CENTENARY CHALLENGE

Have you been working on the Centenary Challenge? Lots of Guides are having fun working on this badge. You have until 31 December, 2010 to earn the base badge and the coloured wedges. To tell us about the challenges that you have completed, please EMAIL US!

For those of you who may like an extra challenge, have you thought about completing the Centenary Gold Challenge? As part of this challenge you will need to complete three months of ongoing service outside of Guiding. If you would like to work on this challenge you will need to start as soon as possible so that you complete the required service by the deadline of 31 December. There are also other challenges to complete so have a look in the Centenary Challenge book and talk to your Leader.

Guides who complete both the Centenary Challenge and the Centenary Gold Challenge by December 31 will be eligible to participate in a special Guiding event. The events are currently being organised, so if you would like to work towards this please let your Leader know.

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Mieke van Rooyen and Hannah Powlasty

The following speech was written by Mieke van Rooyen for this year's ANZAC Day ceremony.

We are here today to remember those who have served our country in times of conflict and crisis, who showed courage, strength and determination. We also remember those who served on the home front, who ran the businesses, worked the farms, crafted items for the soldiers and learnt many skills they would not have needed otherwise.

We represent an organisation of girls and women who played a major part in keeping things in order at home. Girl Guides were there in 1915 and they still remain strong today. This year, 2010, Guides the world over are celebrating the Centenary of Guiding: 100 years of changing lives.

One of the major fundamentals of the Girl Guide Organisation has always been providing service to the community. Guides were very active during the war years. World War One did not hinder the growth of the organisation. In fact it had the opposite effect with new groups forming in five more countries.

A lot of people would agree that World War One was when Girl Guides were first taken seriously. Before that time, many people were disgusted that girls would wish to take part in such "boyish" activities. As we all know, it was a time very different to today. However, girls quickly proved how useful and versatile they could be. The circumstances gave girls an opportunity to display their new skills, because in many cases, there WAS nobody else to take charge.

Girls in Australia were keen to contribute to the war effort and decided upon a project, collecting binder twine from paddocks across Australia to be woven into veils to protect the horses' eyes in Egypt. Girls grew vegetables and learnt to cook them, and collected money and food rations to donate.

You may have heard of the "Guide from Dunkirk" - a lifeboat provided by the Girl Guides of the Commonwealth to evacuate soldiers from beaches. The boat was fresh from production and had not yet even been named when it was called to duty.

In World War Two, Guides once again leapt in to assist their country. Girls in Australia collected books and tin foil and helped out in any way they could. Guides in Tasmania held "Fruit Picking Camps" to assist the many farmers who were without workers. They would camp on a farm and pick everyday for a week or so, and girls came from all over the state - sometimes as many as 80.

In 1943, a 12 year old English Guide wrote to the British Girl Guide Headquarters, saying "Can't we do something now, so that when the war ends we will be able to send help to our sister Guides who will want to rebuild their country?"

This request resulted in the formation of the GIS (Guides in Service), a group of women from around the world preparing for not the end of the war, but the start of peace. They assisted many thousands of people to rebuild their lives and homes once the war was over.

While no one wishes to glorify war, the positives that rose out of negative circumstances are an amazing example of human strength. Women banded together within the Girl Guides and many other groups such as the Red Cross, The Australian Women's Land Army and the Ambulance Services to contribute what they could. And what a difference it made.

To this day, Girl Guides holds a special place for ANZAC day. Marches over Australia are well attended by Guides of all ages, and time is spent each year helping girls to understand what the 25th of April really means to Australians. We are very often amazed by the tales that we hear. They seem like something out of a story. And they ARE stories, but they are true, and that is exactly why we are here today. We are proud to be a part of an organisation with such a rich history. And that is why we are happy to wear our uniform, and to march alongside other members of our community, together to remember such important times in our history.

Lest We Forget.

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Please send in any images you have of your Unit having fun during our Centenary year. We'd love to share the images with Guides around the country as we celebrate 100 years of changing lives. Send your images to us HERE!

Werribee Adventure Guides getting ready to take part in their local community parade, the Weerama Festival. They were joined by Flat Stacie who is visiting from a Girl Scout Troop 203 in Ohio, USA.


Guides celebrate as part of Thinking Day.


Guides from Adelaide taking part in the Australia Day Parade.




Guides taking part in Thinking Day activities in South Australia.

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The following poem/song was written by Nicola Hailey, aged 14, from Mulgrave Girl Guides as part of her BP. Congratulations Nicola - and thanks for sharing!