Ghana Girl Guide camp

28-30 March 2011

CAMPING WITH GHANA GIRL GUIDES

Welcome

Janet, Abigail & me

QM

Abigail

I waste a couple of hours awaiting the magic hour of 2.30pm when I’ll try and retrieve my passport. I hail a taxi and not only does he know where the embassy is, he also knows where the Guide Training Centre is AND he agrees to my price. I get my passport straight back with a 30 day Nigerian visa – THANK YOU HEATHER – and soon enough I am deposited in paradise – on the edge of Achimota Forest. Abigail shows me to a lovely room in a block that I’ll be sharing with the Deputy Chief Commissioner. There is a cool breeze blowing and trees all around us here. I get the grand tour and it all looks remarkably familiar with indoor bunk room accommodation for the girls who are arriving soon enough with their mattresses in tow! And soon enough there are the pleas of “please aunty” as girls try to wheedle their way into dorms with their friends. Abigail holds out, even in the face of one parent arguing her daughter’s case for her. She was amazing – If I had even an ounce of her tact I would be a lucky woman! As nearly 40 girls unpack, dinner is cooked for us (as it is all weekend), consumed, then girls head back to their dorms for the regulatory nonstop chatter. Then comes more complaints from girls who only sleep with air conditioning – they can’t possibly sleep with only a fan. And one room complains that their fan is too slow… I do sympathise with them, especially after my experience @ the Salvos the last few nights.  But there you go; there are princesses in Ghana too! Saturday’s program includes rising at 5am to go jogging – what a pity I missed it. Duty chores are completed before breakfast which is tea or milo made up in bulk in eskies, porridge (not very popular), white bread and a fried frankfurt (very popular). Then we gather outside in ‘the Summer House’ to divide into Patrols, name the patrols and make name badges and Patrol posters. The girls vote their PL and 2nder, then it’s time for the ‘training’ – it is a bit like chalk and talk but the girls seem very used to it and respond accordingly. We get the history of Guiding and WAGGGS, interspersed with songs to liven the proceedings up. Lunch is followed by more talk and chalk and then it’s my turn to ‘run a session’. I have been asked twice about what I would like to talk to the girls about – perhaps Girls’ rights? I stick with what I know and get them to mime out instances of volunteering that they have just heard about. Goes ok, so we follow with Guide Laws and a human knot to lead into their next activity, yes you guessed it, knotting. After dinner we head to an outside hall (which has no walls) for the talent contest, of which I was one of 3 judges – this had to be seen to be believed. The dancing would have done any lap dancer proud and the catwalk sashaying was amazing! It was all a little unclear if we were judging an individual ‘Miss Guide’ or a patrol. After much deliberation, patrols were asked to volunteer 2 girls who would have to dance, sing, model and make a meaningful statement about Guiding. Then came the Guiding quiz, and after elimination of 3 patrols we then had 2 patrols equal on points for third, so more questions were thought up trying to eliminate one of them. I kept asking couldn’t we have an equal third, but apparently not. By the end of the evening it was after 11pm and they wanted to award a gift to the youngest Guide on camp, but she was asleep. Not a lot of talking that night after lights out! Sunday saw the usual chores – ever seen children sweeping dirt? – and then packing. After breakfast came Guides Own which was a very Christian affair with much singing, clapping and devout prayer throughout even to the point of girls being chosen and told what they would pray for. They closed camp then and lunch was served.  Gradually girls were picked up and it was surprising that no parents thanked the leaders for their time etc and there were a lot of girls who were not picked up by parents but by drivers, taxis etc. Before leaving Janet kindly gave me a ½ gross of safety pins (left over from last weekend’s activity) to make more flag pins! Because I love the peace here so much I asked to stay an extra night so it’s me and the warden for a lovely quiet evening before heading back to town.

Oops, did anyone read rule 1??

FACT: These Girl Guides exemplified a lot of what could be easily changed here in West Africa. They dumped anything that they no longer had a use for, meaning litter was left everywhere. They would get up from a table and leave water sachets about on the table, on the ground etc. Once I watched an adult leader empty a sachet and then dispose of it on the ground. I really struggled with this, especially as there were plenty of bins about. And on cleaning up, the dorms were really dirty with food scraps and litter all over the floors….. Not a pretty sight but akin to what I see every day here.

Breakfast, come & get it!!