Next steps for this blog and Happy Volunteers' Week!

Greetings dear followers.  I hope you are doing well.  This blog has been read by many people across the world, both within and outside of WAGGGS.  If you have read the whole thing, I commend you, it's rather long! I hope that you found it insightful, interesting, informative and even perhaps challenging.  

I am delighted that this blog is now to be used by all delegates who attended the Fifth World Centre pilot in Rwanda, to keep a record of what is happening with their projects. You may be relieved to know that this means that some blogposts will now be written by other people!

Just whilst you're reading - it's Volunteers' Week this week in the UK.  When better to get involved with Girlguiding? Have a look here and find out more.  Girlguiding needs more Leaders.  Girlguiding provides members with opportunities which have positive impact on individuals.  It provides a safe, girl-only environment for members to have fun, be challenged, to learn, to grow and to follow the section's programme, whilst making new friends and enjoying experiences together.  Since being back from Rwanda, I've run a Brownie sleepover, taken my Guides to camp for the first time, planned a training for Young Leaders and their Leaders, written an article for WAGGGS magazine, been to the first meeting of the new local Young Leaders group, run a day to select 18-26 members for my Region's international service project next year, planned a comedy improvisation workshop for a County Day in June, and much more.  Do you see the variety of opportunities that are available within Guiding? We all have busy lives, but why not incorporate some volunteering? Come on - it's up to you.

Whether you are interested in helping out with a unit, doing some admin for Guiding locally, fundraising, getting stuck into a particular project etc., there are opportunities waiting for you.

Ok - I will leave it there, but do keep reading as blogposts by new authors will be appearing imminently.  Please continue to share the blog.  Thank you.  Helen BB  

Doha Dear

Well good morning, good afternoon, good evening,  goodnight - please choose the most appropriate greeting according to your timezone. 

I write to you from my mobile office, located at Doha International Airport, sitting at the very same table I was sitting at less than one week ago when this incredible adventure was just beginning.  But this time, I have purchased a large Coke, rather than a small. 

What a week it has been. 

I understand that you might be reeling from yesterday's post, where I attempted to explain the background to the genocide in Rwanda.  I'm sorry if it was hard to read, but I felt as though I needed to go through it as it helps to put the Guides du Rwanda into context.  I really encourage you to read more about the country because I only gave an overview yesterday.  What is so inspiring about the Guides du Rwanda is that it only gained full membership of WAGGGS in 1996, at the World Conference, which was just two years after the genocide. 

I chatted with some of the Rwandan Guides over lunch yesterday, about the way in which the country operates now.  One said, 'people are no longer Hutu or Tutsi, they are Rwandan; we cannot forget what happened during the genocide, but also Rwandan people cannot just leave Rwanda, so we have to find ways to work together and move forward'.

The country is now thriving within Africa, with no corruption, unlike some other places.  Kigali is the most clean and tidy African city I have ever been to.  Some parts of some African cities have a carpet of litter over them, but Kigali is not like that.  It is well-kept, clean, and has a lot of rubbish bins.  Part of the reason for the place looking so tidy is that carrier bags are not used here.  In fact, they are illegal in Rwanda, and there are big signs warning travellers of this at the airport.  Banning carrier bags seems a strange thing to do, and when I heard about this a few years ago, I remember thinking along the lines of - well, you control of that which you can control - and banning carrier bags seems such a pathetic and bizarre thing to do when you consider the ethnic tensions which pulverised this country less than twenty years ago.  But somehow, it seems to fit in with the pervading sense amongst the Rwandan people that yes, we have seen unthinkable atrocities, and acute loss of life, but we can move on from that, and become a strong and effective nation.  One of the Rwandan Guides told me that Kigali won an award for being the cleanest city in Africa.

We spent yesterday afternoon hanging out with the Rwandan Guides.  They took us into town where we had lunch, then wandered around a very relaxed craft market, where people stocked up on African souvenirs.  I have seen some of the same souvenirs in South Africa, Kenya, Ethiopia and Rwanda, and can't help wondering if there is a massive warehouse somewhere in between all those countries which exports its souvenirs out to those places.  Seriously - I have seen the very same set of napkin rings in each of those four countries, and those bracelets.  Strange. 

