Hello everyone,
The past few days have had some exciting new discussions, however the hectic schedule of this worldwide Girl Guide conference has prevented us from being able to keep you up to date on the proceedings. Tonight was the official closing of the 33rd WAGGGS World Conference and tomorrow morning five of us are leaving to continue on to our African Adventures and explore some of South Africa while Myrtle will be returning to Canada. So for now we will simply highlight a few key items.
On Thursday, July 10, we elected the new members to the WAGGGS World Board. The World Board then met to elect a new Chair and Deputy Chair. We are very pleased and proud to announce that the new Chair of the World Board is Margaret Treloar from Pickering, ON and the Deputy Chair is Linden Edgell from Australia. Congratulations Margaret!
Also exciting, on Friday, July 11, the conference voted that the 34th WAGGGS World Conference be held in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2011. We look forward to having the event there in three years.
Though there are many exciting bits of information about the proceedings as well as numerous independent experiences we would all like to share with you, these will have to wait until we return from Africa at the end of July.
Please be sure to check the blog after July 26th to read more about what we experienced here in Johannesburg.
Until then. Good night.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Thursday, July 10, 2008
July 8th 2008.
Day two of the conference.
This morning we first dealt with constitutional matters. One of the purposes of the World Conference is for the Member Organizations to have the opportunity to vote and either approve or reject various motions put forth to the World Board. Some are recurrent and need to be approved every three years while others can be specific to a certain year.
This year the motions discussed included: giving the World Board the power to select their own auditors without the approval of the MOs at the World Conference (as is done currently); removing the obligation of the MOs to submit annual reports to WAGGGS; giving regional committees the power to co-opt members should there be a vacancy; giving the World Board the power to remove one of its members under serious circumstances; approving the cancellation of membership for Samoa and Vanuatu (who have been under suspension and have proven despite several measures of help to meet WAGGGS criteria for membership); letting federations (SAGNOs) have the opportunity to send observers from each of their associations to the World Conference (currently the number of observers allowed to participate depends on the membership size of an organization and in a federation each association is allowed to send at least one observer); changing the voting strength of an abstained vote from counting as a “no” to not being considered in the evaluation of a vote; and last, the change the age limits for the World Board to 40% aged 20-35, 40% aged 36-40 and 20% aged over 51.
The discussions that occurred after each of these motions was presented were very interesting. I was intrigued by the many concerns that various MOs presented and often, when I had considered I was completely sold on a motion, the discussion would sway my confidence in my views.
The votes for these motions only happens on Friday, so until then further discussion can take place and any amendments needed to the motions can be submitted. It’ll be interested to see the outcomes.
We then had a series of presentations. The first talked about the WAGGGS and WOSM (World Organization of the Scout Movement) relationship. Then the WAGGGS treasurer, Della, presented the WAGGGS Strategy for 2009-2011. I thought this was extremely well done and the direction that WAGGGS would like to go should it have adequate funding in the coming years, would be really great. However certain countries are worried about the increased quota payments due to inflation they will have to make to stay members and consequently may not approve the financial increase that is a necessity for WAGGGS to provide the support they think is necessary for all the MOs.
Next we learnt about the practical application of the WAGGGS working theme for 2009-2011 – Global Action. I have already shared that the tagline for the theme is:
girls worldwide say “together we can change our world”
I have also shared that the purpose of this theme is to address the UN Millenium Development Goals.
The implementation of this process will be through Thinking Day, the MOs, a Global Action Badge and an Advocacy Toolkit.
Being the area international adviser, it is really nice to learn that WAGGGS has already decided on the themes for the next three Thinking Days. They are:
2009 – we can stop the spread of AIDS, malaria and other diseases
2010 – together we can end extreme poverty and hunger
2011 – we can save our planet
The subsequent presentation was about the WAGGGS/UPS partnership. UPS has been working with WAGGGS for several years now because the two share a vision to strengthen communities and build women leaders to partake in the global economy. It was shared that women were a good investment because they are at once the fastest to be abused and the most vulnerable, but also the fastest growing number of entrepreneurs.
The Global Signature Program that WAGGGS and UPS have collaborated on was first introduced in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Mexico and has now spread to other countries as well.
Next, WAGGGS unveiled the WAGGGS Leadership Development Programme (WLDP). This program is focused on young people and for elements namely (1) non-formal education, (2) inter-cultural work, (3) intergeneration work and (4) values based action.
