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What's new in the Pacific Shores Area.

Rachel Maria is a 1st year Ranger in the Nanaimo-Arbutus district. She is just one of our many Girl Guides who is accepting opportunities to learn and grow. We are very proud to support her in her journey.

In November, 2011, I was fortunate enough to be sponsored by Girl Guides to take part at the Global Issues Symposium For Youth in Port Moody that is put on by the Canadian Red Cross.

I really didn't know what to expect before I went. How many kids were there? What kind of activities are we going to do? Will I make friends? Will my ride show up?! Luckily, all of the above were answered (thanks for the ride Tara!). When I first arrived there, there were about six other kids, all from different parts of BC. I was so nervous, I didn't know anyone there! There were twelve Resource Leaders there who put together the program for the weekend and they were incredibley helpful at making us comfortable and getting to know everyone else.

Throughout the weekend I did different workshops pretaining to different workshops such HIV/AIDs, food security, landmines and clusterbombs, international humanitarian law and refugees (incredible guest speakers!). In between all of these workshops, there were games and time to ask questions as well as reflect on what we had just learned. All in all, it was a life-changing experience for me. It reinforced my beliefs that there are amazing youth out there who are ready to make a change in the world and it helped me find a clearer path to what I'd like to do with my life.

In Nelson Mandela's inauguration speech, he quoted Marianna Williamson, "Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure." That entire weekend inspired me like nothing else.

In February, the Canadian Red Cross is holding a follow-up event called Humanity Strikes Back which I am hoping to attend! Many thanks to Girl Guides for giving me this opportunity!

Rachel Maria

Welcome to the new bunkhouse at Camp Creina!

Over 100 girls and leaders joined in the unveiling ceremony on October 23, 2011. Donna Sainsbury, Camp Creina Committee; Dawnette Humphrey, Pacific Shores Area Commissioner; Marion Davies, Camp Creina Committee did the ribbon cutting at the event. This project started in 2007 and we are so proud of our combined efforts.

Happy Camping!