So long, and thanks for all the fish!

It's finally here, with both sadness and joy this is our final blog post as GOLD Team Aruba 2017. Sadness that it's coming to an end, but overjoyed with everything we've gained and the chance to share this with you through this blog.

This past weekend we headed to Sheffield to debrief on our project, and our journeys as a whole, whilst elsewhere in the country five new team members were receiving emails notifying them of the adventure which awaits them in 2018. The team leader will also be chosen and find out in the next couple of weeks.

Helen, Amy, Bridget, Laura and Pippa were full of mixed emotions as we reflected on our experiences, including sadness that Rachel was unable to join us for this final leg (sending all our best wishes in her direction). From preparing a summary of our time in Aruba to sharing country themed activities with other teams (an inflatable Flamingo race!), it was a much needed opportunity to think about the successes and challenges of coming together as a team and undertaking a project on the other side of the world. It was also a chance for us to think about what each of us might do next to share the GOLD love and take on new roles and opportunities in Girlguiding and beyond.

One of the activities that we enjoyed the most was a chance to make a video of our top tips for next year's GOLD Team Aruba. We'd thought ahead and done some filming in Aruba - the actual video will remain a treat for next year's teams at their first briefing. However, in the meantime, we're going to share some of our tips (some from the video, some a bit more frivolous) here for you to enjoy!

1. Arubans are really friendly - be open and approachable and make time to chat and you'll soon make firm friends!
2. Take the opportunity for a magical mystery tour with members of the APG, but also don't be afraid to explore as a team. There's only a few main roads so it's difficult to get lost once you're familiar with them. 
3. Pack plenty of suncream and insect repellant.
4. If you get grouper that hasn't been de-boned, pan-fry it and then it'll come off the bones easily. 
5. It's hot in Aruba, so take a coolbag and ice packs to keep your water bottles cool when you're out and about during the day.
6. It's also usually very windy so avoid floaty skirts. 
7. Take your swim wear everywhere, especially to camp. You never know when an impromptu beach trip will happen. 
8. Learn a few words of Papiamento - masha danki, bon dia, cabrito stoba, arroz con pollo, pastechi...
9. $50 worth of shrimp is a lot of shrimp. But the shrimp is really good.
10. Savour every moment and enjoy every sunset!

Sharing the GOLD love,

Pippa, Amy, Bridget, Helen, Laura and Rachel
x

Songs, Games, Activities and More!

It's been over seven weeks since the end of our unforgettable time in Aruba, and just two more until our team will be reunited for our debrief weekend in the UK. So we thought it time for a little housekeeping on the blog and to find out if there's anything else from our project that we could share.

For your convenience and interest we've gathered together links to some of our previous posts about activities:

• Our favourite parachute games can be found here.
• Some of our favourite songs can be found here. 
• There's a few confidence building activities in this post. 
• Suggestions for recruiting more leaders can be found in this one. 
• And some of the energisers we used can be found here.

But this isn't a full list of everything we did - if there's a song or game that you'd like the instructions for, leave us a comment on here or send us a message on Facebook. 

In Aruba, we ran several activities and sessions related to helping girls get involved in the planning of their own programme. Since our return we've found a few resources that might help leaders do this (wherever you are in the world). You can find activities for all age groups in this 'Participation on a Plate' resource from Girlguiding and there's a few more on the Girlguiding Activity Finder - in fact there's all sorts of other activities in there too for inspiration!

That's all for now, but stay tuned - we'll have another update from our debrief weekend later this month before we hand over this blog to next year's team!