Then in the evening after we attended an event hosted by South Africa, we (Canada) hosted a reception for New Zealand, the UK, Australia, and the USA.
This morning we first dealt with constitutional matters. One of the purposes of the World Conference is for the Member Organizations to have the opportunity to vote and either approve or reject various motions put forth to the World Board. Some are recurrent and need to be approved every three years while others can be specific to a certain year.
This year the motions discussed included: giving the World Board the power to select their own auditors without the approval of the MOs at the World Conference (as is done currently); removing the obligation of the MOs to submit annual reports to WAGGGS; giving regional committees the power to co-opt members should there be a vacancy; giving the World Board the power to remove one of its members under serious circumstances; approving the cancellation of membership for Samoa and Vanuatu (who have been under suspension and have proven despite several measures of help to meet WAGGGS criteria for membership); letting federations (SAGNOs) have the opportunity to send observers from each of their associations to the World Conference (currently the number of observers allowed to participate depends on the membership size of an organization and in a federation each association is allowed to send at least one observer); changing the voting strength of an abstained vote from counting as a “no” to not being considered in the evaluation of a vote; and last, the change the age limits for the World Board to 40% aged 20-35, 40% aged 36-40 and 20% aged over 51.
The discussions that occurred after each of these motions was presented were very interesting. I was intrigued by the many concerns that various MOs presented and often, when I had considered I was completely sold on a motion, the discussion would sway my confidence in my views.
The votes for these motions only happens on Friday, so until then further discussion can take place and any amendments needed to the motions can be submitted. It’ll be interested to see the outcomes.
We then had a series of presentations. The first talked about the WAGGGS and WOSM (World Organization of the Scout Movement) relationship. Then the WAGGGS treasurer, Della, presented the WAGGGS Strategy for 2009-2011. I thought this was extremely well done and the direction that WAGGGS would like to go should it have adequate funding in the coming years, would be really great. However certain countries are worried about the increased quota payments due to inflation they will have to make to stay members and consequently may not approve the financial increase that is a necessity for WAGGGS to provide the support they think is necessary for all the MOs.
Next we learnt about the practical application of the WAGGGS working theme for 2009-2011 – Global Action. I have already shared that the tagline for the theme is:
girls worldwide say “together we can change our world”
I have also shared that the purpose of this theme is to address the UN Millenium Development Goals.
The implementation of this process will be through Thinking Day, the MOs, a Global Action Badge and an Advocacy Toolkit.
Being the area international adviser, it is really nice to learn that WAGGGS has already decided on the themes for the next three Thinking Days. They are:
2009 – we can stop the spread of AIDS, malaria and other diseases
2010 – together we can end extreme poverty and hunger
2011 – we can save our planet
The subsequent presentation was about the WAGGGS/UPS partnership. UPS has been working with WAGGGS for several years now because the two share a vision to strengthen communities and build women leaders to partake in the global economy. It was shared that women were a good investment because they are at once the fastest to be abused and the most vulnerable, but also the fastest growing number of entrepreneurs.
The Global Signature Program that WAGGGS and UPS have collaborated on was first introduced in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Mexico and has now spread to other countries as well.
Next, WAGGGS unveiled the WAGGGS Leadership Development Programme (WLDP). This program is focused on young people and for elements namely (1) non-formal education, (2) inter-cultural work, (3) intergeneration work and (4) values based action.
Then in the evening after we attended an event hosted by South Africa, we (Canada) hosted a reception for New Zealand, the UK, Australia, and the USA.
The Olave Award
This award is given to groups for the work they do in communities. This year there were sixteen applications that underwent an evaluation process – there were four winners and nine received special recognition.
Luckily we had the chance to go through each of those that received some sort of recognition and I think it is valuable to share with you what kind of work our counterparts are doing in other parts of the world.
Briefly:
Special Recognition
A group in New Zealand united with mobility dogs and raised funds for this program.
A group in Japan worked with a welfare facility for people with disabilities.
A group in Mexico raised awareness against teen pregnancy through workshops in various areas. The goal was to help girls realize being a mother isn’t easy. WAGGGS commended them on linking to one of their key messages namely “girls world wide say: prevent teen pregnancy.”
A group in Korea worked with a center for the elderly and provided them with laundry services as well as companionship.
A group of young leaders in the Maldives visit a center with special needs an involved the residents in a series of activities.
