It’s a Wrap!

Well the time has come for the final blog post of 2019!

GOLD Team Aruba 2019 met up to debrief on our experience and share our journey through Aruba with the other GOLD teams.

A few of our highlights included:

Developing the programme committee, as we know you will take the APG forward.

Our island tours and getting to see so many beautiful places (and the pet cemetery)

 

Who can forget the festival and the Lionfish!

And...Most importantly, the installation and seeing all the leaders commit to the APG.

At the debrief weekend, much like our final training sessions in Aruba, we personally reflected on what's next for us. This was helped through discussions on the training qualification, peer education and giving back to guiding. We also had some action planning time and thought about what we wanted to achieve, both personally and within Guiding.

It was great reflecting back; we learnt from each other during the project, (more Brownie groups now play Giraffe Elephant Toaster than previously). We also learned from the APG what can be achieved with an open minded group. We've shared our learnings and our experiences locally through newsletters, visiting units and selling more badges.

It’s great to see Kung Fu Jungle (the one with the money, tiger and snake!) being used in units and all of your other adventures shared on social media (maybe you could give some of us some social media training for using within our units!)

We have every confidence in the APG delivering their handbook and programme ahead of GOLD 2020 given the determination of everyone on the programme committee. Good Luck to you all, Thank you for your hospitality and have a great 2020!

The Last Days of Project :(

Friday!

Friday morning was filled with final planning and creating resources for our last weekend of training, then a very important last-minute dash to the beach before training (GOLD Aruba 2020: We highly recommend doing this!) 

Before training, our wonderful Aruban friend Mirtha brought us lion fish for dinner. The fish is a pest in the waters around Aruba...and it is venomous. Cue small freak out that we weren’t going to be very well after eating it! Thankfully, Mirtha’s friend is an excellent cook, so, we had a really fantastic dinner and would absolutely recommend others try lion fish! After we finished, we found out that none of the APG leaders had ever eaten it!! 

The session on Friday evening went incredibly well; the leaders said they found it really useful. We covered different leadership styles - interestingly, the APG is made up of lots of owls…! We then reflected on individual strengths and weaknesses, before everybody wrote strengths on each others sheets - giving each other a pat on the back. How Girl Guiding has helped us in our careers and how to include the skills you learn on a CV followed this. We then played a very funny game of Giants, Elves and Wizards in the dark car park before doing some new activities from the programme the APG developed. 

Saturday! 

Where else in the world can you spend a morning training on the beach?! We had a great, very hot morning, running teambuilding activities, with a competition between teams. We finished up with a swim in the sea before heading home for a long nap - training on the beach is hard work! 

Saturday evening was a chance for a dinner out at the very highly recommended O’Neils. It definitely lived up to the hype! We left very full, and very happy. 

Sunday! 

Our last day of training with all the APG leaders. Sunday morning was filled with final preparations to deliver an afternoon of action planning, to make sure the APG take all the work they’ve put together over the last three weeks and continue to develop their organisation. The APG formed a committee to further develop the programme and leaders handbook and started to create a project plan. Finally a bit of project evaluation to see what the APG leaders thought of GOLD 2019, and then it was time for some celebrations! 

Ten of the amazing leaders we’ve been working with were installed (made their promise as leaders) at a sunset ceremony on the beach, with the Governor’s wife participating. 

When we arrived, we were a little concerned that the large group of people having a party with amps on top of their cars might disrupt the proceedings slightly… however, in an amazing turn of events, they agreed to turn off their music while the ceremony was going on! We all renewed our promises together (some of the team might have had to use notes to remember the new promise…) and we gave out some gifts to the wonderful women who have hosted and looked after us over the last three weeks. 

Finally, Sunday finished with an excellent meal with lots of APG leaders at a place called Urataka, where there was plenty of chicken, ribs, pizza and chips. 

Monday! 

Our last day of Project. We attempted to visit the Balashi brewery and bottling plant, however, the plant was only bottling water that day. We felt we’d seen enough of the water processing in our previous tour and instead Louise gave us a hilarious demonstration of water bottling at home. 

After planning, we headed to the beach - It was SO EXCITING. There was a huge turtle swimming around in the sea!!! It was amazing to see this beautiful creature up close in the wild, and so lovely that people were very respectful, just letting it get on with life. 

Monday evening was our final formal meeting with the APG on evaluation and planning for the future. The general feeling on both sides was that GOLD Aruba 2019 was a resounding success. Yay! A favourite note was that the GOLD team have demonstrated that young people can deliver to a high level and that the APG can give young women the opportunity to do so. 

