Episode 18 - Searching for Girl Guides

Ever wonder what comes up when you Google about Girl Guides? Come gather around, and learn some fun new things.

Did you know that...

• Girl Guides were able to meet in a concentration camp during WWII?! Americans and Europeans living in China were interned in the Weihsien concentration camp by Japanese soldiers. A troop formed within and a log book was made (which survived the war), detailing their meetings during their imprisonment.

• You can join Girl Guides at any age, after 5 years old?! Even if you're an adult and don't feel comfortable in a leadership role, you can join Link (18-30) or Trefoil Guild (30+) and just hang out with other like minded women.

• Girls want to be empowered?! They told GGC that "they want to be able to take action in the areas that are meaningful to them. And they want support from female role models who are committed to positively impacting their lives.” Watch this video to learn more!

• In 2010, the Royal Mint in the UK made a 50p coin celebrating 100 years of Girl Guiding in the UK?! There were 7, 410, 090 made, but apparently there are some that are rarer due to “errors in manufacturing” or “mis-shapen” edges, irregularities. On seller on Ebay posted posted a coin like this for £825, due to "rare errors"!

• We have a song that promotes Girl Guides worldwide?! It's called Thunderation and it's really easy to learn and sing. Check out this video of members singing it outside of Our Chalet in Switzerland.

• Girl Guides of Canada has promotional videos and commercials from as early as 1988?! Check them out below!

AACK! It's Cathy! This week's She Was A Girl Guide You Know is the creator of the Cathy comic strip. A woman who was ahead of her time who created a comic that showed it.

Her cartoon, Cathy, had a 34 year run. It began when she drew funny pictures as a coping mechanism for life and work and would send them to family. Her mom eventually convinced her to send them to a publisher. She was surprised to receive a contract for her work and started writing Cathy immediately. It was syndicated to 66 newspapers almost right away!

The strips covered the "4 basic guilt groups": food, love, mom, and career and ran a social commentary. Guisewite explains:

"You were a liberated woman or you were a traditionalist. To even voice vulnerability if you were a feminist was wrong and to voice interest in liberation if you were a more traditional woman was wrong. So I believe the women I was speaking to in the early years of my strip were women like me, who were at that age in our 20s where we were kind of launched into adulthood with a foot in both worlds and no way to really express it.”

by Cathy Guisewite. A strip from November 24, 1990. Photo: Courtesy of the subject

And finally, in Campfire we sing the Moose Song and drink some juice.

You can listen to Episode 18 now, and catch up on previous episodes, either right here on our website or on your favourite podcast app (Spotify, Apple, Google, Anchor, etc.).

We would love to know what your opening and closings you use in your units. Leave a comment below, or send us a message on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. If you'd like to contribute to an episode of Guides' Own, send us your ideas for topics, program, campfire songs, etc. send a message to guidesown@gmail.com.

Wishing you a week of laughter and learning!

Marissa & Taryn