Breathtaking musical evening by the differently abled

After each and every item on the agenda, they returned to the dressing room amidst loud cheers from the audience. Their innocent smiles and adoring expressions stole the hearts of the spectators. They were simple and humble and were encouraged by every little appreciation. They enjoyed every minute on the stage.

They smiled and guided each other while the performance is going on. They wanted to show their best in front of those kind men and women.

The differently abled branch of the Sri Lanka Girl Guides’ Association organized the magical event ‘you are very special’, a concert by the differently abled girl guides and little friends.

These little blooming buds enlightened the Grand Ballroom of Galle Face Hotel on April 5, 2011.

The concert aimed at collecting funds for the International Indoor camp for differently abled Girl Guides and little friends, which is scheduled to be held in August this year.

Out of the 256 Girl Guides and little friends attached to this branch, many performed at this concert.

Before the concert began, I met some of the performers back stage. Nadeeka Jeewanthi Samarakoon, an excited young girl with autism was very keen to share her views.

“I’m an assistant dancing teacher at Ladies College,” she said. She is presently a student of dancing teacher Miranda Hemalatha.

Her first dancing teacher had been Daya Nellampitiya. “I was a guide when I was at Chitra Lane and it helped me a lot to shape my future,” she explained.

Dhanangi Fernando, another guide with autism, is a Grade 10 student of Lyceum College. paththare dannayi yanne. Kiyanna meyata oya gana (Tell her something about you, for the newspaper),” said Nadeeka to her highly excited friend Dhanangi, who refused to talk.

The guides and little friends from Nuffield School for the Hearing impaired and sight impaired, Kaithady Jaffna travelled all night to participate at this concert.

There were six little friends, three guides, and four teachers in the team. All the children who participated were hearing-impaired. However, they performed a dance item by following signals of their teachers.

The tragedy is that though we tapped our feet to the music, they did not hear anything. “It was a hard task to practice these little ones, still they enjoyed a lot,” said the teacher-in-charge Malini Prince Devarathnam.

The event started when the western band of the differently abled guides welcomed the chairperson of the Sunera Foundation, Sunethra Bandaranaike to the ballroom. After a little presentation, the items began.

The first item a, Pooja Dance by the Guides of the Supem Uyana Home, Gonapinuwala, signalled the audience of a breathtaking evening. Well-practised performers never paused to think about the next step. The beautiful song by the Guides of the Ratmalana Blind School was one of the special ones in the programme line up. The teacher who played the organ was also visually impaired. However, the voices and the music were superb.

The evening passed by in a flash. These differently abled Guides and little friends do not need sympathy, they need understanding.

 

Bak Maha Ulela for orphans: Anula, Lyceum Girl Guides to the fore

Love and protection of a aparent is necessary for a child. Once a baby is born, he/she becomes the sensor of the family.

The Girl Guide Captains of Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda, Lyceum International and Senior Guides of Anula Vidyalaya with their Principal Kalyani Gunasekera at the Orphanage.

Then the infant gets enough attention and care to grow as a healthy youngster. However, some children miss the warmth of parents from childhood due to unforeseen circumstances, they end up being orphans.
However with the help of some kind-hearted people, some of them get to live in orphanages, and only God knows what happens to the others.
There are many orphanages for children around the country. Most of them are well maintained and function for the betterment of children, with the help of the public.
The Girls' Orphanage in Delkanda is also one such home dedicated specially for orphaned girls.
There are about 150 girls from the ages 2-17 at this place. Unlike boys, girls need a lot of awareness and protection.
Girls need parental care most and in order to fulfil their desires, the senior Girl Guides of Anula Vidyalaya, Nugegoda organised a Bak Maha Ulela for them on April 10, at the Orphanage. Principal of Anula Vidyalaya, Kalyani Gunasekara, Senior Guide Captain Dr. Vajira Wanigasekara, two Guide Captains of the school B.S. Tennakoon and Avanthi Thalewela and Guide Captain of Lyceum International Mala Wijeypala were also present on the occasion.
It was a day filled with fun and frolic for the girls. There were many games organised for them; hurdle race, paper dance, fancy dress parade, and locating the hidden guest were some of them.
Tug-o-War between senior guides and the girls was also an event, which raised the level of adrenalin of both the teams.
Going on par with a traditional 'Avurudu Ulela,' items such as breaking the pot and 'keeping an eye' on the blind elephant were also included in the agenda.
During the events, girls from Anula Vidyalaya and children from the orphanage entertained spectators by performing magnificent items.
Just before the conclusion, there were a few items of dance and music which were entertaining and helped everyone to relax. The orphan girls enjoyed themselves very much as it was a day different from their normal schedule.

A new era in Girl Guiding 'Rally 2011' will be held to celebrate the spirit of guiding :

Girl Guiding is one of the best forms of non-formal education a girl can receive while schooling. Knowing the value of the movement, many parents encourage their daughters to be a part of the Girl Guides Association.

Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association (SLGGA) was inaugurated in Sri Lanka in 1917. Since then the movement has been empowering girls and young women to face the many challenges of life, for over 90 years. Now the Association has more than 30,000 members in all the nine provinces of the country.

The SLGGA is divided into three main categories according to the ages of the members: Little Friends aged 7-11 years, Guides aged 11-16 years and Senior Guides aged 16-23 years.

The Girl Guides Association is hoping to start a completely new era of guiding in Sri Lanka from this year and "April will be a significant month for all the members of the SLGGA and for those who are interested in joining the Movement in the future. An extravagant event called The 'Rally 2011', will be organised by the Movement, to launch the new uniforms, new programmes and a new image for the association," says Director Communications, Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association, Dilmini Peiris.

The last time they had an image change was in 1960s. To give a local touch to the image an elephant was included.

New Sri Lanka badges for all the ranks in the three branches were also introduced in that year. Almost 50 years later , there will be another major change in the system. "We need to show the world that our Movement is changing with the world," she added.

Rally 2011 will celebrate the spirit of guiding. The members from all over the country will meet their fellow guides at the Galle Face Green in April at this much awaited Guiding event. Stay tuned with the Junior Observer for more information about this rally.

History of Girl Guiding

Lord Robert Baden-Powell popularly known as BP founded the Girl Guide and Boy Scout. He first worked with boys in South Africa during the Boer War. He had set up his headquarters in Mafeking, but soon this came under siege. Then, BP recruited a few boys as messengers during this difficult time. They divided themselves into groups or rather patrols and each of these patrol had a leader, known as a patrol leader. Since that scheme was a success, on his way to England BP decided that the boys in England, should also be taught similar skills such as camping, teamwork, and leadership, pioneering, stalking and orienteering to prepare them when they were older.Through his book "Scouting for Boys," he explained how he wants to popularise scouting among boys. The book was soon a hit among boys all over England, and they started forming their own scout companies.

In 1909, the first scout jamboree was held in London. Seeing some of the girls who attended this rally, BP realized the need for forming something similar for the girls as well. As a result, the Girl Guide Movement was inaugurated in 1910 in the UK. BP's sister Agnes Baden Powell was the first president of the Girl Guides movement.

Girl Guiding was first introduced in Sri Lanka in 1917, by Mrs. Jenny Greene and Miss. Jenny Calverley. The first Guide Company was started at the Girls' High School, Kandy with the support of its principal at that time, Miss. Sansom. At the end of that particular year, the guiding oath was altered, so that the non-Christians too can join the movement In 1918, the Ceylon Branch of the Girl Guides Association was formed and Mrs. R. W. Byrde was appointed as Sri Lanka's first Chief Commissioner.

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World Thinking Day - 2011

Girl Guides and Girl Scouts all over the world, celebrate World Thinking Day on 22 February every year. On this day Guides and Scouts think about the meaning of guiding and scouting as well as the guides and the scouts around the world. Many troops use this day as a day to learn about other countries and their cultures.


World Thinking Day was first initiated at the fourth Girl Guides' International Conference held at the Edith Macy Conference Centre, USA in 1926. All those who attended, decided that there should be a special day when girl guides and scouts think of each other and exchange greetings to thank and appreciate their service as guides and scouts. All the attendees unanimously proposed February 22 as the World Thinking day; since it was the birthday of Lord Baden Powell, founder of the Boy Scout Movement, and also his wife Olave, who served as the World Chief Guide.
The World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) choose a theme for every World Thinking Day and proposed related activities. Last year the theme was "Together we can end extreme poverty and hunger." For the year 2011, their theme is "Gender equality and empowering women."

The main objective is to raise awareness of the situation of girls and women around the world and empower them to take a stand against inequality. This is the third of the eight areas of focus made by 189 world leaders at the United Nations Millennium Summit in 2000. It is also a part of the WAGGGS Global Action theme, which encourages girls to make a commitment to change the world around them. This year activities have been divided into five main categories. They are group warm-up activities, developing self-esteem and self-confidence, learning together to change the world, living and working for a fairer world, and girls and young women as decision makers. Apart from this there is also, a special speak out category to help girls learn how to advocate on issues that concern them.

The celebration of World Thinking Day in Sri Lanka is going to be a little different from the world celebrations. "We are trying to incorporate non-Guides to our World Thinking Day celebrations this time. Then we can show them what actually the Girl Guides do," says the Director Communications, Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association, Dilmini Peiris. The strength of the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association is around 30 000. All these Guides will engage in activities such as organizing health camps and giving alms for elderly homes to celebrate the Thinking Day. "However, to keep up with the Association's objective every guide will bring one of her cousins or a friend, a non-guide, to show the activities of the Girl Guides movement", she added.