Day Two

Getting to know one another better!

Reflections

Every morning, a Member Organisation would conduct Reflections. It is a time for all to reflect and the Member Organisation would lead us by preparing various presentations. (This is something like Guides' Own, where we sit down and reflect before/ after the day's events.) Girl Guides Association of Thailand started Day 2 with their reflections, themed "Unity in Diversity", and shared with us how we are part of a diverse but united organisation. This is totally true and it's really nice that although the different MOs and Guides have different and diverse cultures and ways of doing things, we are all connected by WAGGGS and more importantly, the Guiding Spirit :)

Summit Sessions

Ms Mengfei Wu, Ms Grace Tam, and Ms Gloria Echaluce facilitated Session 4, which explored the resources and opportunities provided by WAGGGS. Issues covered include the Global Action Themes (GATs) which is in line with the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), centenary celebrations (check out our GGS website for information on this exciting event coming up this year!), advocacy, membership and retention, and WAGGGS’ six areas of concern that would help develop quality and quantity of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting.

Frankly speaking, we initially did not have a clue about these issues, but after a few Summit sessions, we gained a better understanding of what these issues are and what the Summit was about. The Summit was a time for us to review our programmes and structure etc., to find problems and to rectify them. It's to make Girl Guiding more fun for you and me and to expand our membership!
Thereafter, breakout sessions were conducted and adult leaders headed off to various sessions to discuss how members can make use of the resourses provided by WAGGGS. They also talked about the challenges their member organization faces and recommended solutions.

On the other hand, the girls participated in a separate session to brainstorm ways in which we could help to improve the Guiding programme.

This was followed by the next session where the girls presented their discussions to the adult leaders. It sounds scary, right? We were rather nervous at first and didn't really dare to express our views, but turns out that the adult leaders were totally cool with us being straightforward and frank about the problems. This turned out to be an interesting session as the girls had an opportunity to express their thoughts, while the adult leaders asked questions or contributed to what was said. They really valued our opinions! From here, we learnt that to rectify the problems faced, it's essential to get opinions first hand from the Guides themselves, to know how they feel, in order to propose new and effective solutions.

Excursion to Sonya’s Gardens

This definitely has to be one of the highlights of the whole trip! We had a break from the sessions and got to travel in a Jeepney - the most common form of transportation in the Philippines! :D It was great feeling the wind in your hair wihle traveling on the Jeepney. During the ride there, we made friends with 2 Girls - Anum and Simona from Pakistan :D

The Gardens were beautiful and the flowers were really lovely. There were many great photo opportunities too! Dinner after that was simply delicious. We ate till our stomachs threatened to burst (the dessert was kind of sinful but heavenly :D).

Movie Screening

An optional activity was held in the evening during which a movie of the history of Guiding was screened. There were even packets of popcorn given out and an ice-cream cart that sold cheese and macapuno (a coconut variety) flavoured ice-cream. The ambience was really fantastic that night. The girls also met up to teach on another a few action songs that we intended to use as energizers the next day. We had a great time and this also served as a bonding session :)