A group of students in Thailand did a project where they grew pesticide free food on campus. They then used the food in their lunches at school and those involved in the project were able to take any surplus home with them or it was sold to raise funds to continue their work. (This is the kind of work I am very interested in doing – I am majoring in food security.)
A group in Brazil did a recycling project where they used old cooking oil to make soap. The soap would be picked up by another NGO, and the benefit to the area is that the cooking oil did not get into the local watershed and pollute the water supply.
A group in India promoted safety and hygiene awareness at a center and provided free medical treatment.
An overseas group in Saudi Arabia from the USA did a million steps to literacy project (if I understood correctly for Thailand.) They also worked on an environmental recycling project outside of their school.
The Winners
A group in the Philippines did a service project in a community where they helped develop systems to sell solid waste, grow food, use vermiculture (worms) and more. They planted an ornamental and herb garden through working with the department of agriculture. Though the project has terminated for the girl guides, 55 of the 188 houses have continued to improve their gardens and many other benefits resulted from the experience.
A group in Sri Lanka made text books available to students at a blind center. The resources to transform the texts into brail was not available, so the group recorded all the books on tape.
A group from Malaysia developed a waste management system with the goal of households have a greater sense of responsibility to the environment. It was an environmental cleanliness campaign.
Luckily we had the chance to go through each of those that received some sort of recognition and I think it is valuable to share with you what kind of work our counterparts are doing in other parts of the world.
Briefly:
Special Recognition
A group in New Zealand united with mobility dogs and raised funds for this program.
A group in Japan worked with a welfare facility for people with disabilities.
A group in Mexico raised awareness against teen pregnancy through workshops in various areas. The goal was to help girls realize being a mother isn’t easy. WAGGGS commended them on linking to one of their key messages namely “girls world wide say: prevent teen pregnancy.”
A group in Korea worked with a center for the elderly and provided them with laundry services as well as companionship.
A group of young leaders in the Maldives visit a center with special needs an involved the residents in a series of activities.
A group of students in Thailand did a project where they grew pesticide free food on campus. They then used the food in their lunches at school and those involved in the project were able to take any surplus home with them or it was sold to raise funds to continue their work. (This is the kind of work I am very interested in doing – I am majoring in food security.)
A group in Brazil did a recycling project where they used old cooking oil to make soap. The soap would be picked up by another NGO, and the benefit to the area is that the cooking oil did not get into the local watershed and pollute the water supply.
A group in India promoted safety and hygiene awareness at a center and provided free medical treatment.
An overseas group in Saudi Arabia from the USA did a million steps to literacy project (if I understood correctly for Thailand.) They also worked on an environmental recycling project outside of their school.
The Winners
A group in the Philippines did a service project in a community where they helped develop systems to sell solid waste, grow food, use vermiculture (worms) and more. They planted an ornamental and herb garden through working with the department of agriculture. Though the project has terminated for the girl guides, 55 of the 188 houses have continued to improve their gardens and many other benefits resulted from the experience.
A group in Sri Lanka made text books available to students at a blind center. The resources to transform the texts into brail was not available, so the group recorded all the books on tape.
A group from Malaysia developed a waste management system with the goal of households have a greater sense of responsibility to the environment. It was an environmental cleanliness campaign.
Keynote Address by Graca Machel
After lunch we were addressed by the keynote speaker for the conference Graca Machel who is also Nelson Mandela’s wife. After her address it was announced that she would receive the WAGGGS Citizenship Award for all her work. She was very touched by this and in her acceptance expressed how this award furthers her sense of debt to girls and women who are deprived to exercise their rights and serves as a reminder to her that she must pay back (or pay forward) the women who opened the world to her. She shared that receiving awards such as this gives us the responsibility to continue doing the work we do. I thought that was very well expressed.
I also had the opportunity to ask Mrs. Machel a question after her address. She talked about how opening up opportunities for young women to take control of their lives in an important duty of people from her generation. As a young woman, I wanted to know what she would encourage someone as myself to be the best way to seek help in this endeavor from older people.
She first offered her congratulations to WAGGGS for being an organization that does promote young women in this way because there are few places in society that this is done. Still she shared that the world is more complex today than when she was growing up, so understandably, she is unable to know how it is young people think and what our challenges are. Accordingly, she said she is not equipped to give guidance to young people until she understands them. For this reason, first steps for young people are to consider how you communicate with your parents and older people in your life such as through community groups or education. She shared too that seeking role models in your private and public life is an important developmental step. For the older generation, she emphasized the necessity of opening up the space for intergenerational interaction.
