Hardy bunch of girls hike 60km and live on just €3.50 per day
MACROOM AND BISHOPSTOWN GIRLS CAN PACK A PUNCH AS THEY REACH THE PINNACLE OF IRISH GUIDING
THEY are a hardy bunch in Macroom and Bishopstown as five Girl Guides completed a 60km hike and lived on €3.50 per day.
They all reached the pinnacle of Guiding after hiking 60km in county Kerry while carrying all their camping and cooking equipment, food and clothes and surviving on just €3.50 per day.
The five girls from Macroom and Bishopstown are all aged between 16-19 years old didn’t know the location of the event in advance so they couldn’t prepare for what lay ahead. They completed all eight project and kept a log book of their experiences during the five-day Chief Commissioners award.
They were delighted to find themselves on the picturesque Iveragh peninsula, however, where they enjoyed the stunning scenery, meeting the locals and learning about the heritage of the area.
The girls worked very hard in the weeks before the survival challenge as well as during the event itself. Aishling O’Connor (age 16) of Macroom said receiving the Chief Commissioner’s Award pin showed all the work she and her team-mates, Emma Barry (18) and Niamh McSweeney (16), had put into the adventure challenge. “I thought the 60 kilometre hike was going to be the hardest part of the Chief ’s but, in fact, living on only one euro per meal was extremely hard as we love our food” says Aishling.
The projects they had to complete included carrying out service in the community. “I really enjoyed this challenge as we got to help many people,” says Aishling. “My favourite project was talking to tourists about their opinion of Ireland: we talked to people from many countries, including America, Spain, England, Holland and Germany,” she said.
Emma Barry says that being awarded the Chief ’s pin “felt like the final piece of the puzzle had fallen into place after all the work we had put in”. “It was so enriching getting the pin because we had achieved our goal and prevailed through anything that was thrown at us,” she says. “We really took on the challenge as a team and as friends, which I think was the main reason we were successful.”
Niamh McSweeney says achieving the pin was “a massive achievement” and that she was “in an utter state of joy”. “The most difficult part of Chief ’s was not being able to contact my mom,” she says, “But the highlights included an invitation into someone’s holiday home to watch the Olympics.”
Aislinn Porter (19) and Ciara Dineen (18) ofBishopstown were also successful in achieving the Chief’s pin. Aislinn says, “I was really shocked on receiving the pin as very few people are lucky enough to receive it. The toughest element of the Chief ’s was probably the interview process at the end of the week. The highlights for me were meeting new people in Guiding, people from the area and all the amazing experiences that myself and Ciara shared.”
Congratulating the 14 participants, Award organiser Suzanne O’Brien, said: “A brilliant week was had by all participants and staff. I am so proud of all six teams who successfully achieved the cert, woggle and pin.
“The weather was on our side, making the experience more enjoyable and memorable for everyone. No doubt a lot of effort was put into route-planning and projects. Over the course of the week all teams got the chance to strengthen their skills, including time-management, teamwork, leadership roles, communication, the ability to multi-task as well as the ability to remain organised,” she said.