This & That

This week we spent some time planning, working on the latest Student's Rebuild Challenge, and playing active games. We started the meeting with our usual opening, followed by an active game. 

The first part of the night was spent working in Patrols to finish planning their meeting activities. In the coming weeks, we will be having a Dark Night, Unicorn Night and Starburst Night!

The next part of the meeting was spent working on self-portraits for the Student's Rebuild Facing Difference Challenge. This challenge asks participants to think about what makes them unique and create a self-portrait. For every portrait submitted, the Bezos Family Foundation will donate $3.00 to support peace-building programs in Nigeria, Sri Lanka and the South Caucasus region of Eastern Europe.

We finished the evening off with some active games and gathering ideas for upcoming meeting themes - CSI, Art, International Women's Day, World Food, and the 2nd Year Brownie Visit. We closed with reminders for next week and Taps.


Links:

• Student's Rebuild Facing Difference Challenge 

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:

• Needs/Wants Cards
• Pathway to Education Game Board 
• #TeamGirl 2017 Challenge Pack (WAGGGS Website) 

WE Day Toronto 2017

Imagine spending a day with nearly 20,000 young people committed to making change in their schools, communities, country and the world. Add a slate of inspiring speakers, musical performances, a surprise appearance by Prince Harry and you have WE Day Toronto 2017!

Unfortunately, none of the Pathfinders were able to join us for the day, but our small group of 2 Guiders and 1 Ranger still had a great time! We caught the 6.50am GO Train from Aldershot Station and made it to Toronto by 8am, ready for the short walk to the Air Canada Centre, once inside we made our way upstairs to our section and settled in. There were so many speakers and performances, that I know I've missed a few, but here are my memories of the day:

The first performance of the day was by Vanessa Hudgens and Shawn Hook, with "Reminding Me", followed by a welcome from Craig and Marc Kielburger. The first speaker was Gaten Matarazzo from "Stranger Things", spreading awareness for cleidocranial dysplasia, a congenital disorder that affects one in a million people. Jacob Tremblay and Millie Davis, co-stars in the upcoming movie "Wonder", urged us to "Choose kind. On the playground, in your classrooms, in your neighbourhoods".


Bailee Madison ("The Good Witch") introduced us two students who are working for change, something she would repeat thoughout the day. Sofia Carson ("Descendents") encouraged girls to be bold and fearless, saying "Books and pens are our greatest weapons, and girls, we are our own knights in shining armour."

Shawn Hook performed again, then Lisa Charleyboy spoke about reconnecting with her indigenous heritage and finding her passion in an unexpected way. Beginning in the world of runway fashion, moving to print media, and eventually creating a magazine showcasing indigenous design.

Spencer West interviewed Olympians Penny Oleksiak and Andre De Grasse about their role as Ambasasdors, not only for sport but for youth engagement and making a positive difference in the world. Watch Three Stools With Spencer West at WE Day.

George Takei ("Star Trek") spoke about his time in a Japanese Internment Camp as a child during World War II and the hope that youth represent for the future. He ended with "Today I see our future built by all of you. Boldly go where no one has gone before!" Watch George Takei at WE Day.

Lilly Singh spoke on the need to end girl-on-girl hate, challenging girls to build each other up instead of tearing each other down #GirlLove. She also launched her new #GirlLove Rafiki project to provide education to girls in Kenya! Watch Lilly Singh at WE Day.

Kelly Clarkson performed "Stronger" (with full crowd accompaniment!) and her new single "Love So Soft".

Hedley performed as well, then Mike Downie spoke about reconciliation and updated everyone on the work of the Downie-Wenjack Fund since its launch a year ago. Watch Mike Downie at WE Day. Rick Hanson spoke about perseverance and believing in yourself, and then there was a surprise speaker...

... who was no less than HRH Prince Harry, who is in Toronto for the 3rd Invictus Games! I think he received the loudest response of the day. Prince Harry spoke about the Invictus Games and the spirit of hope, challenging all of us to "say yes to optimism, yes to hope and yes to belief". He also spoke to our social media-obsessed culture saying "You all know that it's great to 'like' things on social media, but that it's more important to look up from our phones, to get out into our communities, and to take real action; to stand up for what you believe in!"

Ban Ki-Moon, former Secretary-General of the United Nations spoke on climate change, the Paris Climiate Agreement, and the need for people from around the world to work together - "We are truly all in this together." Watch Ban Ki-Moon at WE Day.

Alexandre Trudeau spoke about his world travels, his adventures, and the need for kindness and understanding. Watch Alexandre Trudeau at WE Day. Then Theland Kicknosway spoke about Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and performed a Hoop Dance

Sabrina Carpenter performed, followed by the final speaker of the day, Mia Farrow, who spoke about finding happiness by helping others and focusing on an issue that matters to you to start making change. Watch Mia Farrow at WE Day.  The closing performance was also by Sabrina Carpenter, with her song "Thumbs", and then it was time to head home, inspired to make change at home and around the world!

For those of you who couldn't be there, watch the WE Day Toronto broadcast on CTV on November 25, 2017

Going Global - Service & Awareness

Our second meeting in April was spent earning the Going Global Service Bar and learning more about education and Fair Trade. We started the meeting off by filling in physical fitness logs for the week, followed by our usual opening and an active game.

The first activity was called Picture Your World and comes from the Right Now! resource book from Girlguiding UK. The Guides were divided into 3 uneven groups and given supplies to draw pictures of their favourite parts of Guiding. Group A had 2 girls, 2 sheets of paper and a box of new markers. Group B had 4 girls, 2 sheets of paper, and a mixture of markers and pencil crayons (some not working well). Group C had 10 girls, 1 small sheet of paper, and a mixture of markers and pencil crayons (most not working well). The groups could look at what the others had, but couldn't borrow items or get supplies that they weren't given. We ended the activity with a discussion where the girls shared how they felt with the supplies they received and what they observed about the other groups. We also discussed the differences in education around the world.

Our next activity was to Assemble School Kits from the supplies that were collected at Thinking Day. Supplies, including notebooks, pencils, erasers, rulers and pencil crayons will be sent to the Mennonite Central Committee for distribution around the world.  

The rest of the meeting was spent on an activity called The Trading Game, also from the Right Now! resource. In this activity, the Guides were divided up into 6 groups representing 2 wealthy countries, 2 middle countries, and 2 poor countries. Each country was given supplies to make bracelets. The wealthy countries received 3 colours of beads, string to make one bracelet, tape, ruler, scissors, and 6 bank notes; the middle countries received 1 colour of bead, a different type of bead, string to make two bracelets, tape and 4 bank notes; the poor countries received 1 colour of bead, string to make many bracelets and 2 bank notes. The countries then had to start making bracelets that met the game requirements (25cm in length, 3 different colours of beads). The Guides soon realized that they would need to trade and/or purchase supplies from each other in order to complete their bracelets and began coming up with strategies to get the supplies they needed. We ended the activity with a brief discussion about Fair Trade and how the bracelets they had made will be donated to Sangam, where they are sold for $0.20 to $0.25 in the shop to raise money to support community programs.