As they celebrate 100 years as the original girl-focused organization, Girl Guides Canada/Guides du Canada (GGC) remains dedicated to opening the doors for girls and young women to be confident and resourceful and able to make a difference in the world. Over the past century, their fundamentals haven’t changed, as girls still join to have fun, and seek challenges, life skills and adventure. But the opportunities are now as vast as what girls can accomplish in society. Life skills have evolved from cooking and sewing to career planning and money management, with limitless possibilities. Serious issues like homelessness, bullying and being good cybercitizens are talked about openly and faced head on.

Guiding originally started in Great Britain in 1909 after a large number of girls showed up to a boy’s Scouting rally demanding entry. The movement spread to Canada in 1910 and by 1912, there were units in every province. Over the years the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts has extended its global reach to more than 10 million members in 144 countries, becoming the largest organization for girls and women in the world.

Girls aged 5 to 17 in Sparks, Brownies, Guides, Pathfinders and Rangers get a hands-on learning atmosphere where members don’t just read about life, they live it through fun and engaging shared opportunities and lasting friendships. It’s practical, respectful, community-focused,
challenging and fun. Essentially, it’s leadership training for life.

As PR Advisor for GGC in Manitoba, Janet De Sousa has made guiding an important part of her life. She was a girl member, currently runs a Pathfinder group and holds a number of volunteer positions at the unit, area and provincial
levels. “I think it gives them a place to go,” De Sousa says of the value of Guiding. “To be
encouraged to make choices for themselves,
a safe haven so to speak with it still being an
all-female organization.”

Tripti Prasad is a 17-year-old Ranger and has been involved with guiding for nine years. “I love being a Guide 'cause, basically, it rocks,” she says. She says she started out very shy but has gained confidence in herself. “So many girls deal with insecurities and often do things just to fit in. Because of the values that guiding taught me, my amazing leaders, and my unit acting as a support group, I have been able to stay true to myself and become the person whom I want to become. And, I can light a fire, roast a marshmallow to perfection and pitch a tent in 10 minutes flat!”

“Guiding has challenged me to develop leadership and management skills,” says Emily Barker, also a Ranger and in her fifth year with GGC. “These are both fundamental skills that I have applied in many other aspects of my life such as organizing events and working in the community. I have also learned about many different things, from making soap and candles to health care conditions in China.”

Throughout its history, the strong tradition of guiding has stayed the same: striving to prepare girls to meet the challenges of life head on. Whether it was teaching girls to bandage wounds during World War I or girls today working on the anti-bullying challenge, guiding continually changes with the times to reflect what matters to girls today.

“The basics haven’t really changed but the way that we go about constructing them has,” says De Sousa. “Girls have so many choices and it’s hard sometimes to attract them for that reason. We’ve definitely tried to set up the program and gear it towards what kids are looking for today.”

GGC still offers "old school programming" like backpacking, cooking and sewing but has expanded the choices in response to the demand. As the conversations turn to relevant issues, so do the programs offered. Guiding now addresses issues like rape prevention, anti-bullying/cyber bullying, HIV/AIDS, body image and healthy relationships. Girls are given opportunities to volunteer through programs like Habitat for Humanity, learn new aspects of in science and technology, and develop advocacy skills and training in public speaking, debating and career selection.

Kirsten Ramsay has also been involved in guiding since she was a girl and has continued her guiding "career" as a volunteer adult member. She has held many positions including unit guider, and she currently volunteers as a trainer and sits on the Provincial PR and Western Hemisphere committees to stay on top of current issues.

“There has been a strong push for teaching our young girls and women to speak on issues that affect them,” says Ramsay of GGC’s increased role in advocating for women and children’s rights. The organization is currently working on the UN millennium development goals, set out to eradicate poverty. “I think that’s something people don’t know about guiding, they think about the selling cookies and the crafts and games and fun. But we have young women who are really influencing people at places like the UN on women’s issues. It’s really quite exciting.”

From tackling global challenges to working directly at the community level, GGC has made a commitment to making a difference in the world. It allows girls the opportunity to take action on the issues they care about from an early age.

When Ramsay worked with her previous Brownie unit, they were educated on homelessness and poverty, making Merry Christmas signs for local shelters like the Siloam Mission. “Girls here are getting an opportunity to make a difference on issues that they see happening around them,” she says..“ They’re starting to think about how they can help, in their own little seven-year-old way. It’s planting the seed that they don’t need to be scared of these problems, that they can do little things and make a big difference.”
Staying relevant is an ongoing challenge for an organization that has been around for 100 years. The most significant way GGC is doing this is to engage the girls directly on their thoughts, needs and the issues affecting them and let them have a say. In the last five years, all of the guiding program streams have been realigned, most with feedback from participants. The addition of a fully featured website, e-learning and technology-based programming were made to keep up with the times.

“Instead of me planning a whole program,” says Ramsay of the GGC’s youth engagement strategy, “I’m sitting down with them and saying what are you interested in and what do you want to learn? If they do want to learn to sew, we can do that. But if they’re not interested in that, and want to do something on Internet exploration or Internet safety, then we can do that as well.”

As GGC enters into its second century, it continues to work to stand out and be relevant. “I think any organization that can empower young people to be the best they can, can withstand time,” says Ramsay. “We’re developing these young people to be future responsible citizens for the world. So giving them opportunities to develop self-esteem and stand up for what they believe in (not just what us as adults think they should believe in), has given us a niche in the world. In Girl Guides we develop the whole person, and I think that’s pretty unique to our
movement.”

Many high profile Winnipeg women have included involvement in the Girl Guides of Canada on their list of achievements. We talked to CTV news anchor Susan Tymofichuk about her experiences in guiding.

While a lot of teenage girls end their guiding careers in their teen years, Susan says for her that’s when things got really good. As a 14-year-old, Susan traveled to Mexico with a group of Manitoba Girl Guides, and at age 17 was selected to take part in a trip to Switzerland with girls from across Canada. “Talk about your eye opening experiences,” she says, “building houses in central Mexico, and climbing the Swiss Alps—things I got to see and do only because I was in guiding.”

Susan says that the friendships she made
in guiding have stood the test of time. “I truly value the friendships I made—and I remain in touch with many of these women to this day.”

Family involvement is an added benefit. “It was also nice that my mom was involved with Guiding—she was the "Cookie Lady" for our area and for years our garage was cookie central during the selling season,” Susan says.

From cookies and camping to badges and bake sales, the Brownie and Girl Guide experience left a lasting impression for many. Do you have a Girl Guide memory you’d like to share?

Photo from CTV Winnipeg.