GIRL GUIDE MOVEMENT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 10, Issue 68, 3 January 1947, Page 4

GIRL GUIDE MOVEMENT

WELFARE OF YOUNG MEMBERS “ENORMOUS NEED FOR RE-EDUCATION” Girl Guide leaders in 28 countries are co-operating on an international basis to further the welfare of the estimated 2,500,000 young members throughout - the world, states the Christian Science Monitor. Mrs C. Vaughn Ferguson, National Girl Scout President, brought this news from a conference of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts at Evian, France. Leaders of the world youth movement are conscious of an “enormous need for re-education of children in moral values,” Mrs Ferguson stressed in an interview here shortly after her return. Toward this end representatives at the conference seemed determined to aid the growth of guiding everywhere, she said. They were speaking for girl guide movements in Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Czechoslovakia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Great Britain, Greece, India, Ireland, Italy, Luxemburg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, South Africa, Suomi-Finland, Sweden, Switzerland, and the Girl Guide movement in the United States.

Mrs Ferguson outlined' as follows their plans for world expansion of guiding: Through the World Association, they expect to aid the movement’s spread in South America, Poland and the Mediterranean area.

They hope soon to be able to sponsor the movement among German girls in the British and American Zones—if permission of the military authorities can be obtained. Mrs Ferguson found “a great eagerness to help in Germany” among guide leaders from France, Belgium, Norway, and other countries once overrun by the Nazis.' German girls have not known guiding since Hitler stamped it out in 1933. Guiding is already being introduced into the displaced persons camps of Germany. Several hundred leaders have been working in the camps this past summer, establishing troops for the children and training additional leaders among the D.P.’s themselves. The conference set up a special committee to direct their work. v

England and United States, Argentina and Switzerland have “lent” trainers of volunteer leaders to other nations. In the future the Association plans to sponsor widespread exchanges of trainers so that the best ideas developed in each country may be shared. Camping and troop equipment is being shipped into Poland, Holland, Greece, Norway and other war-rav-aged nations. Such hard-hit countries as Sweden as well as more prosperous ountries, are giving to those which have little.

'‘The trend in international guiding is to bind all separate units more closely together,” declared Mrs Ferguson. Accordingly, the conference planned an international songbook, to include the favourite guiding songs of many countries, she said. It also proposad an international pin which would be awarded to gii'ls all over the world. They recommended that world camps be established,' where girls from all nations would be welcome. At the conference, Mrs Ferguson issued an invitation to representatives of the other nations to send girls to an international encampment in the United States in 1947.

One great bottleneck in the growth of international guiding is a world-wide scarcity of volunteer leaders, declared Mrs Ferguson. “As a result, hundreds of thousands of girls are denied membership.”