I also had the opportunity to ask Mrs. Machel a question after her address. She talked about how opening up opportunities for young women to take control of their lives in an important duty of people from her generation. As a young woman, I wanted to know what she would encourage someone as myself to be the best way to seek help in this endeavor from older people.
She first offered her congratulations to WAGGGS for being an organization that does promote young women in this way because there are few places in society that this is done. Still she shared that the world is more complex today than when she was growing up, so understandably, she is unable to know how it is young people think and what our challenges are. Accordingly, she said she is not equipped to give guidance to young people until she understands them. For this reason, first steps for young people are to consider how you communicate with your parents and older people in your life such as through community groups or education. She shared too that seeking role models in your private and public life is an important developmental step. For the older generation, she emphasized the necessity of opening up the space for intergenerational interaction.
WAGGGS Goals, Triennial Theme and Centenary Celebrations
The theme for the conference is: girls worldwide say “join in, reach out, change lives.” WAGGGS recognizes itself as a global organization and therefore has a global agenda – the challenge is remaining relevant in our changing world. To do this, three goals have been identified. They include:
Leadership Development ~ Capacity Building
Strong and Growing Member Organizations ~ Revitalizing the Movement
The Voice of Girls and Young Women ~ Building a Better World
Efforts that have been made in these three areas over the last triennium were shared with us.
More importantly though it was revealed that we are now moving on from Our Rights Our Responsibilities as our triennial theme to a Global Action Theme. In this it is intended that we focus on acting locally and thinking globally and doing our part to address the implementation of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals.
The centenary (the 100th anniversary of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout movement) is to be celebrated worldwide from 2010 to 2012. The theme for these celebrations is:
girls worldwide say: “100 years of changing lives”
The centenary celebration days will be on April 8th (the 100 day) of each of 2010, 2011 and 2012. Then Young Women’s World Forums will be held annually beginning in the UK in 2010, then continue to the World Centers in 2011, and terminate in the US in 2012. Elements include doing good deeds, celebrating/partying, the 100 theme and being internationally minded. In 2010 it is intended that the celebration be “planted” or introduced, then in 2011 “grown” or expanded and then in 2012 “shared” or passed on.
There is a call for two Centenary Ambassadors per country to represent their Member Organization and promote the centenary celebrations.
I am very excited about all of these events and am anxious to see what is planned and maybe have the opportunity to take part in one or more of the celebrations.
Leadership Development ~ Capacity Building
Strong and Growing Member Organizations ~ Revitalizing the Movement
The Voice of Girls and Young Women ~ Building a Better World
Efforts that have been made in these three areas over the last triennium were shared with us.
More importantly though it was revealed that we are now moving on from Our Rights Our Responsibilities as our triennial theme to a Global Action Theme. In this it is intended that we focus on acting locally and thinking globally and doing our part to address the implementation of the UN’s Millenium Development Goals.
The centenary (the 100th anniversary of the Girl Guide and Girl Scout movement) is to be celebrated worldwide from 2010 to 2012. The theme for these celebrations is:
girls worldwide say: “100 years of changing lives”
The centenary celebration days will be on April 8th (the 100 day) of each of 2010, 2011 and 2012. Then Young Women’s World Forums will be held annually beginning in the UK in 2010, then continue to the World Centers in 2011, and terminate in the US in 2012. Elements include doing good deeds, celebrating/partying, the 100 theme and being internationally minded. In 2010 it is intended that the celebration be “planted” or introduced, then in 2011 “grown” or expanded and then in 2012 “shared” or passed on.
There is a call for two Centenary Ambassadors per country to represent their Member Organization and promote the centenary celebrations.
I am very excited about all of these events and am anxious to see what is planned and maybe have the opportunity to take part in one or more of the celebrations.
July 7th - Day One of the World Conference
July 7th, 2008.
As I sat in the main conference hall with the 600 or so other participants, I was struck by how overwhelming an experience it is to see the diversity of peoples present while simultaneously realizing we have come together to share a common dream and work towards similar goals. Imagine a conference hall lined with delegate tables where the various country names are identified for each delegation. In my mind this was an obvious demonstration of global cooperation. Now imagine that all are wearing their respective Girl Guide or Girl Scout uniforms. To me this image represents the diversity that exists within our organization as well as the commitment we have towards our common goals.
The day was filled with welcomes, introductions, some business matters and celebration as well. We started off the morning getting an introduction to the World Board, special guests and announced regrets. We then proceeded to recite our respective Girl Guide promises in our respective tongues all at once.
This was followed by the triennial report on WAGGGS finances presented by the treasurer of the Board, Della Salway, an introduction to the conference and an unveiling of the centenary slogan and plans.
After a keynote address by Graca Machel (*see blog entry on her keynote address), we were introduced to the seven candidates for the World Board. They were each given three minutes to address the conference and promote their candidacy. The candidates are:
Gabriella Derosa – Argentina
Nadine El Achy – Lebanon
Lamprini (Teta) Karampeko – Greece
Wamuyu Mahinda – Kenya
Zahara Mavani – Pakistan
Eugenia Mbekeni – South Africa
Sapreet Saluga – USA
Christina L. Yuson – Phillipines
Camilla Lindquist - Sweden
Subsequently, we learned about the Olave Award which is given to recognize the world of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in communities.
An exhibition of WAGGGS initiatives opened in the afternoon, and in the evening we were delighted to partake in the official opening ceremonies of the World Conference. There was South African singing and dancing (which I always find so moving), an address by the Deputy President of South Africa and the highlight was the official inauguration of the newly approved Full Members (Burundi, Chad, Dominica, Hungary, Malawi and Russia) and Associate Members (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lithuania and Syria) to WAGGGS.
All in all it was a very successful first day.
As I sat in the main conference hall with the 600 or so other participants, I was struck by how overwhelming an experience it is to see the diversity of peoples present while simultaneously realizing we have come together to share a common dream and work towards similar goals. Imagine a conference hall lined with delegate tables where the various country names are identified for each delegation. In my mind this was an obvious demonstration of global cooperation. Now imagine that all are wearing their respective Girl Guide or Girl Scout uniforms. To me this image represents the diversity that exists within our organization as well as the commitment we have towards our common goals.
The day was filled with welcomes, introductions, some business matters and celebration as well. We started off the morning getting an introduction to the World Board, special guests and announced regrets. We then proceeded to recite our respective Girl Guide promises in our respective tongues all at once.
This was followed by the triennial report on WAGGGS finances presented by the treasurer of the Board, Della Salway, an introduction to the conference and an unveiling of the centenary slogan and plans.
After a keynote address by Graca Machel (*see blog entry on her keynote address), we were introduced to the seven candidates for the World Board. They were each given three minutes to address the conference and promote their candidacy. The candidates are:
Gabriella Derosa – Argentina
Nadine El Achy – Lebanon
Lamprini (Teta) Karampeko – Greece
Wamuyu Mahinda – Kenya
Zahara Mavani – Pakistan
Eugenia Mbekeni – South Africa
Sapreet Saluga – USA
Christina L. Yuson – Phillipines
Camilla Lindquist - Sweden
Subsequently, we learned about the Olave Award which is given to recognize the world of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in communities.
An exhibition of WAGGGS initiatives opened in the afternoon, and in the evening we were delighted to partake in the official opening ceremonies of the World Conference. There was South African singing and dancing (which I always find so moving), an address by the Deputy President of South Africa and the highlight was the official inauguration of the newly approved Full Members (Burundi, Chad, Dominica, Hungary, Malawi and Russia) and Associate Members (the Democratic Republic of Congo, Lithuania and Syria) to WAGGGS.
All in all it was a very successful first day.
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
July 6th - Exploring South Africa
July 6th, 2008.
The conference doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow, though some elements were initiated today. First, we had to register for the conference (and we each received an adorable pair of hand knit booties/socks from the South African Girl Guides in our conference bags) and second, we could attend an orientation in the afternoon to get better acquainted with the proceedings of the conference.
So….we had the morning free! This gave us a chance to see a little bit of the country we were going to be living in for the week. Deborah, Susie, Chris, Enidd and myself, with a pair of delegates from Brazil, took the opportunity to visit a township on the outskirts for Johannesburg called Soweto.
Soweto is an acronym for South Western Township. Our driver and tour guide shared with us that Soweto is one of the densest areas around the city – 3.5 million people live in an area of 100 kilometers squared. To give you another way of looking at it, this means that each square kilometer has about 350 people living in it.
