By Renice Bostic From The Barbados Advocate

THE Girl Guides Association of Barbados is kicking off their 95th Anniversary celebrations this weekend with the 2013 International Camp. Approximately one hundred guides and rangers from Barbados, The Cayman Islands, British Virgin Islands, Grenada, St. Vincent and The Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago will spend a week in Barbados.

“The reason behind the International Camp is to give us a launch pad to the 100th anniversary celebrations in a few years. We decided to do this because the camping side of guiding I can say, and this is outdoor camping is to some aspect becoming a dying art. Persons are now going into buildings but we find that when we travel internationally with the guides and ranger age, then we do have the camping fields in swamps and forests. So it would give them an opportunity to see how camping really works,” said Chief Commissioner Mrs. Ruth Parris.

The theme for the camp as well as the anniversary is “Save the Girls, Save the World” as they stand up against human trafficking and all forms of violence against girls. It will be based at the Guides’ Brancker’s site in Rockfield St. Lucy, and will include a number of community outreach activities.

“The other event will be in Speightstown on the Friday (July 12th) and within Guiding we are at a stage where you will see some of us wearing a button saying “Stop the Violence” and the other focus that we have is the trafficking of persons. So whilst we are in Speightstown in the morning session we will be making our placards and raising the awareness and afterwards we will have a march through Speightstown,” she said.

The Guides will be doing something special at the National Independence Day Parade this year as their anniversary is also November 30th, Barbados’ Independence Day. Other activities for the year of celebrations will also include a memorial lecture and involvement in Kiddies Kadooment.

The International Camp will last from July 11th to July 18th and there will be an open day on Saturday July 13th where persons of the general public can take part in the activities. Interested persons are asked to contact The Girl Guides Association at Pax Hill, Belmont Road.

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