Last night, I headed out to dinner with some of the planning team and some participants who had stayed an extra day.  We enjoyed a delicious meal at Papyrus Restaurant.  If you know me, you may remember my love of rooftop restaurants and bars, or those with a balcony.  Papyrus had a spectacular view over Kigali and it was a perfect way to spend my last evening in Kigali, amongst new friends from Rwanda, Greece, Madagascar, Argentina, Sweden and Egypt. 

I headed to the airport this morning in the hotel courtesy bus, which nearly didn't come because the receptionist's watch stopped and the bus driver was at church, what with it being Sunday.  But it all worked out, and we took a quick detour to collect the driver's children from church, on the way to the airport.   TIA.

There were several of us on the same flight to Doha, via Entebbe (Uganda's international airport, where we stopped for an hour or so) - participants from Australia, Pakistan, Egypt, Sweden, Japan and the UK (me!) It was great hanging out with them at  the airport.  We had all made our way to Kigali independently, as individuals and strangers, but we left together, as friends.  We have now all gone our separate ways, but thanks to social media, we are all linked up already, and there will be a lot of conversations to come, about our projects, suppoting each other. 

I think I'm going to continue this blog periodically, to provide updates on our Stop The Violence project, once it is all approved and underway.  In the meantime, I thought it would be good to end with the poem I wrote and read out at the closing ceremony.

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog.  There have been over 1,000 pageviews altogether, and they can't all have been me, so thanks for reading.  I hope you have found it interesting.  If you have comments, or would like to contact me, please do so via the contact facility below.  Maybe you work for a relevant organisation, maybe you have been inspired, maybe you are thinking about organising some sort of international opportunity; I would be interested to know who has been following this.  If you are involved in WAGGGS, can I ask you to support the idea of a Fifth World Centre in Africa? Africa needs to have a World Centre as Guiding is so strong here, and it will open up opportunities to so many African Guides.  The idea of using existing premises and facilities is perfect for a Fifth World Centre, as this successful week has shown, so if you have any say or influence, a Fifth World Centre in Africa is the way forward, both for African Guiding and for international Guiding more broadly.

Being part of the Fifth World Centre pilot has been an extremely memorable experience, and has further inspired me to build partnerships with organisations, encourage people to apply for international opportunities, to maintain links with people and more.  It has also enabled me to be trained in the Stop The Violence curriculum, which I am going to take back and train in, and encourage Leaders to use the Girls in Action resource in their unitm particularly the AVA activities. 

Thank you to all those who made it possible for me to attend the Fifth World Centre project, especially Caroline, Carrie and Ros.  It has been life-changing, and I don't say that lightly. 

We gathered in Rwanda

We've learnt and we've shared,
We've grown, we've prepared
To go back to our organisations,
Representing twenty-eight nations
And encourage Stop The Violence converasations.

Rwanda has seen tragedy and genocide,
But there is so much strength in a Rwandan guide!
We are going to take so much from here -
Practical knowledge to address the fear that violence brings
Through campaigning, advocacy, amongst other things.

What a wonderful week we've had -
So much learning and I'm so glad
That I was able to participate -
The Fifth World Centre pilot was great.

We've laughed and we've cried,
We've received inspiration.
We even did some
Comedy improvisation!

The impact this week has had
Is hard to quantify,
So enormous thanks to all,
And so, for now, goodbye. 

Never Again. Never, Ever Again

Several of the Rwandan girls wear wristbands which say ‘Never Again’. 

How much do you actually know about the genocide? How much does the world as a whole actually understand about what happened here in 1994, when thousands of people were brutalised, tortured and murdered?

I think it’s important to explain it here in this blog, to give an overview which will put this visit into context, and highlight why there is such a need for the inspiring work of Guides du Rwanda. 

This morning, we visited the Kigali Genocide Memorial.  250,000 victims of the genocide are buried here.  That’s not a typo: two-hundred-and-fifty-thousand.  Can you even imagine a number like that? There are graves with whole families buried together in one grey shroud – they are 6 to 7 metres deep. 

The Rwandan Guides gave us all a red rose with a white ribbon attached, which we laid at the graves.  Several of them had larger bouquets, which they laid at the graves, with ‘We will never forget you’ written around them, some in English, some in Kinyarwanda, the local language.  Many of them have relatives buried here. 

Some participants seemed intent on photographing every aspect of the place.  I wasn’t comfortable with this and felt it was insensitive.  This is a place of mourning, a place of tragedy, a place of reflection.  But I suppose people have different ways of doing things.    

The centre is a training and history education facility, which explores the story behind the Rwandan genocide, as well as other genocides in history.  What is genocide? It is an intentional act of multiple murder, aimed at eliminating a particular group.  It is never spontaneous.   

I’m not going to write the entire history of the Rwandan situation here, as I could not possibly provide every single detail, and I would most probably miss bits, or get the chronology wrong.  Anyone visiting this part of Africa should visit the Memorial Centre and see it for themselves.  Watch ‘Hotel Rwanda’, and ‘Shake Hands with the Devil’, read books etc.  I will attempt a summary here, which I hope will show how the situation led to unthinkable tragedy. 

After Rwanda gained independence in 1962, the regime was characterised by the persecution and ethnic cleansing of the Tutsis.  (There were two main tribes – Hutu and Tutsi; today, people identify as ‘Rwandan’).  From 1959 – 1973, more than 700,000 Tutsis were exiled from Rwanda and sought refuge in neighbouring countries.  These refugees formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF), which invaded Rwanda in 1990, having been prevented from returning.  Tensions grew.  A war against the Tutsi minority ensued, and the RPF were intent on re-establishing equal rights, as they were considered by the Hutus to be an inferior race.  An intense campaign against the Tutsis began; word was spread that they could not be trusted.  Genocide was ‘rehearsed’ during nine separate episodes from 1990 – 1994.

This is the key part to understand, (see also Kathy’s comment from an earlier blog entry).  A UN colonel was informed that 1700 Interhamwe (youth militia) had been trained, and were registering all Tutsis in Kigali for an extermination plan, where they would kill 1000 every 20 minutes.   

The Security General of the UN at the time said “No reconnaissance or other action, including response to request for protection, should be taken by UNAMIR until clear guidance is received from HQ”. 

There were rumours in the intelligence community that something big was stirring in the country.

On 6^th April 1994, President Habyarimana (Rwanda) and the President of Burundi were flying into Kigali.  At 20:23, their plane was shot down.  At 21:15, the Rwandan genocide began.  Roadblocks were erected to find Tutsis; houses were searched; extremist media said that they were going to ‘eliminate the internal enemy’.  Radio was used to incite hatred, to instruct killings and even to justify them.   Tutsis were systematically murdered in horrific ways, to cause the maximum amount of humiliation, pain and suffering.  No Tutsi was exempt.  Children were murdered; the elderly were murdered.  People killed their own friends and neighbours.  The details I read today at the Kigali Memorial are too gruesome to relay here.  They left me speechless at the horrific reality of what humanity can do to itself. 

The centre has whole rooms full of photographs of adults, children and babies, who were murdered in cold blood.  There is also a room of human skulls. 

After the horrific events of 1994, the Security General of the UN said – ‘the international community failed Rwanda and that must leave us always with a sense of bitter regret.  I realised after the genocide that there was more I could and should have done to sound the alarm and rally support’.

Do you see why several of the Rwandan girls wear wristbands which say ‘Never Again’?

Never, ever again.

Yesterday, part deux

The day begun in the morning, with a short reflection led by one of the patrols.

The Fifth World Centre pilot has been made possible thanks to several sponsors and donors, including the Olave Bade Powell Society (OBPS).  Many participants, including Lyndsey (of toilet fame), received generous grants towards our flights for this trip from OBPS, and two of their members, Lynne and Betsy, both from Ohio, have been with us for most of the week.  Having received a grant from OBPS, we became 'OBPS Scholars' and were presented with OBPS pins to wear.  We  are all very grateful for this support as it enabled so many representatives to travel here, as did many other grants. 

We had had the opportunity to sign up for two of three sessions on useful aspects of project delivery - funding, media & lobbying.  I attended the funding workshop first.  Ann (without an 'e') Brooks, who is the Fund Development Director for WAGGGS, ran a great workshop on funding.  Our first task was to imagine we had a million dollars to spend on a project to 'Stop The Violence'.  In small groups, we were told to put together a proposal to highlight how we would use the money.  The proposal had to be innovative, creative and exciting.  After much deliberation, my group came up with a proposal around a media campaign, and workshops in schools.  We wrote our pitch into a multi-lingual rap... (find a French speaker if you can't understand it, the rhyme won't work if I translate it):

Voila ce qu’on va faire –

This is what we’re going to do.

Ecoutez-bien and we’ll tell you.

On va organiser une grande campagne

To stop the violence  by the man,

Or someone in the community  -

S’il vous plait give the money to me. 
 

