Guide Program

Tuesday 10 October 2017

International Day of the Girl 2017

At this week's meeting we celebrated the International Day of the Girl (October 11th) with the WAGGGS #TeamGirl Challenge and began making plans for this year's service projects!

Team Girl Gets Rights on Their Side
The first activity we did was aimed at helping the girls understand their right to an education and differentiating between needs and wants. We printed out 3 sets of the Needs/Wants Cards (see download below) and played a relay game. The cards were placed at the far end of the room and the members of each Patrol took turns to run up and get a card and decide if it was a Need or a Want. Once all the Patrols had sorted their cards out, we talked about a few of them to see if everyone agreed. As part of this discussion we noted that the basic needs for survival are food, water and shelter, but in order to thrive, we need other things as well.

Pathway to Education
This activity introduced the girls to some of the barriers to education that girls face, as well as a number of fun challenge activities! We used a slightly modified version of the game provided in the Challenge Pack and marked out a large gameboard on the floor with painter's tape. The girls played in Patrols and used water bottles and shoes as markers and large foam dice. The Patrols took turns rolling the dice and moving their counter around the board. Depending on where they landed, they had to complete tasks - sing a song, stay silent, name 7 countries starting with the letter B, name 10 different fruits, etc. It was very interesting to see which Patrols worked best together and how the Pathfinders interacted with the Guides.

At this point in the evening we separated, the Pathfinders and Rangers went upstairs and the Guides continued in the main room.

GUIDES

Get Set to Break Barriers
Our third activity further explored barriers to education, but also challenged the girls to start thinking of ways to overcome them. We chose three of the characters and scenarios from the Challenge Pack and gave a character to each Patrol. They had to come up with the character's back story - name, family, hobbies, feelings. They were then given a scenario that described a barrier to the character's education. Each Patrol then made up and presented a skit about their character and how the barrier affected her ability to get an education.

Team Girl Speaks Out
The final activity was about making a difference, so we asked each Patrol to make a list of issues they care about and any ideas they had for service projects. We had a variety of ideas and will be choosing some of them to work on later this year!

PATHFINDERS/RANGERS

Making a Difference
Our Ranger talked about her experiences at WE Day in September (it was awesome!!) and the group worked through some of the WE Resources to come up with a list of issues they care about and potential service projects. We will be putting their plans into action over the course of the year!

Universal Declaration of Human Rights - Article 26
(1) Education shall be free, at least in the elementary and fundamental stages. Elementary education shall be compulsory. Technical and professional education shall be made generally available and higher education shall be equally accessible to all on the basis of merit.
(2) Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms. It shall promote understanding, tolerance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups, and shall further the activities of the UN for the maintenance of peace.
(3) Parents have a prior right to choose the kind of education that shall be given to their children.

Convention on the Rights of the Child - Article 28
You have the right to a good quality education. You should be encouraged to go to school to the highest level you can.

Convention of the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination Against Women - Article 10 
Countries must end discrimination against women and girls and ensure equal rights in education. This includes equal access to education and vocational training at all levels. Women and girls must be provided with the same curricula, examinations, standards for teaching, access to scholarships, and equipment.

Downloads: