The End.

The team are now at home (probably still sleeping), but we wanted to fill you in on our final adventures in Aruba.

#theAtour
On Saturday, we embarked upon a mammoth journey around the whole of Aruba, attempting to visit 5/6 of the APG groups (one group hasn't stared back after summer yet) and it was a success! We started out in Dakota and moved on to San Nichols before a quick lunch stop where we ate A LOT of chicken! After lunch we visited Savenata, Santa Cruz and last but not least, Noord.
It was great to see the groups in action, and we were really excited to see many of the girls and leaders we've worked with over the last few weeks putting their new skills into practice. 
Watch our video here.

Board training and project evaluation
On Sunday, our GOLD project officially came to a close with a successful board training and project evaluation. The board listened to feedback from members of the APG and ourselves and put together short action plans for setting up a youth board, improving communication throughout the APG and putting a structure in place to support their current leaders, and train younger leaders. 
The project evaluation was very successful, with both sides agreeing that a real change in attitudes of the girls and leaders has been seen over the course of the project, which has been really fantastic for us to see!

"Onward Travel"
After the official end of project, the team have spent a few days exploring the last few corners of Aruba - we visited the national park (on an amazing off-road wheelchair, and a six seater UTV), relaxed in the sunshine, had a romantic evening meal on the beach, snorkelled with the fish, watched another fantastic sunset and even tried our hand at making glass beads!

We've absolutely loved our time in Aruba, and the thing that will stay with us the most is the hospitality and generosity of the people of Aruba, especially the members of the APG, it really is one happy island ❤️

Thanks to everyone who's supported the individual team members throughout this GOLDen journey, we couldn't have done it without you!

#theAteam

Follow the leader!

We thought it was about time we updated you all again – sorry for the delay but we’ve been making the most of our last few days on this amazing island. The sad reality for us is that our project has come to an end, but we hope the training and experiences we’ve had here stay in everyone’s minds for a long time after we have left. 

Leadership – the next and final level  

On Tuesday and Wednesday nights we ran sessions for the Padvinsters (PV’s), young leaders and Pioneers on encouraging them to take their leadership to the next level, building on the skills and techniques learnt at camp. With a new outdoor location (Club Kibrahacha) we were pleased to see so many familiar faces along with a couple of new ones (30 in total). We gave the girls the opportunity to look at some of the UK resources which we were kindly donated to share with the APG and use these as inspiration to plan their own session. This was a big challenge for the girls but we were really impressed with the level of concentration. On Wednesday each group of PV’s ran a game or activity for their peers. It was very rewarding for us to see the impact that we have had on these girls in such a short amount of time, with them all growing in confidence and leading games that we had taught them. 

Here are a few quotes from the girls themselves about their experience of GOLD Aruba 2018:

“I learnt to be confident and to believe in myself”

“I learnt that working with others is easier than I thought it would be”

“I want to become a better version of myself as a future leader”

“I have made new friends and talked to girls I’ve never talked to before”

“I want to be a great leader like you guys in the future”

“I surely am a greater leader now. Not only for my guiding group but in my school, at home and with myself. I know how to lead my road to the degrees I want to accomplish”

“For sure I’m going to use the things I’ve learnt during these sessions. The main reason why is because I’m studying hospitality management and for that I need to know how to stand up and take the lead”

Leading by example

On Thursday evening we ran a session for the leaders of the APG to help them understand what we have been doing with the girls and how they can facilitate youth participation and youth leadership within their own units. It was fantastic to see the positive attitudes and the openness to try new things from the leaders who had already been to one of our sessions. A lovely dinner provided by the APG gave us a chance to continue our discussions until well after 10pm!

Social Gathering

After all the hard work, energy and commitment from both the APG and ourselves we enjoyed a night out together to a pizza restaurant. From beginning to end the APG have been incredibly supportive and generous hosts, going above and beyond to ensure we had a great experience. We enjoyed getting to know a bit more about the individuals we had spent so much time with, comparing our Guiding and country cultures. 

#theAteam

Camp

24 Padvinsters (Guides), 7 Young Leaders and Pioneers (Rangers), 8 Leaders, 7 GOLDies and a flock of sheep met at Emma School for a weekend Best of British camp planned and delivered by us. Emma School provided the perfect location with views of the sea and plenty of classrooms and space out of the sun. The whole weekend had a leadership theme, helping us to inspire and encourage the next generation of APG leaders. 

FRIDAY 

We started off the camp with a series of crafts whilst the excitement rose as everyone arrived. After the opening ceremony we played a very active London Bus Drive game (similar to beetle drive) and sweated from every pore as Becca treated us to some excellent Ceilidh dancing. This style of dance was new to the Arubans and ended in much hilarity as they got to grips with spinning their partner!

SATURDAY 

The day that never ended… 16 hours of training and activities started with a 06.30 am surprise wake up and shake up. 

After a sleepy breakfast (with thanks to Dianna for the food) we split and delivered trainings to the Leaders, PV’s, and YL’s/Pioneers on Guiding opportunities, youth participation, peer led Guiding and action planning. Despite the early start the girls were really engaged, keen to get more out of the APG, and inspired to plan and run activities themselves. Nicki and Caroline ran a very successful session with the Leaders (with a request for another) enlightening them to realise they can allow the girls to take ownership and lead for themselves.   

The afternoon started with a post lunch siesta and a wide game. Stations included team games and challenges with a leadership focus. Nobody told us that we would have some special guests who baa-ed their way into camp! News of the fun we were having had obviously spread far and wide as a flock of sheep tried to join in running in between grass patches! The GOLDies were astounded, and several attempts at herding were made, while the APG were not phased and more interested in finishing their activities.

Ant and Dec and the Britain’s Got Talent judges made a surprise appearance for an evening talent show featuring dances, various baby shark renditions, songs and a winning theatre sketch on bullying. Ant and Dec (Sophie and Emily) enthused the crowds of APG members while Simon was as brutal as ever! A modern-day campfire (minus the fire) gave us an opportunity to share songs and sing together - a great end to the day. 

SUNDAY 

The GOLDies were alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic on Sunday morning while the girls and leaders took a little longer to get going. The morning was spent utilising the girl-led skills they had learnt the day before to create and present their ‘perfect camp’ plans. Ideas included survival camp in the national park, nightmare before Christmas and a joint camp with the scouts.

We were joined for this session by a special guest, Grace, who has been involved in GOLD in Aruba from the start and also had a lovely meeting with her on Thursday. We ended camp with an evaluation and reflection on the weekend - everyone had a great time and learnt a lot. It was great seeing the girls grow in confidence over the weekend and be excited to be the leaders of the future. 

In other news……

·     The wind continues to provide a constant challenge – washing and flip chart paper fly everywhere and you definitely can’t read the daily newspaper or play cards outside (believe us, we have tried!). 

·     ALWAYS wash your Aloe Vera!

·     Sunsets are stunning.

·     Emma does in fact like fish!

·     Vince looks so shiny after a bath.

·     Butterflies live for longer as caterpillars than butterflies (the butterfly farm was very much enjoyed). 

·     Charlie Bar’s is the BEST bar in the world, entertaining us throughout lunch. 

·     International neckers are a great talking point and gives you VIP access!

#theAteam

Training 1, 2, 3!

So here it is, the long awaited blog post about our first three training sessions!! We've had a very busy few days of planning and running three training sessions, but still managing to squeeze in some sight seeing and relaxation time. 

Session 1 - Getting to know GOLD 2018 

This session took place on Saturday afternoon and was a fantastic introduction to the APG members! In attendance there was a mixture of APG board members, unit leaders, Padvinsters (Guides), Pioneers (Rangers) and Young Leaders. They were all very enthusiastic and joined in with a range of energetic team games, such as passing the ball down the line etc... We think everyone was in agreement that the polo match-stick relay was the most entertaining!! We left the session with a better understanding of the APG and its members and were ready to finish the planning for our next two sessions.

Nicki and Mirtha excelling at the polo match-stick relay!

Session 2 - Padvinsters Leadership 1 

Our second session was where we got down to the real business that we came to Aruba for - training the young APG members on leadership. We soon learned that we'd have to get used to the relaxed "island time", but we worked really well as a team to adjust our training plan and still deliver a fantastic session. The girls delivered some excellent pitches on why their chosen famous leader was the best, came up with some great positive and negative qualities of a leader, and learned what style of leader they were. Towards the end of the session they each had some time to reflect on their own strengths and weaknesses. All the Padvinsters had a great time and were enthusiastic about attending future sessions and our upcoming camp this weekend.

Session 3 - Padvinsters Leadership 2

Last night we ran a follow-up leadership session for the Padvinsters. We had a larger group than our previous session, but most of the attendees from session 2 returned. Success! This session focussed on exploring their opportunities within the APG and developing personal journey plans. The girls discussed why they are members of the APG, what they enjoy and the first word that came into their head when thinking of the APG. They then took these ideas and produced TV adverts for the APG to encourage other young people to join them.

All hands, legs and wheels on deck to hold down the flipchart paper!!

Other things to note from the last few days:

• We've now been in Aruba for over a week - WHERE HAS THE TIME GONE?!
• Lizards get everywhere - who knew they could swim?!
• Aruba is a windy place. Always. 
• Flip chart paper is unruly in the wind. 
• Sunrise is early and not very easy to see when it's cloudy...
• Watch out for road obstacles: goats, shipping containers, fluorescent orange rocks etc.
• Cultural parades are a great excuse to dance in the street.
• Salt fish is not salty.  
• Ice cream is always a welcome treat (thanks Mirtha and Cecelia!)

#theAteam

Welcome to Aruba: One Happy (Sunny, Windy) Island

It's been a few days of new experiences for the team in Aruba, culminating in our first meeting of the project with the board of the APG (Arubaanse Padvinsters Gilde) yesterday evening.

GOLD Team Aruba 2018 with the board of the APG

Having arrived on Monday evening we spent a couple of days orientating ourselves to the island and acclimatising to the time zone and the weather (hint: it's hot!)

One Happy A Team at the beach

This has taken many forms, everything from flamingo racing in the pool to realising just how good an apple tastes when you have to pay a whole $0.91 for it. We've been letting Emily, Emma and Sarah get used to driving our van (Vincent van Gogh - Vince van for short!) on the roads (and sometimes off road dirt tracks) around our accommodation while trying to navigate tiny roundabouts and speed bumps mountains.

Inside Vince Van

Over the edge!

We were guided to a lovely quiet little beach area where we spent several hours in and out of the water and got to work out the fastest way to get Caroline into the sea - tip the wheelchair over backwards is the answer - thankfully the sea was bath temperature so it wasn't too much of a shock!

Where's Caroline?

Yesterday involved a trip to the capital, Oranjestad, which took us past the cruise ship terminal and to a small fort that housed a museum about the history of Aruba. We went in and were enthusiastically guided around by Mario before we climbed to the top of the tower up some very steep steps to get some lovely views over the island. After that, we stopped at the Dutch Pancake House for some amazing pancakes, with gluten free versions too!

Dutch Pancake House

We were looking forward to meeting the APG board, which we got to do yesterday evening. We left plenty of time (an hour for a 30 minute journey) and still managed to barely make it on time due to road closures and a lorry container that was being moved across the road by two very excitable men in tiny forklift trucks.

Road block!

Personalised welcome from APG

It was wonderful to meet the people who have worked to get us a programme of sessions to run and to find out from them directly what they would like to get out of our time here, especially as we are the final year of GOLD in Aruba. We were greeted in their Jean D'Arc clubhouse with a sign made by the guides and the best sausage rolls we have ever tasted.









The meeting was very productive and left us with a much firmer timetable and lots of planning to do for our training sessions which start tomorrow. We are very excited to be running so many sessions, and this morning we went to visit the school that will be the venue for the weekend camp we are running.

Jean D'Arc Clubhouse

Today is dedicated to deciding what we will do during our first few sessions and trying to hold our flipchart paper down on the table with as many items as possible - the wind is almost as impressive as the heat! That's break time over  - time to get this project underway!

#theAteam

Green lights = Flights

The day is here and we are all ready to GO GO GO! The green lights are flashing for departure, so we had dinner at the hotel last night ready to pack up and board the first of our flights to Miami.

We're due to head off very soon - and we can't quite believe it. It seems amazing that it was 10 months ago we started this journey! On the one hand it seems like only yesterday, but on the other hand it seems like our team have been together forever.

No undercover reporter for you today - she's busy trying to make sure everything that is supposed to go on the plane goes on the plane and comes off in one piece. But if she had been taking a sneaky peek at what the A team did in their last few hours together before boarding the plane, she'd find them saying:

A Massive Thank You

To all those who have made this project happen in any way shape or form, and to those who have sent us cards with good luck wishes and tips for #projectperfection, we really appreciate it. So many emotions are going round the team right now, but the overwhelming feeling is support for each other.

The time has come, and we're ready!

Miami is our first stop, with a bit of luck (and free wifi) we'll catch up with you from there!

#theAteam

1 is for... 1st Aid!

The countdown is on, and Rebecca has found a clock that says "Time's nearly up team, one day to gooooooooooooo!"

Our undercover* reporter has discovered that Rebecca can, in fact, tell the time. Which is a good thing, because we don't want to be late for our flight! It also turns out that she is the group 1st aider, and our reporter was very glad that Rebecca's addition to the group kit is the item that completes any 1st aid kit and brings it to a whole new level: the amazing wonder drug that cures all ills...

...CHOCOLATE!!

So with just one day to go we are weighing the bags, carb loading before the flight (mashed potato AND macaroni cheese with your steak and ale pie anyone?!) and trying to work out why there are no black cabs in London (or any other wheelchair accessible taxis apparently, thank goodness for the Hoppa bus!). I guess we'll catch up with you next from the airport!

Early night time, because it's going to be a VERY early morning!

*well actually given that the team are all staying in the same hotel tonight she was hardly undercover...

#theAteam

Two much excitement!

Oh. My. Goodness. TWO SLEEPS and we will be off! Today has been a resourceful day, with most of us at home packing our bags, but Nicki seems to be somewhere on a map of London...

Let's hope she also remembered to pack! Back when we first got our flight confirmations and saw that we had TWO bags each we laughed a bit - I mean, who needs two bags right?! But, with two days to go, we have changed our minds a bit. We have so many resources, some that we've used our budget for but many more that have been kindly donated by people across the country - we've been helped by the new Girlguiding programme release meaning some leaders have donated their old programme books. But what group kit is Nicki squeezing into her two bags? A hot water bottle - even in a hot country there are still moments when you need that little bit of comfort!

Sleepy time now - when I wake up... 

#theAteam

Story time! Three little...

Story time is one of my favourite times of the day, and Emma's beautiful pose below means that we have just 3 days to go, so we should hear an adapted version of the three little pigs...

Our undercover* reporter has discovered that our team is indeed intending to fly to Aruba with pigs. Two, in fact. Well, we've got to play pass the pigs while we're there!

But back to the story - once upon a time three little pigs were trying to build houses to save themselves from the big bad wolf. In this case three groups of "packers" were trying to pack their bags so they would have everything they needed with them in Aruba, but didn't require spinal surgery as a result of taking 30 bottles of water. They wanted to save themselves from the wrath of the team leader.

The first group packed their kit 30 seconds before they left and shoved it into their bags, only stopping to make sure their liquids over 100ml and sharp objects were in their main bag.

The second group packed their kit over a few days during the week before they left. And then left it until the day before to pack their final items.

