Written by Shirley Thomas
TWO young Guyanese leaders in the Guyana Girl Guides Association (GGGA), Saudia Edghill and Schemel Patrick, have been selected by the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) to take up prestigious positions in the international body.

Edghill, a University of Guyana student, has been selected as the International Day of the Girl Ambassador for Guyana, while Patrick, the Guyana Girl Guides Association Executive Officer and Public Relations Officer, was elected to the WAGGGS Western Hemisphere Committee. These new official roles were conferred at the 13th Western Hemisphere Regional Conference in Cuernavaca, Mexico in July.

Earliest on the agenda of these new executives has been the second celebration of the International Day of the Girl (IDG) on October 11, and launched a year ago by the United Nations. The theme for this year’s celebrations was putting ‘Girls in the lead’.
IDG Ambassador Edghill championed the day on behalf of WAGGGS and the campaign in Guyana and the rest of the Caribbean. She also collaborated with WAGGGS throughout the year to continue to support Guyanese girls in this ‘Lead’ campaign. She will participate in the year long promotion of IDG activities, both locally and internationally, work with the GGA on the conception and implementation of an action project for the year, and mobilise other young women from the Caribbean region to take action.
WAGGGS Western Hemisphere Committee Executive
Patrick, the youngest of six women members now on the WAGGGS Western Hemisphere Committee, while playing a lead role in the association’s plans for the International Day of the Girl, will also be fully involved in the execution of the Western Hemisphere’s plans for the next three years.
This region is comprised of 36 countries situated in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean. Its main function is to promote and expand Girl Guiding/Girl Scouting within the Western Hemisphere and develop plans for assisting national organisations to provide opportunities for training and sharing concerns, experiences and human resources.
Prior to the Mexico Summit, both Edghill and Patrick have represented the Guyana Girl Guides Association at international and other events in South Africa, The Bahamas and Trinidad and Tobago.