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Guides foster skills that build confidence and help girls become strong women

Guides foster skills that build confidence and help girls become strong women

 

Two social work students, Mirjam Agapitus and Maloney Aoxamus entertained the Girls Guides of the central region this past Saturday at an impromptu empowerment day held in Windhoek.

“Although not formerly acknowledged, 21 October 2017 was considered a day of empowerment for the Girls Guides Association of Namibia (GGAN)” said the Guides Commissioner for the central region, Ms Monica Iipinge.

The day started with an “Empower Her” girl’s conference under the guidance of the two students. They encourages the Guides to consider arts and crafts as a means to develop their artistic skills.

This session was followed by a practical cooking class where the Guide were taught the finer skills of making a delectable Lasagna. Ms Iipinge said that for some of the girls this was the very first time they had the opportunity to use a stove for more than just cooking a simple meal.

“Not only does cooking develop a child’s motor skills, it is also a creative outlet which offers a chance for children to be praised and encouraged for their hard work,” added Ms Iipinge.

After all the empowerment activities, it was time to chose new Guides leaders. After carefull consideration, Gretta Gaspar became the new Chief Commissioner, Maija Shingenge her Deputy, Lya Mthoko was chosen the new International Commissioner and Ms Ipinge as the new Regional Commissioner for the central region.

Girl Guides stalwart, Mrs Aase Geel encourages the Guides to strive for only the best, saying “Young women need female role models to inspire success. When it comes to inspiring young people about what they can achieve for themselves, honesty about ones triumphs and failures is invariably the best policy.”

Mrs Geel stays involved with the Girl Guides Association of Namibia as the Finance Chairperson.

The Girl Guides of Namibia has a long and proud tradition, tracing their origins back to 1923. The Guides conduct non-formal educational programmes to develop the girls’ skills, give them confidence and make them strong women. The Guides are active in the central, northern and western regions.

The Guides enjoy the support of the Ministry of Arts, Education and Culture who views their activities as complementary to the ministry’s formal curricula.


The Guides can be visited at http://www.girlguidesnamibia.org/


 

 

About The Author

Mandisa Rasmeni

Mandisa Rasmeni has worked as reporter at the Economist for the past five years, first on the entertainment beat but now focussing more on community, social and health reporting. She is a born writer and she believes education is the greatest equalizer. She received her degree in Journalism at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) in June 2021. . She is the epitome of perseverance, having started as the newspaper's receptionist in 2013.