Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG) members have embarked upon the New Year on a promising note, participating in a series of workshops which exposed them to new challenges and experiences, and offered opportunities to explore their compassionate sides and make better lifestyle decisions.

To earn their ‘Spread Happiness’ badge, all categories of girl guides including Brownies, Senior Guides and Guides, participated in the ‘Winter Bag’ workshop on January 18 that sought to provide winter essentials to workers such as blankets, jackets, beanies, gloves, flasks, and more. Held as part of the Spread Happiness initiative, the workshop was also open to all members of the public.

SGG members who registered for the ‘Winter Bag’ workshop announced it on their personal social media accounts and sent text messages to encourage family and friends to support the initiative. Participants had to prepare at least one ‘Winter Bag’ to be eligible for the Spread Happiness badge.

The young Guides have prepared 170 boxes till date, which will be distributed to workers in labour camps on February 4.  By organising the ‘Winter Bag’ workshop under the Spread Happiness initiative, SGG sought to emphasise the importance of volunteering and giving back to the community, especially to the less fortunate.

Inculcating values of Emirati heritage

On January 21, Brownies in the 7-10 age group participated in the ‘Our Legacy’ workshop aimed at raising their awareness and knowledge about Emirati heritage and inculcating its values of tolerance, respect, generosity, communication, helping others and strengthening family relationships.

Senior Guide,Alya Rashid Duaifes, led the two-hour workshop, touching upon each of these values in a fun way to boost participants’ self-confidence and enhance their problem-solving skills through creative activities. Brownies earned the ‘Culture’ badge for participation in the ‘Our Legacy’ workshop.

Building healthy eating habits

To raise awareness of a healthy lifestyle, including instilling healthy eating habits and substituting unhealthy choices with self-prepared meals made with fresh ingredients,SGG launched the ‘Light and Delicious’ workshop for Brownies on January 30. Presented by senior guide Maha Hussain, Brownies learnt how to make healthy choices as they were trained in the art of preparing fresh watermelon juice and a burger made with freshly ground meat. The young girls also learnt how to transform frozen fruit into fabulously heathy frozen yoghurt ice cream.

The two-hour virtual session was aimed at helping children enhance their diets by experimenting with various food types from across the food chain, make the switch from artificially flavoured drinks to natural and nutritious juices, and to also opt for freshly made dishes over fast-food varieties.