LaSER trip to East Africa 2007

Are you interested in an international experience with Girlguiding?

Here’s just one example of the opportunities available through LaSERiO.

Sixteen very excited young women, aged 14 to 18, and four leaders met at LaSERiO in November 2006. Their aim was to travel to East Africa (Kenya and Tanzania to be precise) in the Summer of 2007 to take part in a service project, make contact with the local Guides, to see some of the countries and to enjoy themselves!

Before the trip there were several meetings, some of them overnight or for the weekend, so the group could get to know each other and make plans. Everyone had a say; in fact one of the service projects arose from a contact introduced by one of the young women and the other arose from one of the adults.

The group’s first stop was Guide Headquarters in Nairobi, where they met and shared skills with the young women from the Kenya Girl Guide Association Training Centres in Kibera and Hawkers slum areas. These Centres are open to young women from the slum areas and have been running for a number of years. As funds are limited, only a small number of young women can be accepted each year, so competition is fierce. The training provided, in areas such as catering, IT and craft skills, equips the young women to become independent adults. The group spent the week with these young women, learning from them how to garden Kenyan-style, how to make briquettes from soil and charcoal, how to crochet strips of discarded carrier bags into useful items such as bags and hats, how to make wool rugs and how to cook chapattis. They also helped them to make bracelets to meet an order that would provide additional funds for the Centres.

After a week in Nairobi, the group moved on to Heshima Arts and Cultural Centre, in Kisumu (www.heshima.org.uk), which has been set up with the aim of providing the local children with some of the advantages children in the UK would experience, even basic things like having an opportunity to play. Here they ran four children’s clubs for local children, many of whom had lost either one or both parents from Aids. As well as running arts and crafts workshops, storytelling and singing sessions and supervising free play for these children, the group cooked and served lunch to the children.

Heshima offers team-building activities for older children, something the group had to try!

Whilst in Kisumu the group met up with Rangers from the local secondary school. They showed the group around the town and introduced them to the art of haggling for items in the local market; in return, the group introduced them to ten-pin bowling and swimming.

The last week of the trip was spent on safari in Tanzania, visiting the Serengeti, the Ngorongoro Crater and the Amani Home for Street Children in Moshi (www.amanikids.org).

Everyone agreed that this was one of the very best Guiding experiences. As well as the opportunity to mix with the local people ‘as a visitor, not a tourist’, each member of the group felt privileged that they had been able to make a small difference to someone else’s life. The friendships made among the group members will last a lifetime!

All we can do is encourage you to seek similar opportunities for yourself, either through LaSERiO or, maybe, through the centenary celebrations. We know you won’t regret it!

Rafiki 2007