The experience was very eye opening and humbling. For the most part, we don’t often get the chance to see how drastic the differences are between peoples’ living situations in this world first hand. For this reason, comparing the homes and amenities available to the various groups of residents in Soweto (there are 11 squatter camps/slums, various social housing projects provided by the government over the years as well as more well-to-do areas) to what I know in Canada was at times shocking.
For example, many homes still do not have electricity. For this reason, given that it is the winter (and has been quite cold these past couple of days) you will find many people standing outside of their homes against the sunny side of their homes because this is where they can absorb the most heat. Also, there is no refrigeration without electricity, so there are open meat markets/butchers in some of the neighbourhoods.
Next, the homes do not have running water either so people must share wells/water pumps located at select location within their areas to get their water. They get their water by carrying large jugs to transport what they need back to their household. Also, without running water, there are no toilets in the homes. For this reason, when you get a bird’s eye view of a community, you will immediately notice that the landscape is sparsely littered with either blue or green portable toilets. However, the number of portable toilets is not what we would consider proportional for the number of users. There are far less than we would think was adequate.
On this tour we also had the chance to visit the street where Nelson Mandela lived and Desmond Tutu currently lives, as well as learn about the injustice of the apartheid era at the Hector Pieterson Museum of Soweto.
For all you young ladies and girls, I think it is important to say a couple of words about Hector Pieterson and my experience at the museum. Hector was a 13-year old student who was shot by police in a student protest on June 16, 1976. This event initiated what I learned to be called the Soweto Uprising. Hector and his peers from one of the many secondary schools in Soweto were marching against the use of Afrikaans (a language imposed on them by the Afrikaaner government) in their school system. Afrikaans is derived from Dutch and was very different than the native spoken languages and the English that students were already expected to know. It also represented the societal minority that was oppressing the black people, who are the strong majority in South Africa.
What strikes me most was how recent the history of South Africa is. Apartheid was only abolished in 1994. For me, there is something that is much more dramatic about history that exists within our living memories than a history that occurred in an era to which we can no longer relate. Many of the girls in our organization were born in the 1990s. We are not too far away from the struggles the South African people had to overcome.
I would like to thank Susie for sharing her pictures with us so that you will be able to see a little of what we are experiencing in South Africa.
The conference doesn’t officially begin until tomorrow, though some elements were initiated today. First, we had to register for the conference (and we each received an adorable pair of hand knit booties/socks from the South African Girl Guides in our conference bags) and second, we could attend an orientation in the afternoon to get better acquainted with the proceedings of the conference.
So….we had the morning free! This gave us a chance to see a little bit of the country we were going to be living in for the week. Deborah, Susie, Chris, Enidd and myself, with a pair of delegates from Brazil, took the opportunity to visit a township on the outskirts for Johannesburg called Soweto.
Soweto is an acronym for South Western Township. Our driver and tour guide shared with us that Soweto is one of the densest areas around the city – 3.5 million people live in an area of 100 kilometers squared. To give you another way of looking at it, this means that each square kilometer has about 350 people living in it.
The experience was very eye opening and humbling. For the most part, we don’t often get the chance to see how drastic the differences are between peoples’ living situations in this world first hand. For this reason, comparing the homes and amenities available to the various groups of residents in Soweto (there are 11 squatter camps/slums, various social housing projects provided by the government over the years as well as more well-to-do areas) to what I know in Canada was at times shocking.
For example, many homes still do not have electricity. For this reason, given that it is the winter (and has been quite cold these past couple of days) you will find many people standing outside of their homes against the sunny side of their homes because this is where they can absorb the most heat. Also, there is no refrigeration without electricity, so there are open meat markets/butchers in some of the neighbourhoods.
Next, the homes do not have running water either so people must share wells/water pumps located at select location within their areas to get their water. They get their water by carrying large jugs to transport what they need back to their household. Also, without running water, there are no toilets in the homes. For this reason, when you get a bird’s eye view of a community, you will immediately notice that the landscape is sparsely littered with either blue or green portable toilets. However, the number of portable toilets is not what we would consider proportional for the number of users. There are far less than we would think was adequate.
On this tour we also had the chance to visit the street where Nelson Mandela lived and Desmond Tutu currently lives, as well as learn about the injustice of the apartheid era at the Hector Pieterson Museum of Soweto.
