World Conference Update: Day 1, 7/6/14

Our pair group from Orientation

Yesterday at the WAGGGS World Conference, we started off with orientation. As we run through the protocol, it's amazing to see so many different people come up to speak to our delegates, speaking in so many languages. At all times, speakers are being translated into English, French, Spanish and Arabic. The diversity at the World Conference is inspiring!

During Orientation, we were asked to turn to someone near to us and introduce ourselves. We then were asked to pair up with another two groups. Amazingly, I had the good fortune of being paired with someone from Dove, Sangam, and the 5^th World Center! It was amazing to be in the company of such a powerful team and amongst women making such a difference. The opportunity to pair with them was unbelievable!

Over 600 people at the Conference!

New members into the organization were voted in. Countries like Cameroon, South Sudan, New Guinea, Mongolia, and the Cook Islands, to name a few, were voted into WAGGGS! It was powerful to see the triumph of the women at WoCo representing their initiated countries and to know that in these countries where girls are in great need of leadership, sisterhood, and support, WAGGGS, it's support network, and its resources will be there.

Princess Mabel van Oranje of Denmark (pictured left) spoke to the Conference as well, addressing the issue of child marriage world wide. Girls who experience child marriage are more likely to experience domestic violence and rape and permitting the practice to exist undermines global efforts to eradicate poverty, said Princess van Oranje. Girls who give birth under the age of 15 are also five times more likely to die in childbirth than women who give birth in their twenties. “In too many places, girls are not seen as equal to boys,” she exclaimed-- a truth many of us know all to well. You can check out more info about Princess van Oranje's call to advocate from girls suffering from child marriage at Girls not Brides.

Other orders of business that we ran through were the goals, methods, and budget for the next triennium, all of which will be voted on for approval later on in the conference.

Connie Matsui at the GSUSA Welcome Reception

At 6pm, Girl Scouts USA hosted a welcome reception for those of us from the US! It was great to see the number of Americans who were there to support Girl Scouts worldwide and the missions of the WAGGS and GSUSA. We also had the opportunity to hear from Connie Matsui, an American running for the World Board (more to come tomorrow on all of the candidates!).

At 7pm, dinner commenced. During dinner we had an astounding amount of traditional Chinese food. The courses were brought out, as we in the US know it as, “family style”-- a large plate was brought out for the whole table to share. The is the traditional banquet style in China. Thankfully, a young woman from Hong Kong named Fonnine sat down next to me and explained all of the different dished. Interestingly, the rice and noodles come at the very end of the meal (the end being about 2 hours later!).

Throughout the dinner, we also got to watch some amazing traditional shows, such as a one where a man danced around and swapped off these masks he was wearing. During this one, the masks moved so fast, I thought it was an electronic mask or something. But at the end when he swapped off the last one to show his face in the same manner as all the other masks I realized that these were actual masks on his face and somehow, as if by magic, he was flipping between them! Two

Korean singers serenade Princess Benedikte

young girl guides from Hong Kong also gave a great Chinese opera performance-- at the end I ran up to see them and was amazing by the amount of makeup and costume they had on! There was also a troupe of beautiful and costumed young girls doing what seemed to be a Chinese form of ballet, using sailing fans and clomping castanets. We also had the chance to watch one of the famous lion dance (though I always thought they were dragons!), which reminds me of what I would image to see at the Chinese New Year. And we wrapped up with this amazing Korean acapella/opera group. They sang pop classics as well as some opera favorites. Their voices were unbelievable-- I couldn't imagine such full, strong voices coming from these young men!!

Me with Hong Kong Girl Scouts!

Overall, dinner was amazing and very reflective of the experience at the World Conference so far. Women from New Guinea at our table cheered and ran to the stage when they were recognized for being voted into WAGGGS. I helped to translate for a group from Sierra Leone who wanted to tell Mary Jane from our UN NYC Team about the African Federation they were proposing. One woman at our table was a candidate for the World Board. And the District Commissioner and International Commissioner from Hong Kong sat at our table, helping to answer our questions about China and explain their traditions and customs. Such an amazing opportunity to sit with people from all corners of the globe over dinner!

Be sure to follow the World Conference live at #35WoCo on Twitter!