Prestigious Guides honour for Emma
Warragul Girl Guides leader Emma Grigg was presented with the prestigious Olave Baden-Powell Award at Government House recently.
The award has never been received by anyone in the Warragul Girl Guide District and is the result of eight years dedication to complete the award.
The OBP Award is the ultimate achievement award for guides aged between 18 and 29 and is named after Lady Olave Baden-Powell. Olave was actively involved in adult guiding and became World Chief Guide in 1930. The award requires a strong commitment to self-development, service and personal challenge.
As part of the award Emma was required to complete seven challenges from 'Guide Promise and Law', 'Our Community', 'Heritage and Traditions', 'International Guiding', 'Social Networks', and 'Self-Development and Further Development' themes.
Many of the seven tasks were impacted by the pandemic, but Emma did her best to power through.
As part of the award Emma wrote and illustrated a picture storybook, organised and ran a community night about gender stereotypes and an exchange camp.
The gender stereotypes evening was very successful and saw women from different professions talk to young Girl Guides about career pathways and opportunities. Members of the CFA and police force attended, as well as a farmer, mechanic, paramedic and scientist.
A major element of Emma's journey was her month-long visit to Watoto in Uganda, Africa, where she volunteered with Baby Watoto, an organisation dedicated to rescuing and caring for vulnerable children.
Many babies in Uganda are orphaned or abandoned and the organisation works to provide the medical care, nutrition and love they need to thrive. "This was a life-changing experience and definitely the biggest challenge I undertook as part of my OBP," Emma said.
"It made me grateful for the things we have in Australia."
While in Uganda, Emma helped care for a number of children and would occasionally take over from the nannies who work with the children full-time.
Another challenge Emma took on was to complete an Auslan sign language course. Emma said the fourweek program helped her develop skills she is likely to use as a guides leader and in her role as a teacher at Ellinbank Primary School.
Emma has lived in Darnum all her life and has been involved in guides since she was seven. She said she chose to remain with the organisation because of the impact it had on her life.
"The guides gave me a lot as a child," she said. "It made me the person I am today."