Please join in – this project’s huge –

S’il vous plait, our project choose.

Lots of women are in need –

Notre projet needs your support indeed!
 

First we’ll go au studio

To make an advertisement as this we know –

That is the way to be seen

When you’re on the television screen.
 

Stop The Violence, we will say

Then we’ll visit every school in votre pays.

Tous les enfants peuvent apprendre

Sans discrimination dans le monde.
 

On va lui donner beaucoup de choses

Au sujet de violence so girls will choose

To stand up, say no and be able to go

About their lives, leaving in peace –

Violence against girls must cease!
 

By empowering girls who are our sisters

We’ll help them to stand up against their misters.

TV adverts, workshops in the school,

Violence Against Girls, is not cool.
 

On va utiliser la TV

En esperant que people will see

That girls should be protected  -

This must be expected.
 

Gender equality is the way to make the world a better place –

Girls should be able to have a safe space.

We didn't win the million pounds, but the pitch was good.  The group who won had honed in on one particular area - alcohol and violence, which was considered a good project because it was so specific, focussing on one issue, which has measurable outcomes.  

We learnt about how to make funding applications, including where to find donors and grant-giving bodies, and how to study to minutiae of grant-giving bodies before applying to them.  In days gone by, people seeking funding used to write one application and distribute it to multiple funders.  These days, philanthropy is much more sophisticated and it is critical that when applying for funding, you make certain sure that your project is in keeping with the aims and objectives of the grant-giving body.  This stuff applies to anyone who might be seeking funding for anything really.  Here are some tips:
- read the forms very carefully
- read the guidance on how to submit
- check out the dates (they won't consider if it e.g. a document is submitted late)
- consider who needs to sign off on it
- proofread, proofread, proofread.  You won't be taken seriously if there are clumsy mistakes. 
- look where you have been successful before - can you apply again / to a different funding stream?
- don't use jargon - nobody outside of your org will know what the acronyms mean, so don't use them (FYI)

If you're in Guiding, which you probably are if you're reading this, remember that you are part of a massive global body, as well as a local network, so applying for funding is not as difficult as it may sound as you are already an established organisation.  Just do it. 

Whatever is going on in the economy, there are billions of pounds out there - government, foundations, individuals, who care about particular issues and want to support projects.  So you know what you want to do - get out there and start seeking funding!

Just on that subject, I think sometimes people are reluctant to apply for funding.  But, why not just do it? Yes, it takes time, and energy, but imagine what can happen if your project gets funded? Great things! So, don't be afraid to do some googling, trawl through some grant-giving websites, and apply.  And I'm not just talking about Stop the Violence projects, you can apply for funding for any aspect of your volunteering or work, as long as your project is in line with the aims and obs of whoever is giving the money, it's worth it,  although it's worth checking where the funding is coming from - be sure it's not some sort of dodgy enterprise, and if you're unsure, check out its ethical record. 

After the funding workshop, I went to another.  This one was in 'the gym', which consists of, well, a battered exercise bike and not a lot else.  This was a media workshop, where we considered how to communicate internally and exterally, our audience and the actual message that we want to convey.   Communication methods vary considerably across the cultural contexts - some nations have ready access to social media for campaigning, like Twitter and Facebook; others use text messaging very readily; for others, billboards are the most effective way (I think I've met him).  In some MOs, there is a strong relationship with the media, like in the Cook Islands, who have ready access to TV and radio time to promote their projects. 

We considered how important it is to mention Guiding at every opportunity, especially when visiting other countries.  Here is the three-fold way to get media attention:
1 Frame the project; 2 Offer the solution; 3 Encourage the call to action. 

We were tasked with creating an advert for a Stop the Violence campaign.  Ours took... you've guessed it, the form of a poem:

We are many, we are one, our campaign has now begun.
Fight for your rights because violence blights.
Break the silence of domestic violence
We're in no doubt that we have to speak out.
Please join us, this problem's huge,
But we can make a difference if we choose.
Lots of girls worldwide are in need -
Our campaign needs your support indeed.
Gender equality will make the world a better place -
Girls should be able to have a safe space.
Together we can empower our sisters
And help them to stand up against their misters.