The evaluation meeting finished rather later than planned, so we finished our night with an impromptu celebratory McDonalds - where Louise tried the most aruban item on the menu: a cheeseburger with breaded mushrooms in it (I think. It looked tasty!) - and others tried Grape soda (less tasty, would not recommend) 

Away from the hard graft

Tuesday 3rd September
Super early morning today, 4am alarms so we were up on the top of the Hooiberg in time for sunrise.... yes, all 6 of the team made it!! (Although it wasn't without a few grumbles). It may not be the highest point on the island (the National Park doesn't open early enough to sensibly climb the highest) but there are fantastic views and it was worth the early start for sunrise and photos. To the amusement of the others, Sophie and Abi experienced jelly legs on their climb down.

After 2nd breakfast (sandwiches) we were invited to APG President, Grace's house for tea - due to the moving sun, Hannah made use of the hammock - before our tour guide Nika arrived with Amy and Roselynn to show us some more of Aruba...Rock Formations at Casibari, the donkey sanctuary - the National Park - looking at several caves, dipping our feet (for the brave) and hands (for the more brave) to be nibbled by fish and looking for the blue crabs in a bay. Lots of photos later and we took the back exit of the park past the wind turbines to head to the most Southerly point on the Island... a huge red anchor (cue more photos). We also drove past the dog cemetery before our last stop at the "mermaids tail" - a rock in the sea that looks like a mermaids tail. Nika was fab as a tour guide and kept the team amused when giving left / right directions at short notice or saying it the wrong way round! Nothing turning around can't solve.

Wednesday 4th September

Today was a lazy morning for most but Louise and Jos were up early to go to the butterfly farm for meditation and a swim in the sea. Heather kept us focused on training plans and we suddenly realised we didn't have anything for tea! Oh no!! We are out at an APG organised treasure hunt tonight! Where we got a hotdog at the end (but our home made chicken nuggets and chips waited til we got back - nom nom!).
Some great PR videos were created by the Padvinsters at the end of their walk around Oranjestad, and we're viewed by all at the fab make shift cinema in a car park.
Thursday 5th September
Today we started by donning a hard hat for a tour of the desalination plant.... the place where the Arubans use reverse osmosis to turn the sea water into safe drinking water for the whole Island. After the excitement of a freebie after the tour, we settled back into creating training plans for the weekend. And mid afternoon Sophie met the Governor of Aruba, chatting about our volunteering over here. The Governor was very grateful and appreciative of the GOLD team volunteering their time to assist the APG in training Leaders.

We’re nearing our last training weekend! Find out what we had in store for the APG in our next blog!

Training and saying ‘Aloe’ to Vera

28th August to 2nd September

We had a jam packed second weekend of training!

The Friday night programme development focused on the themes we had created, what they mean to the APG and generating activities which fit into the themes. The overarching programme is:

“Through adventure, education and leadership, the APG will develop Health, Community Service, Environmental Awareness and Personal Development.”

From the previous weeks evaluation, it was decided to do Plan, Do, Check, Act Training in relation to Leader and girl recruitment, as this was a theme that members of the APG had requested to cover.

Some creative suggestions came out around the recruitment themes, including a Halloween Ball, the barriers to these were overcome.

Originally, we were going to facilitate the creation of a leaders handbook for the Beysima Leaders, however, we agreed with the APG leaders to broaden this to be a handbook for all leaders, with specific notes for each section. The contents was developed and each section of the handbook expanded, with some elements being written.

Along with some voting on the Scarfs, ‘Giraffe, Elephant, Toaster’ energisers and Bungalow songs, we successfully facilitated the weekend.

Following the training, we went to the Cultural Festival. A great show of the different organisations of Aruba involving some serious dance moves, which we tried to copy ourselves.

Monday, we said ‘Aloe to Vera’ to the Aruba Aloe Farm where we all got free ‘Dream Bar’ soap! Then onto Eagle Beach for some more swimming, before our evening evaluation with the board. We agreed the plan for the remainder of the week, including meeting the Governor of Aruba, a Padvinsters Scavenger Hunt and a Team Building exercise amongst any other things! 

Outside of the training we have also been learning new things

1. A plastic lettuce knife can be used to chop lettuce as metal oxidises with the lettuce.

2. If it’s difficult to open a jar, use a tin opener on the edge to pop the seal.

3. We all have ‘inny’ belly buttons.

Arepa, Butterflies and (Ice) Cream

27th to 30th August

After a fabulous evaluation with the board, we had a few days to ourselves to explore the island and complete the training plans for next weekend based on the feedback.

On Tuesday and the early mornings, we worked through training plans, which you can hear about in our next blog.

