I like being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017 because...

During the last three weeks we've played a lot of circle games asking participants what they like about being a leader, being a girl, being a Padvinster or a Kabouter. As we approach the end of our project (we have our final evaluation with the board this evening) we felt it was time to ask "Ami gusta ser un mucha GOLD Team Aruba 2017..." (I like being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017 because...):

Amy likes being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017...

"...because I got to enjoy an APG camp. Having experienced many Brownie pack holidays and Guide camps in the UK, I was very excited to see what an Aruban camp would be like. From start to finish, it did not disappoint and I had such a great time. I loved getting the time to interact with the leaders and girls that attended and got the chance to know them better. The girls taught us a lot about the island's languages, culture and people (whilst also beating us at Dobble and Quartet)."

Bridget likes being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017...

"...because I have made friendships which I hope will last a lifetime. I've had the opportunity to work with inspirational girls and young women and been welcomed like family. This project has been a constant reminder of how much we all have to learn from each other and that was never more obvious to me than n our training sessions. Each training session we met passionate and dedicated volunteers who not only engaged totally in activities but also shared ideas, stories and lessons with us about guiding in Aruba and the Western Hemisphere. I feel that as a team we go back to the UK richer in knowledge and friends. 'Make new friends and keep the old, one is silver and the other GOLD.'"

Helen likes being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017...

"...because I have had the opportunity to get to know inspirational women who are passionate about improving the lives of young women and girls. Over the last 3 weeks I have been working with my incredible team of leaders from the UK and I have watched us grow as a team and develop our training skills together. I cannot thank my 5 new friends enough for all of their hard work. As well our amazing team I have had the opportunity to make new friendships with the awesome volunteers in Aruba. The APG have been like a family to us over the last 3 weeks and we couldn't have had a successful project without them."

Laura likes being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017...

"...because swimming in the Caribbean Sea is awesome! Our favourite swim had to be on Saturday afternoon during our camp; after a very busy sweaty day (average 'feels like' temperatures of 40c throughout our stay here!) we cooled off with a dip in the sea. I think we had as much fun as the girls and it was truly magical to watch the sun go down with our new Guiding friends."

Pippa likes being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017...

"...because during our time in Aruba the leaders and girls have shared their culture with us, taking us to see landmarks from the lighthouse to the anchor, and to events from the Carubbian Festival to the cultural parade in Brasil. We've been introduced to some delicious dishes: arros con pollo, cabrito stoba, and pastechi; and attempted to recreate the Aruban fried rice we tucked into at camp. We've been able to travel far off the tourist track, learnt a little Papiamento along the way, and are indebted to the girls and women we've met who have made our trip into a true exchange of cultures."

Rachel likes being a member of GOLD Team Aruba 2017...

"...because I have made the most amazing guiding friends in the UK who I would never have met without being part of GOLD but I have also made the most inspirational guiding friends internationally from the moment we landed in Aruba being picked up at the airport to our first leader training session, the Padvindster camp, the visits to the girls at their first unit meetings back after vacation and finally to our last training with the APG board. Everyday of project I have made new friends, laughed until our stomachs ached and passed our six smiles around the island and I have loved every part of it."

Padvindsters, Pioneers and Plenty of Fun

Other than camp, so far during our project we’ve run two different sessions for Padvindsters and Pioneers. The Padvindsters (aged 11-16 years) and Pioneers (aged 16-18 years) travelled from all over the island to attend and meet up with other APG members.

The latest session (on Tuesday) took place at the YMCA San Nicolas with 18 girls and 6 leaders coming from different units across Aruba. Our session and activities focused on leadership skills, WAGGGS and opportunities open to young members in girl guiding and girl scouting. Our leadership activities were very popular with girls and really started them thinking about their Guiding journeys.

Through the activities, the girls and leaders shared their proudest moments and hopes for the future. One of these activities was “Dreamers”: statements are written at the centre of pieces of paper and each person writes on an ending to the statement, for instance “Who says we can’t be…” and the response of “ourselves”. Here’s three of the responses from girls and young women who took part in the session:

Another activity we ran was “Fortune Tellers”. For this activity, you fold a fortune teller (instructions here) and on the inside write four things you’re proud of in Guiding and four things you’d like to achieve. The girls and leaders shared their moments with each other such as: “I have learnt different skills that help me in my everyday life”. “I want to visit the World Centres”. “I want to raise money for people that are in need” and “I want to be a Leader”.

At the end of our session the girls and leaders evaluated the session by filling out speech bubbles with something they had learnt or really enjoyed about the evening. Here’s our favourite picture.

