THE JANUARY 2004 PC EXPRESS

Happy New Year everyone!

Our little toy train has now chugged its way through the holiday season and climbed up and over several mountaintops of discovery and learning. The Event Extraordinaire was a truly inspiring time and it charged everyone’s batteries to full and overflowing. The excitement and energy at the conference was so high, that we could feel it in the air.

I hope that positive enthusiasm combined with carloads of exciting program ideas are being shared in your Districts and Units. If you haven’t heard much about it, please invite a participant from your Area to share with you. The kind of excitement we all felt at the conference can create a sort of buzz that is almost like magic. For maximum benefit, it must be shared with others.

I experienced another sort of magic in November, when I was invited to join 2 bus loads of girls and Guiders from Southern Vancouver Island, to watch Disney on Ice. The show was a lot of fun, but the best part was experiencing the sense of wonder and magic through the eyes of the children. The girls were so thrilled with the occasion and taking the trip together heightened the joy of it.

Spending time together, doing special activities, sharing family rituals, joys and sorrows, are to me, the best kind of gifts. I have always struggled with how to teach children the importance of giving, without so much receiving of material things. The gifts of time that you give to one another and that you give to the girls in your Unit and the Guiders on your Council are the most precious of gifts. Increasing numbers of children have too many “things” and not enough quality time with role models and mentors. They need caring adults who will talk to them, take the time to do activities with them and help them to learn how to look beyond themselves.

We need to help our girls retain the magic of caring and sharing and help them to learn the joy of helping others. When we teach them about Community Service, they will learn best by the example that you demonstrate. They will know if you are helping because you care or just because it is a part of the Program. The real magic comes when we can truly give of ourselves to help others, without expecting anything in return.

In Canada, girls join Girl Guides and take train trips mainly for fun and a new adventure. In many parts of the world, trains are the fastest, easiest and cheapest method of transportation. In other places, they may be the only means of connecting that community to the rest of the world. Girl Guides, just like train tracks connect and interconnect all over the world. In many countries, Guiding is so much more than just a new adventure. It is a source of hope and the opportunity to learn new skills to improve people’s lives.

As we approach World Thinking Day, we often talk to the girls about other cultures around the world; but what about those who are a part of our own communities? Are we teaching acceptance, tolerance and inclusion or only differences between people?

One of the National and Provincial objectives for 2004 is to improve the understanding and teaching of diversity, including every aspect that entails; encompassing socio-economic, religious, cultural, special needs, etc.

At the National Forum we reaffirmed that we would like all girls and women to have the opportunity to join Girl Guides. That means no matter what they look like, what they believe or whether they can afford it. No girl or woman should be turned away for any of these reasons. Please treat all issues of differences with courtesy and discretion and help the girls to learn about respect and consideration. If we invite others to join us, they need to feel welcome and included, not ostracized or embarrassed.

As our Guiding train rumbles along around the world, picking up a variety of people as it goes, we have the opportunity to learn from one another and help each other be the best that we can be.

This World Thinking Day, I challenge you all to try a new adventure, include someone from another culture in your meeting, learn about visiting a different country, support another cultures’ special event, find out about issues facing girls in other countries, do something totally outside your comfort zone. Open your minds and expand the girls’ horizons so that all girls and women feel included and welcomed in the Units in your community. Then something truly magical will happen, as Guiding grows and becomes strong again and so will you and your community.