Guyana Girl Guide Association celebrates 100 years
The Guyana Girl Guide Association (GGGA) on Saturday celebrated its 100th anniversary of its continuous work of empowering girls and young women in the country.
Since the forming of the GGGA in 1924, it has since established girl scouts’ groups in Regions Two, Three, Four, and just recently in Region Nine.
The long-standing association is entrenched based on hard work and resilient older women who have carved out programmes and policies to meet the needs of the young women who are recruited each year.
While delivering the keynote address, Mrs Mignon Bowen-Phillips, wife of Prime Minister Brigadier (Ret’d) Mark Phillips stressed the importance that the association plays in molding Guyanese females.
“The Guyana Girl Guide Association is a crucial platform for nurturing mentorship and leadership among young girls in Guyana. In today’s expanding landscape of opportunities, this organisation offers a supportive environment for girls to develop essential life skills and self-confidence,” Bowen-Phillips asserted.
The woman activist encouraged females across the country to use their voices for what they believe so that the country can continue to be an uplifting place for all types of women despite their circumstances.
Meanwhile, President of the GGGA Patricia Gray said that the association has achieved many of its goals, including the funding of resources for girls in education. She said too it has partnered with many agencies to facilitate training and study tours to benefit them.
“We will continue to mold our young women to be their best selves. To be assertive, to be independent, to be career-oriented, to be leaders, and to express love and care for themselves and others,” Gray stated.
One of the main challenges that the association is facing is getting to reach girls from far-stretched areas like the hinterland regions. As such, the body aims to ramp up its awareness of the benefits of the GGGA so that it can meet and target the vulnerable areas that needs female empowerment.
GGGA’s centennial anniversary is being celebrated under the theme ‘100th years of supporting girls and young women through love, empowerment, education and recreation.’