Tonight and tomorrow we’re running sessions for anyone who is interested in volunteering with the APG. If you think you could contribute to making some of these girls wishes for the future come true, then head down to YMCA Dakota (6^th Sep) or YMCA San Nicolas (7^th Sep) from 6pm-9pm to get a taste of what girl guiding and girl scouting is all about.

Three Things You Need to Know About Our Third Briefing Weekend

From June 9^th – 11^th we reunited in Liverpool for our third (and final face-to-face) briefing weekend. The agenda was packed but full of fun things as well as the serious business. Here’s our top three things you should know about what we got up to. 

•  Team Aruba 2017 Badges Have Arrived…

…and we hope you like the designs. Between us we now have over 1000 badges in total – including a stock for our participants and new friends we’ll meet in Aruba. If you’re in the UK and would like to help us will the final stretch of fundraising, or just love badges (these ones are pretty cute if we do say so ourselves), these are now available to buy for £1 each + P&P. Get in touch with the team member you know the best or drop us a message via our Facebook page and we’ll pop them in the post ASAP. 

• You can never have too many resources for inspiration…

…but we need to only take what we might need with us to Aruba. Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning were spent combing through digital and hard copy versions of resources from WAGGGS, Girlguiding and other youth organisations in order to prepare activity plans for our training sessions with Aruban guides, their leaders and women from the community. We’ve made great headway with over 50 different activities selected so far and will continue to work on this in pairs over the next six weeks before our next catch up over skype.

• GOLD Team Aruba is a TEAM (probably the best team).

On Saturday night we headed out into Liverpool to take on the challenge of Tick Tock Unlock – an escape rooms activity. Together we were locked in a room full of puzzles and deciphered the clues in (what we were told is) an impressive 51 minutes to achieve our freedom and the chance to don fancy dress (as has become our Saturday night custom). We then headed over to Turtle Bay for some celebratory Caribbean food and a taste of some of the flavours we might find during our project. I unfortunately cannot share with you the video of our very impressive dance moves, but safe to say it was another great bonding experience for our team.

Writing this on the train back to Hull as the weekend comes to a close, I think it’s safe to say that we are now more than a team assembled to participate in this project – we are a group of friends who are ready to seize opportunities and face challenges together to share the value of Guiding and Scouting with more girls and women around the world.

Stay tuned as our adventure begins…

Pippa

Second Briefing: Top Seven Things We Learnt

Pippa here, sharing an update after our second team briefing weekend (though with lots of input from my fellow team members). During the weekend we did some role-specific training and I heard about the blog which our team leader Helen contributed to during her trip to Cambodia last year (you can read it here). Taking inspiration from some of their formats, here's a 'Top Seven Things We Learnt at Second Briefing".

1. We can run a successful training activity together. 

First thing on Saturday morning we ran a training activity on Girlguiding's programme renewal for three other GOLD project teams. And it went really well. We thought about the feedback we received and will use this in the next trainings we run.

2. Glue guns and safety pins are excellent tools for fancy dress assembly. 

Our team leader, Helen, came prepared with all the tools we needed to assemble our costumes for the Best of British themed evening entertainments. We had the 'Adult Literature' category and a guest appearances from Gandalf the Grey, Arthur Dent, Lord of the Flies, 39 Steps, Frankenstein and Guiding Magazine.

3. WAGGGS have some pretty useful resources. 

WAGGGS stands for the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Three representatives from their programme department ran a session for us and introduced us to resources we could use on our project. Have you heard about the Climate Change Challenge Badge or Prepared to Learn, Prepared to Lead?

4. And cute mascots can make any subject engaging.

During one of the activities in the WAGGGS session we were tasked with summarising Fit for Work, Fit for Life. We liked how it helped young women work out what skills they had and what they needed for their career, but also the cute mascots for each module. So much so that we have created our own to use in Aruba!

5. Mental Health is as important as physical health. 

On Sunday we had the opportunity to choose which of 3 training sessions we attended. Three of Team Aruba attended a training session on mental health. After learning about what mental health is and the importance of mental wellbeing before, during and after project we came up with a plan of how we can look after ourselves and each other on project. Our favourites were beach yoga, 30 second dance party and "trash and treasure".

6. It was the last time all the 2017 GOLD Teams would be together.

Second briefing was the last time where all the GOLD participants for 2017 will be in the same place at the same time! The next time some of us will meet is at debrief as our third and fourth briefings are just our teams. Team Aruba will be at second debrief in November (with teams going to Ghana, Estonia and Rwanda).

7. We have lots of reading to do!

At the weekend we were introduced to so many wonderful resources by Girlguiding UK, as well as WAGGGS. We're going to be using these as some inspiration for delivering our own training on Aruba. Following Saturday night's quiz on adult literature created by Bridget it would seem most of us need to get reading up on our British literature too!

Until next time.

GOLD Team Aruba