thought were the most important. The points I identified with the most were overcome obstacles together, resolve differences quickly, and look out for each other. We had to create posters representing these points and then share them with the rest of the group.

This is my group's poster. I really like it and it was a lot of fun to make. We all signed it and I think it was like signing a contract saying we were going to follow these goals.

My favourite part of the day was making up a song with boomwhackers aka the best instruments ever, building a sculpture with Kinex, floam, and a giant flower, and writing action items we can do to achieve the goals for team building. Here is my team's beautiful sculpture.

We finished off the day with a good old fashioned campfire which was a lot of fun and it was definitely cool singing some of Melinda Carol's songs after singing with her this summer at GWF.

Overall it was a great day. The facilitator Robert was the most energetic and enthusiastic person I have met in a long time, it was a ton of fun, and I got to feel refreshed and ready to start the new Guiding year.

Here is the link to Powerful Play Experiences, I would highly recommend it!

Go Back to School and Help the Environment!

I got an idea for this blog post a few weeks ago and I haven't had a chance to just sit down and write it. I know school has already started in a number of places, but if you are a last minute shopper like me there is still time to make a difference in the way you shop.

While I was at the Girls' World Forum this summer we had a seminar about the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) and how they help endangered animals and regulate the forestry industry. I had seen the symbol on a number of products before, but I had never known what it meant. 

 

I was surprised just how many products do have the FSC approval and how affordable it can be to buy these products. There is also another organization that supports sustainable forestry called the Sustainable Forest Initiative (SFI). Between these two organizations I was overwhelmed with the number of products that are approved and they are still pretty school supplies!

 

While I was shopping for my own supplies I noticed that there were a few brands that have all approved products. All of Hilroy's paper products including notebooks, paper, duo tangs, and folders had either the FSC or the SFI logo on it. I have always bought these products because they are inexpensive and of good quality so the fact that they also support environmental sustainability (MDG7)  is fantastic!  

 

So if you haven't bought your school supplies yet- look for these two symbols when you are shopping and also look for recycled products, and things like pencils that do not use rain forest wood. Here are a couple of things I bought while I was shopping:

 

 

 

 

There is also an organization called Act Responsibly that certifies some products for both environmental sustainability and social responsibility- which I think is very cool.

 

Remember the environment and do your part to achieve Millennium Development Goal #7! And now a few pictures of the cute, big cats you are protecting by buying FSC approved products.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Film Review: Miss Representation

 

 

I first heard about this film at the Girls' World Forum this summer and I was intrigued. When I got home I bought it on iTunes and I finally had a chance to watch it and I loved it! It is a documentary all about the representation of women in the media and how it has an effect on girls and women in the world, particularly in politics- which is something I am passionate about. Overall I would give this film five stars!

 

I would recommend everyone I know watch this film because the messages within it are not only important for girls and women, but also for boys and men because they are getting the messages about women as well. A lot of the messages that were discussed were about women being used as sexual objects, women in politics and journalism being judged not for their policies and skills in their field but by how the look, what they wear, etc.

 

I was also fascinated by some of the facts that were shared in the film like how when children are young and asked who would like to someday be the president of the United States an equal number of boys and girls answer yes. When the same group of people were asked as teenagers the number of girls who answer yes was much smaller than the number of boys. My mouth actually dropped open when I heard this fact: "Cuba, China, Iraq, and Afghanistan have more women in government than the United States of America" The United States in 90th in the world when it come to women in national legislatures. Pretty bad for one of the most powerful countries in the world...

 

I took a couple of screenshots while I was watching the film because they either inspired me or made me really mad... I take movies very seriously :)

 

Quotations from the film that struck me:

“If women don’t stand up for each other than no one else will” Lisa Ling- Journalist

"If women spent more time helping a sick neighbour or volunteering at a homeless shelter, focusing on how to use all of their energy to focus on solving some of the worlds problems, if they spent a tenth of the time thinking about those things that they do thinking about their weight, I mean, I think we would solve the world’s problems in a matter of months. “ Katie Couric- News Anchor



I will be having a movie night for Pathfinders and Rangers in my area to come and see this movie because I think it is very important and I hope that others will do the same.

 

 

 



Edmonton Heritage Festival!

I spent the Monday of the August long weekend at one of the most popular events in Edmonton- Heritage Days. It is my personal favourite festival because I love culture and learning about cultures from around the world. It is at events like this that I am so proud to be a Canadian because there are hundreds of different cultures and customs all living in one space and we all (for the most part) get along really well. I took my little sister in Big Brothers and Big Sisters and she loved it! Her favourite tent was the Ghana tent and she wanted to learn more about the country. I like trying the new foods and experiencing the music, dancing, and stories from around the world. It was also really cool to go to nearly every tent and be able to say that I knew someone from pretty much every display. :)
That's all for now but here is a picture of my Henna tattoo.

Until next time,
Shannon

SWAPS 101

This post is a little bit delayed but it was such a big undertaking that I wanted to share the process!

SWAPS (Special Whatchamacallits Affectionately Pinned Somewhere)

I had to create 200 SWAPS for the Girls’ World Forum in Chicago and I was really befuddled as to what I should do. I have been to events before where the SWAPS were cool, but they just sat in a bag after I got them and I never did anything with them. I wanted to do something that could be used and still have meaning. I decided to make friendship bracelets and trust me it was not a quick process.