The afternoon session was spent writing our action plans for our project.  Once we managed to break the lock on the bathroom door to free Lyndsey from the loo (see yesterday's blog), we sat down and wrote an action plan, which we need to discuss with our International Commissioner (Caroline) and our MO, Girlguiding.  We have an idea of a topic to focus on, and a plan to include a peer education resource for in4mers and a training pack for Trainers, on this subject.  So I'll blog about that once we've discussed it all as we need to make sure that it fits into the wider picture.  So watch this space!

At 5pm, each delegation was given 2 minutes to present their project to the rest of the group.  Lyndsey and I did a quirky rap, which was well-received.  We heard from the other 27 delegations.  The projects ranged from ending FGM in Burkina Faso, to ending the sexualisation of children in Canada, to ending Gender Based Violence in Madagascar.   We have the support of WAGGGS to take our projects forward, and will all be keeping in touch to support each other and monitor our projects. 

This project does not end here.  This conference is part of a unique strategic plan to drive the international STV strategy forward.  Imagine the impact that 28 delegations can have in their MOs! The idea of this event was to further Guiding and Scouting internationally, to build connections, form partnerships, and we are being allocated a mentor to help us with our projects. 

In the evening, the 'short' closing ceremony was two and a half hours long! I wrote a poem and read it out, to summarise this spectacular event.  I'll upload it soon and put it here - am sitting blogging in the bar and it has just got very dark!

The programme officially ended with the closing ceremony, and there was a plethora of speeches of thanks to the amazing team who have worked so so very hard to make this an extremely memorable pilot project to be part of.  I am so grateful to those who sent me to this event - it has been epic, and I can't wait to get stuck into our project  when I get home. 

The evening ended with dancing, singing, eating, giving gifts and enjoying time together, before we all begin the long journey home.

It's not yesterday any more, it's today, and we have been to the Kigali Genocide Memorial which was harrowing and I have a lot to impart.  So I will leave it there for now, and say au revoir - but the next post will appear soon, so visit again soon.  Be prepared though, it will be graphic and uneasy reading, but necessary to understand the context of Guiding in Rwanda, so I would suggest you read it.  A bientot.   

Mind the Doors

In the middle of our action planning session today, Lyndsey, the other half of the UK delegation, popped back to our room to get her i-pad.  She hadn’t reappeared after nearly half an hour, and I was wondering where she had got to.  I went back to the room.  The bathroom door was locked.  Here is what ensued –

                “Are you ok Lyndsey?”

                “Yes.  But I’m stuck in the toilet.  The lock has broken.”

I dashed to reception to ask for help.  It is only now, having analysed the conversation with my fellow delegates this evening, that I understand the confusion which arose.  I used to be quite good at French, but now I am a bit rusty.  I can do the basics, but need to improve.  The hotel staff were slow in coming to Lyndsey’s rescue, but I realise now that this was because I said ‘my friend Lyndsey is hiding in the toilet”, rather than “my friend Lyndsey is stuck in the toilet”.  Once I had established that help was required, three men came, with batons of varying sizes, and proceeded to hack chunks of the bathroom door to facilitate Lyndsey’s eventual freedom.  It transpired that a fourth man, who had the key which would have opened the lock from the outside, had “gone”.  I’m not clear if he had gone off-site momentarily, left for the day, left his employment here some time ago, or died.  Either way, he wasn’t around.    

It is very late now and I have to sleep for a bit, but will continue this later, so I hope you don’t mind waiting a few more hours for the remainder of today's instalment…. Goodnight.

Half the Sky

I don't like it when people claim that they 'don't know where to start' when trying to explain something.  I always think - 'well, don't start then, wait until you know where'.  But right now, that's how I feel.  I want to write everything, every detail about our day in Rwanda today, but at the same time I don't want to write anything, because I am still processing everything which we have done today.  Bear with me through my ramblings, there is a lot to say. 

We awoke very early and bundled into waiting minibuses to transport us to Rukira, a community in the Eastern region of Rwanda, close to the Tanzanian border.  Rukira is an example of a successful partnership between a WAGGGS organisation and a community.  It is a community of 108 women and girls who have been affected by violence.  (I'm going to call it AGR from now on, which stands for Association du Guides Rwanda).  AGR has worked in partnership with the people of Rukira.  It was profoundly affected by the genocide in 1994; many women have been affected by violence, HIV is prevalent; many women have been raped; many have no right to inheritance.  

