World Conference news flash from GGASA
9 May 2008
Just a few weeks from now, we will be welcoming our Guiding friends from all over the world, at the 33rd WAGGGS World Conference. This will be the first time that South Africa hosts the World Conference and we are very excited about this!
The Conference task team, or as we have called ourselves the ‘WC8 team’, have been preparing for your visit for the past three years. We are a small band of ladies, who have been meeting regularly to discuss, among other things, ideas for the Conference, places for you to visit, entertainment during the Conference and items we would like to sell to you to take back to your country.
We have planned international camps which will run parallel to the World Conference for girls and adults who are not attending the event. We have had visits from WAGGGS staff members. They have been taken on tours in the vicinity of the Conference venue, and we have probably walked many kilometres around the various premises! We have visited the Presidential Buildings to make plans with our Government; we have come up with ideas for the opening and closing ceremonies. We have had grand ideas and simple ideas for these, and we hope that you will enjoy them once you are here!
The Girl Guides of South Africa (GGASA) has 24 Guiding regions across the country. Within those regions, we have some 27,000 members, including Teddies, Brownies, Guides, Rangers and adult leaders. During the past few years, everyone has been preparing for your visit! The WC8 team challenged all regions to provide some small ‘pillow’ gifts for delegates arriving for the Conference. They took our request to the extreme and have come up with some amazing little gifts – I am not at liberty to let out what these are, but to say that they are truly South African.
Not only do we have gifts for you, but also we have locally made items for sale, including beaded items, Guide clothing (scarves, badges etc.), typical African gifts (the Big 5, wooden items, cloths, jewellery etc.). These will be available for you to buy from the GGASA shopping markets at the World Conference and take back home!
It has become the practice over the years for Member Organizations to express their appreciation to the hostess country by means of a small gift. The Girl Guides Association of South Africa specifically requests that these gifts should be monetary as we wish to use the proceeds for the development of Guiding in our country. These gifts may be presented to the Association and this will be done in a very special traditional South African way during the closing dinner. Please bring your gift in an envelope with a card.
We imagine that you will be packing soon and getting ready to attend the Conference from 6 July. We hope that you will travel safely and enjoy your stay in South Africa, that you will manage to visit us for longer than just the Conference and that you are taking advantage of our home hospitality or the tours we have offered.
If you are unable to take extra time from home, we hope that will enjoy at least the short time you are here and that you are already planning a real holiday here in South Africa, for another time!