Girls World Forum 2012

Rather than making a long post detailing each of my volunteer endeavors I will just kind of recap as things happen. That being said I have a few things to catch up on so let's start with the one most people want to read about: The Girls World Forum (GWF).

Last year I attended the 2011 Young Women's World Forum (YWWF) at Our Chalet in Adelboden, Switzerland. I was one of two delegates from GSUSA. The other, Janelle (who ended up becoming my friend once we realized how much we had in common), went to Sangam in Pune, India. As a result we were both asked to help out as facilitators at the GWF in Chicago this year. Being the crazy person that I am, I also volunteered to chaperone two teenage girls from my council, Girl Scouts Heart of New Jersey (GSHNJ).

Me, McKenna, and Michelle at the Brookfield Zoo

Several people have already asked what it was like being a chaperone AND a facilitator, so let's get that out of the way first. I loved both of my roles, and given the choice I don't know that I could pick one over the other. Being able to say that I helped facilitate at a world conference for 500 girls and young women is a pretty amazing acheivement (I am only 25 after all). However, watching two girls experience a forum of this magnitutde was amazing. One of my girls, McKenna (14), wasn't sure what her focus would be after the Forum. Each girl needs to work on a "Take Action" project. It wasn't until our trip to the Brookfield Zoo that McKenna was struck by the effects of using non-sustainable palm oil that everything clicked into place for her. Seeing her come up with an idea, develop a project, and knowing how driven she is to accomplish her goal was nothing short of exceptional. The one thing I will say is that to do BOTH chaperone and facilitate was not my wisest idea. Basically every time the chaperones had a break I had facilitator duties and vice versa. Even on days when I thought I would have a break, sessions would run long and I would have to just go on to the next thing. I spent a week living on very little sleep and lots of coffee. That being said - I wouldn't change it for the world (call me a glutton for punishment!).

Ok, so on to Day 1 - July 12th:

If you have never attended a large scale Girl Scout Opening Ceremony than you need to add it to your personal bucket list. Before the ceremony even started we were all dancing and singing along to the music that was being pumped through the ballroom. Most of the people in the room had only met less than 24 hours prior, but already they were bonded together.

Speaking of bonded, this is me and Lindsay (Girl Scouts of Historic Gerorgia)

 in our uniforms at the Opening Ceremony.

During the ceremony we heard from an inspiring young woman who had battled her own demons and come out on top as the founder and CEO of her own company - All before she was 19 years old. We were also fortunate to hear from GSUSA CEO Anna Maria Chavez (it's always a delight to hear her speak) and GSUSA National President Connie Lindsey.

Anna Maria Chavez, GSUSA CEO

After listening to the speakers and participating in a group sing-a-long (headed up by Melinda Carroll of course, but more on her later in the day) I felt more motivated and empowered than I ever had before. Every Opening Ceremony is so full of hope and drive and female power that I can't help to leave feeling like I'm up on Cloud Nine. The entire ballroom was buzzing and the girls and chaperones were excited to start their first sessions!

The first session of the day for the chaperones (because remember, I facilitated the chaperone program. If you're looking for info on the girl program you've reached the wrong blog) was an overview of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Each chaperone was able to learn about the 3 or 4 MDGs that they knew the least about. The second session was "Honoring the Centenary" where we discussed the 2010 and 2011 YWWFs. Then the chaperones were instructed to visit different tables for a cafe style discussion. Topics included "2010/2011 YWWF," "World Centres," etc.

After lunch we had our last session of the day. It was the only time that the representatives from GSUSA were seperated from other Member Organizations. We discussed the Global Action Theme (GAT) and the Global Action Award (GAA). More information on these can be found here http://www.wagggsworld.org/en/take_action/gat and here http://www.girlscouts.org/who_we_are/global/global_action_award/. We also discussed what Global Girl Scouting looked like at the different age levels. For example - a Daisy might learn about the four World Centres, a Junior might begin to plan a trip/save cookie money, and a Senior/Ambassador might travel to a World Centre or as a part of a destination.

That night we took a double decker bus tour of Chicago. For the first half my girls and I were on the bottom, but then some people were nice enough to let some of the girls go up top so they could get a better view. It was definitely an interesting way to see the town...

However, the coolest part of the night was when we met for our facilitator's meeting and we were surprised by Melinda Carroll! She was asked to join us because one of the girl program facilitators is a superfan. There's nothing like a close personal sing-a-long; singing songs with the woman who wrote them!

*More from GWF Days 2-5 coming soon*