We arrived to a glorious display of singing and dancing by the local Guides.  We were ushered underneath huge marquees, with a huge group of Guides clad in their white Stop the Violence t-shirts, which are the same as our black Stop the Violence t-shirts.  The entire community joined with us, forming a huge circle around a centre stage.  We heard two extremely moving testimonies, one from a woman and one from a girl, both of whom had been affected by violence.  I am not going to write the details of their testimonies, as that is not appropriate.  But I will tell you this - they both spoke extremely powerfully about how their lives had been blighted by acute violence.  The strength which these women displayed, as they talked about their experiences, was incredible.  They have been through things which you cannot imagine.  They are able to stand up and give their testimonies because of the way in which AGR has worked with them to empower them, enabling them to move on from their tragic experiences.  They both spoke of how grateful they are to AGR for providing them with counselling, teaching them about family law and giving them hope for the future.  

A series of lengthy speeches followed, as is characteristic of African village events.  The representative of the District, who is in charge of social affairs, spoke, as did the Governor of the Province.  They spoke of the how the AGR have helped to bring skills to the women, trained them in life skills.  Women are very vulnerable in this society, but AGR have enabled them to be empowered, to stand-up, to  say  no, and to have more self respect. 

There was a moving presentation by the local Guides in Rukira; they presented the Guiding light to WAGGGS, by presenting Gabriela, the Chair of the World Board, with a candle, representing the light of WAGGGS which they have received and are passing it on to the rest of the world.  Gabriela then made a beautiful response, which was very apt. She said that she had felt pain in her heart and tears in her eyes, listening to the testimonies.  Where Guides find injustice, pain and hate, it is our duty to provide commitment, love and mission.  Knowledge, education and intentions is not enough - we need to learn and grow. 

Here in Rwanda, we have seen real, tangible work; a positive partnership between an MO and a community, which has resulted in great success.  This is a great model for us and other MOs to follow.  We need to be outward-focussed in our thinking, to look at where the need is, then to partner with organisations which are working in the areas where our principles guide us. 

I wonder what you are thinking reading this.  We all get so bogged down in our issues, but the testimonies I have heard tonight put things into a whole new perspective.  Everyone has things going on, in their lives, work, family etc., but compare that to the stories we have heard today, and things feel  different.  Think about it.  Watch Hotel Rwanda.  Watch 'Shake Hands with the Devil'.  I have seen both of these - the latter is from a very different perspective, and explores the UN commander who was there during the genocide, going back to Rwanda years later; it is very powerful.  There is also a book you should read, but to my shame, I've forgotten the title, but I will post it once I remember; this book highlights one woman's story through the genocide and testifies to the strength of her faith.  And if you don't have a faith, or don't identify with a particular faith, you might be dubious.  Trust me - read the book, once I've remembered the title.  It doesn't matter where you are on the whole faith spectrum, it will challenge you.  It's short - you can read it in a few days, maybe three commutes.

Anyway, back to today.  Today was a huge community experience, and there is likely to be renewed interest in joining AGR, considering the huge numbers of people who attended the event earlier.

The feedback session afterwards was interesting.

On our return, we started a session on campaigning and action planning, which involved looking at posters for various campaigns and deciding how effective we thought they were.  In groups, we planned our own advocacy campaign, using a 3-pronged approach: educate; take action; advocate.  Our campaign was on 'dating violence'.  This is not a cheerful subject.  Nothing to do with 'violence against girls' is cheerful.  Fact.  

My patrol, which is called 'Queen of the Night' (which is a flower, not a prostitute), was responsible for writing the WAGGGS blog today, which you can find here, if you are interested.  Each day, a patrol is given different responsibilities, be it running reflections in the morning, conducting evaluations in the evening, writing the WAGGGS blog or making a video clip, which will be available sometime soon. 

So - what have we learnt?

Partnerships are the way forward.  WAGGGS MOs need to link up with orgs working in particular areas of interest, to form effective partnerships and effect change.  I said this at the beginning, but I'll say it again - WAGGGS is a hugely powerful body, with 10 million members, across 145 countries.  If you are female, you may well be one of those 10 million, and if you're not, well, if I'm honest, you're missing out.  You know where I am.

Goodnight all. 

p.s. Women hold up half the sky. 

The Rabbit Dichotomy

I know what you're thinking - why on earth has she called it that? Bear with me. 

