Girl Guides and Girls Scouts: A Sweet Comparison

Hi, my name is Samantha.

I am a 10-year-old United States citizen.  I lived in Young’s Point, Ontario for two and a half years.  Before living in Canada, I was a Girl Scout.  In Canada I was a Girl Guide.

I moved back to the United States in January 2011.

I would like to tell you about what is the same and what is different between Canada and the United States.

• Both places sell cookies.  In Canada, we sold mint cookies in the fall and sandwich cookies in the spring.  Here, we sell nuts and candy in the fall and eight different kinds of cookies in the spring.  We both sell mint cookies.  The (thin)mint cookies here are good but the mint cookies in Canada are out of this world!
• Here my troop doesn’t mind if you don’t wear your uniform.  In Canada we were supposed to wear our uniform every time and we were graded on it!
• We meet every other week here, but in Canada we met every week.
• While in Canada, we celebrated the 100^th anniversary of Girl Guides.  The United States is celebrating the 100^th anniversary of Girl Scouts next year.
• Girl Guides learn about their founder, Lord Baden-Powell.  Here the founder is Juliette Gordon Low, who was a friend of the Baden-Powell’s.
• In both places you earn badges, go camping and sing songs.  Many of the songs are very similar.

I learned so much while living in Canada and enjoy teaching my current Girl Scout sisters about what it was like to live there and be a Girl Guide.  Some day I would like to go back and visit my Girl Guide sisters.

By guest blogger, Samantha Flemming, 10 years old.
—————————————————————-
The relationships we forge through Guiding transcend geographic borders. What great experiences have you had with Scouts?