Our very own Beth Brown was given the amazing opportunity to join her peers at the WAGGGS Academy in Lithuania. Hear below how she got on!
Held in Vilnius, Lithuania, I feel very lucky to have been able to spend fours days at the 2022 SG Academy taking part in a variety of workshops hosted by WAGGGS [World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts] and WOSM [World Organisation of the Scout Movement].
We were able to sign up to the workshops that we felt were most relevant to us and our role, and this meant that the 7 of us from Girlguiding UK each had our own experience, but as a collective could bring back as much as possible with us. I particularly enjoyed the 'implementing STEM into youth programmes' and 'Membership Growth', and found it really interesting to hear from our European counterparts how they manage their organisations, and what we could learn from them.
At the International Evening we experienced a taste of the culture of the other countries being represented. The Belgians had some very delicious waffles, the Ukranian sweets surprised me, but the Swedish fish paste wasn't for me! To top the night off, we had some traditional dancing, first from the Albanians and the Greeks, with everyone else joining in!
I am extremely grateful to Girlguiding SWE for providing me with this opportunity. There are activities and games that I will bring back to my current units and any others in the future, to share the culture of others. But in the long run, I truly believe (hope) that this experience will make me a better leader for our young members and I would like to be able to share what was learnt across our region.
Next year, the Academy will be in Germany, if you get the chance I would 10/10 recommend it!
It sounds like a fantastic opportunity for self-development, meeting others, and experiencing other cultures. Well done Beth, and thank you so much for representing us. We are very proud!
If you would like to follow Beth on Social Media, she has an Instagram page dedicated to her Guiding adventures: @fluffyowlguides