For all you young ladies and girls, I think it is important to say a couple of words about Hector Pieterson and my experience at the museum. Hector was a 13-year old student who was shot by police in a student protest on June 16, 1976. This event initiated what I learned to be called the Soweto Uprising. Hector and his peers from one of the many secondary schools in Soweto were marching against the use of Afrikaans (a language imposed on them by the Afrikaaner government) in their school system. Afrikaans is derived from Dutch and was very different than the native spoken languages and the English that students were already expected to know. It also represented the societal minority that was oppressing the black people, who are the strong majority in South Africa.
What strikes me most was how recent the history of South Africa is. Apartheid was only abolished in 1994. For me, there is something that is much more dramatic about history that exists within our living memories than a history that occurred in an era to which we can no longer relate. Many of the girls in our organization were born in the 1990s. We are not too far away from the struggles the South African people had to overcome.
I would like to thank Susie for sharing her pictures with us so that you will be able to see a little of what we are experiencing in South Africa.
Getting to South Africa
Hello Girl Guides of Canada - Guides du Canada,
I would first like to apologize to all of you who have been checking the blog regularly for being unable to post any news and updates until now. I know that many of you hope to learn and share in the adventure we have undertaken here at the World Conference in Johannesburg, and all I can offer is that we have had technical difficulties getting access to the internet.
That being said, a lot has happened since our departure from Canada.
Getting to South Africa was an undertaking. I left my home in Vancouver, BC on July 3rd at 8:15 pm and arrived in Johannesburg at 7:10 am on July 5th – it was a long journey. I flew from Vancouver to London (9.5 hrs), had a layover in London (5 hrs) and then flew from London to Johannesburg direct (11 hrs). I had the opportunity to meet up with three members from our delegation in London so that we would all arrive in South Africa together. They are Susie from Torbay, NL, Chris from Lethbridge, AB and Enidd from Calgary, AB.
During our travels, it was neat to spot women in various Girl Guide or Girl Scout uniforms in the airports and airplanes. This gave us the chance to approach certain individuals and immediately make connections with them about the bond we share through the sisterhood of guiding as well as know that there were a lot of people heading to the same event as we were.
Upon arrival, we were understandably very tired after our long journeys. Plus, I was at least trying to fend off the inevitable jet lag that comes with traveling across nine time zones. Something that is interesting to realize is that although Chris, Enidd, Susie, Myrtle, Deborah and myself represent Canada, we all come from such geographically distant places within Canada that our adjustments to the South African time have also been very different. For example, consider that from Vancouver the time change to Johannesburg is 9 hours, while from Newfoundland it is only 4.5 hours.
This realization really made me appreciate that the six women in our delegation have really been given the chance to represent a very expansive nation and its wonderful diversity of women.
I am very proud I am here doing this job on your behalf.
I would first like to apologize to all of you who have been checking the blog regularly for being unable to post any news and updates until now. I know that many of you hope to learn and share in the adventure we have undertaken here at the World Conference in Johannesburg, and all I can offer is that we have had technical difficulties getting access to the internet.
That being said, a lot has happened since our departure from Canada.
Getting to South Africa was an undertaking. I left my home in Vancouver, BC on July 3rd at 8:15 pm and arrived in Johannesburg at 7:10 am on July 5th – it was a long journey. I flew from Vancouver to London (9.5 hrs), had a layover in London (5 hrs) and then flew from London to Johannesburg direct (11 hrs). I had the opportunity to meet up with three members from our delegation in London so that we would all arrive in South Africa together. They are Susie from Torbay, NL, Chris from Lethbridge, AB and Enidd from Calgary, AB.
During our travels, it was neat to spot women in various Girl Guide or Girl Scout uniforms in the airports and airplanes. This gave us the chance to approach certain individuals and immediately make connections with them about the bond we share through the sisterhood of guiding as well as know that there were a lot of people heading to the same event as we were.
Upon arrival, we were understandably very tired after our long journeys. Plus, I was at least trying to fend off the inevitable jet lag that comes with traveling across nine time zones. Something that is interesting to realize is that although Chris, Enidd, Susie, Myrtle, Deborah and myself represent Canada, we all come from such geographically distant places within Canada that our adjustments to the South African time have also been very different. For example, consider that from Vancouver the time change to Johannesburg is 9 hours, while from Newfoundland it is only 4.5 hours.
This realization really made me appreciate that the six women in our delegation have really been given the chance to represent a very expansive nation and its wonderful diversity of women.
I am very proud I am here doing this job on your behalf.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