Wednesday, we visited the Butterly Farm - 35 different species (plus one moth). It was very relaxing and various Butterflies landed on us. Find out in next weeks blog post if we make it to the 7:30am meditation session at the other end of the Island!

Later, we had movie night - those that had seen it before didn’t realise how corny ‘Walking on Sunshine’ was! Stargazing followed, with Aruba’s newly formed Science and Nature Foundation. All of us ‘earning’ one of the old Brownie programme stargazer badges.

Thursday, Hannah and Sophie met the Prime Minister of Aruba to share Guiding experiences of the GOLD team and the APG.

“It was an eye opening opportunity to meet a leader in another country, particularly as she is the first female prime minister of Aruba. She was very receptive to understanding Girlguiding and the values of the organisation” -  Hannah

The obligatory Aruba sign photo opportunity was visited

Encouraged by the APG, beaches have recently become a theme through “Sunset beyond the bush” as there was a bush in the way of a previous sunset. We’ve also been swimming at Baby Beach!

Throughout we’ve had a feast - Arepa, made by Heather; a trip to the Dutch Pancake House (Sophie’s favourite location) and a few stops at the different Ice Cream places!

First Training Weekend and Shark Attacks!

22nd - 26th August

We kicked off the first of our GOLD trainings with a meeting and session with the Arubaanese Padvinster Gilde (APG) National Board on the WAGGGS Leadership Mindset; we presented each of the mindsets with an interactive activity. For some of the team, this was their first experience of training and we all agreed that the session went well. Since being in Aruba, we have been given a very warm welcome by the APG who are keen to ensure that GOLD helps the organisation to develop as well as the individuals within it.

One of the objectives of our project is to facilitate the formation of a new programme for the APG and we worked hard to ensure that our weekend sessions met this objective. On Saturday, we each delivered our own training sessions on the WAGGGS five essentials, our current UK programme, UN global goals, international opportunities, WAGGGS resources, planning a session and what girls want. The sessions were broken up with fun energisers which the leaders can take away to run with their girls. There was lots of brainpower used throughout the day, fueled by a delicious lunch and the leaders all agreed that they gained lots of new knowledge and ideas to take away. Sunday saw us up early, alive, alert, awake and enthusiastic to work together towards developing a new programme for the APG, based on what the leaders had learnt on the Saturday. 

Its not been all training since we have been in Aruba, the team enjoyed an interesting meal where we waited in line for over an hour (amusing ourselves by playing a game of course) then had ‘Wow’ fish, chips and shrimps which we ate in the dark, bobbing on a jetty over the Aruban sea, while we faced a constant battle with the wind to keep our food on our plates!!

Jos and Heather have also enjoyed learning to 'drive like an Aruban’ to ensure we fit in with the locals, despite our ‘visitor’ plate and get from A to B in our van - nicknamed Bow - Box on Wheels!!

On Monday we had a great day being toured around the North side of Aruba in Bow by Nika, a member of the APG. We climbed the lighthouse, visited the Alto Vista church and reflected in the peace labyrinth. We then explored the beach, cove, gold mine ruins and natural bridge. It was a great day out and with our windswept hair and slightly pink skin we rushed off to meet the National Board and APG GOLD committee to plan for the rest of the project, in Starbucks!

The day ended with mermaids being eaten in a shark attack………….cocktail!!!

The Adventure so Far

The Project so Far
We met and stayed at the Heathrow Travelodge overnight before flying to Aruba via Miami. Naturally, we told our GOLD story to border control, but also to the Guiding District Commissioner in the lift, a man handing out free gum and multiple people in the toilets (amongst others)!

There was only one piece of luggage missing on arrival! This wasn't much of a problem as we'd got a lot of luggage overall! The APG met us very warmly and gave us a lift to our accommodation, which we'll be staying in for three weeks.

After being awake for nearly 24 hours we had a well earned rest! 
Car collection, Grocery shopping and Lunch occupied the morning, before reviewing our training plans in detail for the Thursday board meeting as well as the Friday, Saturday and Sunday wider training.

Discovering if a pool noodle be used as a stick in training
on the WAGGGS Leadership Mindsets - Collaborative Mindset

How did we end up in Aruba?!

We've been active on social media for the last few months, but if reading this blog for the first time...what are we doing here? The team were selected in September 2019 during a weekend where we met each other for the first time, our Leader Sophie made up the team.

After first and second briefing to learn about training, facilitation, songs and WAGGGS with the seven other GOLD teams, we held a third briefing weekend in Birmingham to develop more as a team and focus on our Arubaanese Padvinster Gilde aims and objectives and develop training plans to meet the training needs.

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