The third group packed a month in advance. Then repacked. And again. And... so on.

On arrival at the hotel the night before the flight, the big bad wolf team leader inspected their packing... which of the three groups do you think succeeded?

All of them as it happens! Because they had all listened very carefully over the past 8 months since their GOLD journey began and had a copy of the suggested kit list with annotations from the GOLD teams who visited Aruba over the past two years (thanks for the wisdom guys!) so they didn't forget anything.

So the team leader took them all out for ice creams when they got to Aruba (unsubtle hint right there Emily!) What a happy ending! Sleep well children.

*undercover-ness wasn't really needed today - she could have just looked back on previous blog posts and deduced it was likely that the pigs would make an appearance on the group list! But she is being a true Girlguide and trying to improve her (abysmal) sneaky-weaky skills.

#theAteam

Forgetful four?

We had our final pre-project skype call last night, and in 4 days time... well, I don't need to tell you! But sadly, with just FOUR days to go, our undercover* reporter has failed.  So what's gone wrong today? We managed to get this snap of a four-fingered Caroline, but that's the best we could do...

When asked what she was packing for the group, Caroline came over all Dory-like and couldn't remember her own name let alone the names of the items she was trying to pack!

So given that we don't know what Caroline is contributing to the group kit, let's have some suggestions of what you think it should be! What do you think she (or the team!) has forgotten? Any top tips for things you think should be on the list? Anything you definitely wouldn't take? Let us know... we don't want today to be forgetful-four-day!

*undercover reporting didn't go well. When I ask myself questions I forget the question while I'm trying to think of an answer! So I decided I'd have to be sneaky. Turns out it's quite difficult to sneak up on yourself to see what you're packing. I've been trying all day! Which means I haven't been packing. Which means I couldn't see what to report I was packing. Which means I've been trying all day. Which means I haven't been packing. Which... well, you get the picture!

Hope you didn't have too many Dory moments today!

#theAteam

Post us a high five!

Give us a virtual high five to send us on our way! With just 5 days to go Sophie is here to remind us to keep posting updates while we're out in Aruba - and it's a reminder for you to keep up with our blog posts and social media accounts while we are out there!

As for the group kit, Sophie is in charge of washing tablets - a very important addition to the list to make sure we can have clean clothes (including our group tops that our undercover* reporter has discovered she is modelling!) at some point during the trip! She seems to be on a general cleanliness mission too, as she's also bringing a tea towel. We all know who to go to when we need to dry our tea mugs now!

"Post" a high five on one of our social media pages if you can't wait for us to fly (whether you are excited for us to have an adventure or excited because you'll have a bit of peace and quiet once we've gone!)

*our undercover reporter isn't quite as under-the-covers as she would like to be today - as we discovered at second briefing, none of our team are early birds and Caroline is no exception. Thankfully she remembered that the reason for getting up earlier than she would otherwise like was to do some more packing for Aruba, so she cheered up!

#theAteam

Six is served with a smile

We trusted our team leader to use two hands to count yesterday, but today was a dilemma. Who else do we believe can handle such great responsibility? The answer is Sarah, and it looks like we chose well - 6 fingers for 6 days!

Sarah tried to hide at work today, but she didn't manage to escape from our undercover* reporter. We have exclusive news that Sarah's contribution to the group is going to be... sanity and a smile! (Greedy - no one else gets 2!)

Sanity will be coming in the form of a mug. Sarah got very excited by Emily's tea bag post and has decided to make the most of it while we are away - tea is her main source of fuel and sanity. Her smile is also coming because the rest of the group insist on it, and because we think everyone in Aruba will be happy to see it too: #SmileySarah

*undercover actually means very-much-undercover-maybe-a-bit-too-far-today. Our reporter went so far with her "I'm not a reporter" disguise that she had to be without her laptop until she could return to her secret hideout. To anyone who thinks this post is cutting it fine... there's still 5 hours of Aruban Tuesday left!

Catch up tomorrow!

#theAteam