Our meeting started with our usual opening and a game of Wax Museum (to save wear and tear on outfits) led by one of the Patrols.
We then talked about what it means to be a Princess and learned about some real Princesses (under the traditional definition) - many of whom have connections to Guiding and/or Scouting - and the causes they support. I had put together a slideshow of photos of princesses around the world to share while we had the discussion - some entries were:
- HH Princess Hajah Masna (Brunei) - President of the Brunei Girl Guides Association
- Princess Sisowath Kanthireth (Cambodia) - International Commission for the Girl Guide Association of Cambodia
- HRH Princess Benedikte (Denmark) - Royal Patron of the Olave Baden-Powell Society
- Princess Basma bint Talal (Jordan) - President of the Jordanian Association of Boy Scouts and Girl Guides
- HRH Princess Azizah Iskander (Malaysia) - Royal Patron of the Girl Guides Association of Malaysia in the State of Penang
- Caroline, Princess of Hanover, Hereditary Princess of Monaco (Monaco) - Patron of the Association des Guides et Scouts de Monaco
- HRH Queen Maxima of the Netherlands (Netherlands)- Patron of Scouting Nederland
- Princess Ubolratana Rajakanya (Thailand) - Chief Guide of the Girl Guides Association of Thailand
- HRH Sheikha Jawaher Bint Mohammed Al Qassimi (UAE) - Chairwoman of the United Arab Emirates Girl Guides Association
- HRH Sophie, Countess of Wessex (UK) - President of Girlguiding UK (her daughter, Lady Louise, is a Brownie!)
The remainder of our meeting was devoted to service projects.Two girls brought in clothing donations for the Goodwill Good Turn Challenge, but not enough to earn the crest - they will each receive a fun service crest instead.
The girls continued their work on making bookmarks for the Students Rebuilt Literacy Campaign, to raise donations for the Save the Children Literacy Boost Programs in Mali, Peru and Nepal. How the campaign works is that groups, like Guides, make bookmarks and submit them to Students Rebuild, and then the Bezos Family Foundation donates $1 for each bookmark to Save the Children. For more information visit http://studentsrebuild.org/find-challenge/literacy-challenge/about-challenge.
The last part of our meeting was spent doing a book exchange for the Words in Action National Service Project. Girls had been asked to bring in books during the month of April, and for each book they brought, they were given a ticket. Each ticket entitled them to choose a new book. We had added some additional books picked up at thrift stores to ensure a good selection. Girls who had brought in books to exchange were allowed to pick first, and if they had extra tickets they were able to give them to girls who had not brought in books, so everyone ended up going home with something new to read! Half of the remaining books were donated to the Grand River Veterinary Hospital where they will be sold in aid of Canon's Cause, which helps abandoned and injured animals. The other half will be donated to a women's shelter as part of the Ranger Service Project.We closed the meeting with Taps (after asking the girls to put down their books, as some had already started reading!).
