Sharjah Girl Guides make it a point to ‘Think Right’
Senior guide Jawahir Almail came forward to deliver a workshop on Bookmark embroidery with great flair
It was a proud moment for Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG) this month, when one of the entity’s senior guides, Jawahir Almail, came forward to deliver a workshop on Bookmark embroidery with great flair, which was part of SGG’S ongoing monthly programme series aimed at shaping the skills, capabilities and confidence of all its members.
Another workshop that involved the Guides was called Think Right – essentially a feel-good session which taught them how to face negative situations optimistically and with the right mindset, focus on positive thinking and emphasised practising these skills in all aspects of their lives to succeed and be happy.
Held virtually across the four weeks of February, the workshops were organised in collaboration with other entities and furthered SGG’S mandate to enrich the lives of its members with new experiences, gaining life skills and enjoying peer-to-peer interactions.
For Senior Guides (16-18 years), the Bookmark embroidery workshop delivered on the Webex plaform was an introductory lesson on the basics of embroidery using just a needle and thread. Senior Guide Almail offered participants friendly guidance on how to make their own embroidered bookmarks and taught them ways of adapting the technique to produce other simple objects. Apart from teaching them how to create pieces from scratch using a needle, thread and beads, the objective of the project was to instil discipline, endurance, patience and time management skills in the participants.
Guides (12 – 15 years) spent their February learning about and connecting with nature in The Art of Gardening workshop. They began the session by designing and producing a container in a sustainable manner without any waste. Then, they went on to create a beautiful plant pot to place in their room from a kit supplied by SGG, which included a customised jute bag, seeds, poting soil, pebbles and basic gardening tools.
For the Brownies (7 – 11 years), this month was all about learning the importance of eating healthy and choosing the right ingredients to make healthy meals. The workshop titled Healthy Food guided the young participants through the process of preparing a healthy dish and at the end of the session they were asked to create an illustration of their idea of a healthy meal.
The final workshop of the month was a timely talk on How to Protect Yourself from the Coronavirus? During the session, which involved all members of SGG and aimed at increasing their awareness on COVID-19, the instructor explained to them about ways they could protect themselves and those around them by practising daily habits.
SGG’S workshop programmes are designed to instil positivity in its participating members, engaging them in their homes to stay connected while learning important life lessons and new skills to enable them to play active roles in the community in future.
Last year, the Sharjah Girl Guides ( SGG) announced the launch of a virtual campaign titled ‘Happiness from Here’ to raise awareness amongst its cadres of Brownies, guides, and senior guides, along with their mothers, about the importance of following a healthy lifestyle even as they spend more time at home due to current circumstances shaped by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
The campaign, designed to instil positive physical and mental behaviour, was slated to be held on the Zoom video conferencing plaform and would include a series of discussions, fitness and wellbeing workshops, apart from segments on art, led by experts and specialists in their respective fields.
SGG will post instructions, if any, from each host on SGG’S Instagram @shjgirlguides to benefit the audience.
The series began with a session titled ‘Happiness Code’. Led by Fatima Ali Al Ali from Irtiqaa Centre Sharjah, the 1-hour session focused on simple techniques to stay positive, happy, and lead a more fulfilling life.
Nutritionist Shatha Omar from the Health Education Department of the Supreme Council for Family Affairs in Sharjah was slated to lead a session on ‘Healthy Lifestyles’. She was scheduled to focus on healthy diets and the importance of physical fitness and the necessity of geting adequate sleep to strengthen the immune system.