GOLD Guyana 2012

Hello and welcome to our blog! We are a group of 6 Girlguiding UK members aged between 19 and 27, who have been selected to take part in a GOLD project this summer.
GOLD stands for Guiding Overseas Linked with Development, a project run by Girlguiding UK which gives young women aged between 18 and 30 the chance to assist in community action projects in other countries. As well as making a positive impact on the community, we also hope to grow the Guiding Association in the country so that they can participate more fully in WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts). There are 8 projects this year, including our destination Guyana.
We're all very excited for our GOLD journey to begin, and we hope you enjoy reading about how we are preparing and what we are doing when we get there!

Friday 27 July 2012

Please, recycle de bottles, please, recycle de tin

Hello everyone!
It now almost a week since we met, and all is still rosy in the Team Guyana camp!
We have been very busy and are all grateful for an evening off planning and a weekend break to look forward to! Yesterday was our second environment day, and was focussed on landfill. One of the things the girls were tasked to do was create a TV advert about recycling and landfill and they were amazing. They are all really creative so love doing anything like that, especially musical things! It was really cute as well, because two of the girls came up and gave us hugs at the end which added a bit of happiness to the day! (Also, on the evaluation sheets one had written 'The best thing is when I got picked in the pineapple group with Jess!' which gave one such a nice feeling to read!) Lunch was really good again, and we got baked goods at the end of the day too. They were so appreciated as we decided to venture for the first time to the market - what an experience! Luckily we had Erin with us to guide us and take care of us as it was so busy! We went first to get money, which is quite amusing as the exchange rate is £3 to $1000 Guyana so your bank balance looks fantastic! We then went to the Guyana store which sells just about everything, including some really strange postcards that look like they've been there forever! The minibus rides to and from were also an experience - both hair-raising and squishy! (Turns out you can fit 4 people on the seat!)
Today has been our final environment day and all about junk and reusing stuff. Heather and Nikki took an early morning visit to the market to post postcards and get money and food, and met Laura, Hannah and I there. The girls were brilliant today and we had so much fun with them. Each leader took a group and we got only a little competitive! They made lots of clothes and jewellery throughout the day - including cranes, that well known origami fashion item - and culminated at the end of the day in a fashion show modelling two outfits. The creations were very inventive and you could see the girls really enjoyed it. Hannah and I also enjoyed making a pleated skirt that looked really good when on! We have had a nicely chilled evening which was just what was required as it has been HOT today, hotter than usual, and we are all quite tired from our week's dramas and exertions. Some time has also been spent nursing mozzie bites and blisters! Nikki and Hannah are cooking tea, as we have all moved upstairs as the sun goes in like clockwork at 6pm here. Previously we were sitting out in the garden, chatting to our lovely neighbour, Maria, who shared some fruit called Grenadilla with us. It tastes similar to passionfruit, and you only eat the seeds, but its really big and shaped like a squash! It was really good and so nice to chat with Maria. Hopefully we will be having a meal with her and Mrs. P at some point next week.

That's all for now, I'm sure there'll be lots soon as this weekend is our exploration of Georgetown and a trip to Buddy's!
Lots of GOLD love,

Team Guyana 2012

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