We spent part of the day today at the headquarters of the Guides du Rwanda, learning about the fantastic work which they do in the community.  We had a tour of their beautiful centre, which is a community building which includes an IT suite, a room for HIV testing, counselling rooms; they also give out contraceptives.  The building is open to the whole community, up to the age of 25.  What a great example of Guiding meeting the needs of the local community.  This is something which Guides du Rwanda are well-known for, building partnerships within the community and really meeting the needs which are there.  Tomorrow we are travelling all the way to the Tanzanian border to visit Rukira, for a 'community immersion' experience, where we will learn about how Guides du Rwanda have partnered with this community.  More on that story later.

We were greeted by a spectacular display of singing from local Brownies and Guides, all dressed so smartly, in their formal attire.  As we processed in, a Brownie took us each by the hand, whilst we paraded between a guard of honour from the Guides.  It was beautiful.  There was a chorus of singing from more local members, who had been given time off school to welcome us. We had a wonderful afternoon having a tour of the premises, meeting with the Guides, buying souvenirs and chatting with the Guides.  I spent some time with the teenage Guides, as one of them had drawn a cartoon strip of a man who is a perpetrator of violence against his wife, his children, and his girlfriend.  The whole things was written in Kinyarwanda, the local language, but the girl who designed it talked me through the whole thing, in English and French.  I have been speaking a lot of French here, as Rwanda was francophone until quite recently, and there are a lot of Leaders here from francophone countries - Cote d'Ivoire, Congo-Brazzaville, DRC, Burkina Faso, Burundi.  My French is ok, but I'm not very good at translating, as Betty from DRC informed me earlier when she pointed at a Rwandan guide and said 'elle est mieux', which means 'she is better'.  Fair point.

There was a huge rainstorm at the Rwanda Guide HQ recently, which wrecked the hall.  Thanks to various bodies, including Africa Region, the Fifth World Centre pilot and... the Trefoil Guild of... the UK, it is being redone.  It is a huge hall, equipped to host all sorts of community events.  This is true Guiding in the community.

So, the rabbit.  There were a series of stalls manned by local Guides and Scouts.  One of them had a sign which said 'lapin'.  This means 'rabbit'.  There were two very small cardboard boxes on the table, both of which contained a white rabbit.  I started chatting to the Guide Leaders, about the rabbit, such as the name, the age etc.  I asked if I could cuddle it, as I haven't cuddled a rabbit for some time.  The Leader nodded, then she scooped up the rabbit.  By the ears.  I couldn't quite believe it.  I insisted she put it back in the box as there was no way I was taking it by the ears.  This made me think.  Can you imagine picking up a rabbit at home by the ears? I can't.  Maybe you can.  I chatted to them and it transpired that the rabbit was set to become a meal in the fairly near future.  Hence not giving it a name.  Someone suggested that one could be called 'lunch' and the other 'dinner'.  But this made me think a lot about culture.  Here, if you need to pick up a rabbit, you pick it up by the ears.  At home, if you picked up a rabbit by the ears, you would probably be arrested.  Where am I going with this? There are acute differences within the cultures which we represent, even here at this event.  Transpose this onto the wider context, and it brings up all sorts of issues around cultural acceptance and understanding.  Think beyond the rabbit.  

Ok, moving back, we spent some time today working through the STV toolkit, as well as thinking of the issues associated with resourcing our project, thinking about the volunteers and staff available, funding, getting the message out, social media, like Twitter and Facebook.  I didn't used to be on Facebook, then I realised I didn't have any friends.  And Twitter - well, I came late to that, but now realise it is extremely useful for soundbites, links, and rhyming quips.  Social media is extremely useful for campaigning, and for raising awareness.

We had a free night tonight, so I ran a comedy improvisation workshop for anyone who wanted to attend.  In the last month, I have run comedy improvisation workshops at two World Centres of Guiding - Our Cabana and the Fifth World Centre.  If you want some light relief from this blog, you could read my Mexico blog.  Comedy impro is so much fun, and can be used in so many situations.  Sarah from Canada kindly translated my workshop into French, which added to the entertainment as often impro doesn't make much sense in English, so translating it is an interesting concept.  We had great fun playing a series of impro games, with new friends from Pakistan, Rwanda, Ireland, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Greece, DRC, Burundi, UK, Uganda, Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso.  Good  times.

Ok I'll leave it there for tonight - we have to be up early to leave at 7am to travel to Rukira, so I will say farewell. Do write comments, if the mood takes you, and share this with your friends.  

This is an incredible project to be part of.  We are making history by piloting the Fifth World Centre of Guiding.   Very exciting stuff.  Goodnight.