A Little Bit of Inspiration

Mark Twain is quoted as saying – “I never let my schooling get in the way of my education”. And having dropped out of school at the age of 13, I have to say a great deal of my education has come from guiding and it has certainly given me an appetite to explore the world. Apparently I was a quiet and shy Rainbow. Who’d believe that now?

I remember being a Brownie, playing games with postcards from far off places, and creating miniature uniforms of other guide associations for thinking day. As a guide I went to Bridges and county events, camping alongside girls from India, Australia and the Caribbean. Come age 14 I went with guiding groups to Switzerland and the Netherlands, before having the confidence to travel to Austria and Ghana on my own.

Fast forward to 2010, and the experience at the first Young Women’s World Forum that really did change my life. That’s when I realise just how easy it is to change the world – especially when you do it through guiding.

At university I’d studied the Millennium Development Goals and read countless dry journal articles reporting the impossibility of meeting these targets, talking about people as numbers, as percentages. They seemed like a distant fantasy of a better life for a far off land.

But that all changed.

200 young women from over 90 countries; gathered in one hotel in Oxfordshire. And the stories I heard about genital cutting is Sierra Leone to pay inequalities in New Zealand made the connection that the goals aren’t about numbers, they’re about people. Even if a project makes a difference to just 1 person, 1 girl or young woman, then we have to do it. Guiding meetings every week, in every country, grow that girl’s confidence by a little bit, teaches her that skill that will come back to her in a moment of need in later life, and gives her friends to call upon for support.

At the Young Women’s World Forum, I met a woman who taught me a lot about inspiration too - Leymah Gbowee. She pretty much ended the civil war in Liberia, aided by her skills as a public speaker. One thing she said was that “small steps, create a huge impact, and leave a lifetime legacy. Small Steps, Huge Impact, Lifetime legacy.” Even the smallest step is a journey, and the best way to take somebody on a journey is with a story…

From there I was inspired to find a way to make a bigger impact and leave an even greater legacy. I utilised what I knew about social media and my network of guiding contacts to campaign through social media, and when I found the opportunity to go to the UN with WAGGGS I emailed the International Commissioner asking her to approve my application.
I got a phone call just before Christmas from CHQ, saying they didn’t plan on sending anybody after bad feedback from previous attendees, but they’d find £500 towards my flight if I’d pay the rest and cover all my own expenses in New York. I had a dream to speak at the UN and a mission to make the world better for girls by sharing the stories I’ve heard. I saved up my wages and student loan, and mid-February I was wandering through central park.

I co-chaired a panel discussion with women from Soroptimist International, analysed texts and lobbied government negotiators. I learnt a lot about international politics and the workings of the UN that week and was thirsty for more.

Earlier this year I went back to the Commission on the Status of Women and then to the Rio+20 conference, both as an Event Co-ordinator for WAGGGS – a more senior role within the delegation where I mentored other young women. I achieved my dream of speaking at the UN, and met many inspiring people along the way.

In Rio, together the representatives of children and young people got Non-formal education – the method of guiding and scouting- into a UN outcome document agreed to by heads of state. And I personally pestered the DEFRA minister, Caroline Spelman, enough to get Sexual and reproductive rights mentioned in Nick Clegg’s speech to the UN. These are great successes that benefit people, and guides in particular, all around the world.

But actually, the most dramatic outcome for me, is that this journey has helped me to understand past events in my own life especially around leaving an abusive relationship and has given me the skills to deal with other experiences.

A project is worth doing even if it helps improve the life of just one person, 1 girl or young woman. At the end of this story, I had originally set out to make the world a little fairer for our sisters around the world, and along the way all those women, you women, have helped me to understand myself. Thank you.