First I needed to decide on a design- I chose a simple embroidery floss bracelet with a Shrinky Dink charm that said “I AM A GIRL GUIDE FOR CHANGE GWF 2012.” I bought the supplies and got to work.

I started by labeling the Ziploc bags with my name, website address, and country. Then I made little information sheets about the colours I chose for the bracelets; red and white for Canada, green and gold for the University of Alberta and the Edmonton Eskimos, red and teal for the Stop the Violence campaign, and pink, orange, blue, green, and red for the girl branches of Guiding in Canada.

Then I got to work on the charms (which was the most fun I think!) I used the template on the Shrinky Dink packages to get the right sized charm and then I traced 200 version of it, cut them into strips, hole punched them, got a few blisters and then started designing.

I wanted the symbols on the charms to represent me so the pictures were things like trefoils, maple leafs, butterflies, owls, and trees. I am very proud of my little charms. :)

                        

The next step was shrinking them down to the right size so I got the toaster oven out and shrunk them! It took a bit of trial and error, but I think I can call myself a master Shrinky Dink-er!

The most time consuming part of the whole SWAPS expedition is the actual bracelet making.

When I first started they were so intricate and pretty with different kinds of braiding and knots, and then as the trip loomed closer and closer I started to panic and just did simple braids and twists that still looked pretty nice (or at least I think so!) I was doing them everywhere- in the car, at home, camping with friends, in the movie theatre, on the airplane to Chicago... but I did it! I made 200 friendship bracelets for my SWAPS and I am very pleased with myself.

I have quite a few left over so I am trying to decide what to do with them. I might keep them as a part of my prize packs for joining the website- or I might keep them for a future event- or I might send them to Sangam as part of the program to sell them in the shop there.

So that is my experience! I hope if you have to do SWAPS for something you will have as much fun as I did and hopefully this helped a bit!

Girls World Forum Day Six!

Technically the Forum is over and I am sitting on an airplane on my way back to Edmonton but I still have so much to say! This post is mainly to say thank you. Thank you to the GWF planning team, Girl Scouts USA, WAGGGS, and the Marriot Hotel on Michigan Avenue, and all of the participants of this wonderful event. I have made so many friends and relationships with girls and young women from around the world and I hope they had as good a time as I did. Thank you also to Girl Guides of Canada for allowing me to have a second once in a lifetime experience representing the organization I love so much and supporting the delegates in their take action projects.

Now I have not won an Oscar so I will continue on :)

Finally I would just like to give a word of advice to all of the changemakers who attended the Forum. Always remember that you have something to offer this world, something that will change it for the better. Don't give up if you hit a roadblock- get some support and keep on travelling down the road to a better future for everyone. I hope that the Girls World Forum 2012 is something that you will remember for the rest of your life and you will harness your potential and go!

 

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people, can change the world. Indeed it is the only thing that ever has." Margaret Mead

Girls World Forum Day Five!

I can't believe today was the last day of the Girls World Forum! As always we started off bright and early with an expo of various organizations including the WAGGGS World Centres, the US Peace Core, UNICEF, Heifer International, and a few others. It was interesting to see what different organizations are doing to help reach the Millennium Development Goals and I got a few good resources to help with some of my projects.

This is a picture of the Canadian puzzle piece. Each of the delegations was given a puzzle piece to write their pledge on to represent their take action plan.

We had a very special opportunity to see a sneak preview of a brand new mini series premiering on PBS (I have not looked into when it will start in Canada) Half the Sky based on the book of the same name. We got to see the segment about education in Vietnam and the challenges that girls face just to make it through school. It was fascinating and I was in tears for most of it because education is such an important issue for me. I will definitely be watching this show and will talk about it some more once it is available in Canada.

The closing ceremonies for the GWF was excellent! We had an amazing woman come and speak to us as the keynote speaker. Her name is Dr. Tererai Trent and she was chosen by Oprah Winfrey as her all time favourite guest. She is a woman from Zimbabwe who yearned to go to school and get an education. She wrote down all of her goals and dreams down on paper, sealed them in a tin can, and buried it under a rock. Years later she returned to the place she had buried her dreams and had accomplished so much including a bachelors, masters, and doctorate degree. I was also in tears for most of her talk and was so inspired. Her organization is called Tinogona which means "it is acheivable" in her native language. Here is more information about her amazing work. http://www.tinogona.com/ 

There was some time between the closing ceremonies and the final dinner and party to do a bit of shopping so we ran around the Magnificent Mile to get some last minute souvenirs and were quite successful! We got some tourist-y things like postcards and snowglobes, some t-shirts and stuffed animals and then we found the Hershey store... I wanted to get some Hershey chocolate for my dad so we went in and got some things like fudge, chocolate bars, enormous Reese's Pieces and then we found what you see above- a personalized chocolate bar. I think it is the coolest idea ever and the St.Patrick's Day theme looks an awful lot like trefoils don't you think?

The final party was a blast! There were photobooths, icecream sundae buffets, sumo wrestling suits, face painting, and of course great music and food. We had so much fun just hanging out and dancing and taking pictures. It was right at the end of the night that I had a realization of just how amazing the global sisterhood of Guiding and Scouting is. The dancing was over, the food was gone and all that remained were girls and chaperones standing in a circle holding hands and singing Linger. It was incredibly moving and so many people were crying (of course I was one of them). We all gave enormous hugs and headed upstairs to pack. It was such an amazing night!

Here is a picture of my super cool facepaint :)