A description of my journey from a Girl Guide in school to regional and global stage (Written for 70th Anniversary of 23rd Colombo).

1. From 23rd
Colombo to the World
I am a late addition to Girl Guides. What I mean is that I joined as a Senior Guide (known as
Rangers in most countries). Most girls tend to join Girl Guides as Little Friends or Guides. I
don’t come from a Girl Guide family and it was not in the list of things that my parents
wanted me to do as a student. How come I joined then? I guess the foundation was laid
during my tenure in South Africa (where my father went to work) and we lived in a small
town, near Mafeking in South Africa, for over two years. When I came back to Musaeus
College, I boldly inquired about the Guides and was directed to the library. That is where I
met Miss. Kanthi Fernando for the first time. I was told that there were “no vacancies” and
to try later. The later came after my O/Ls when some existing Girl Guides left school. As then
I was too old to join the Guides, I joined as a Senior Guide.
I still remember the date I made my promise; 4th February 1996. I was “invested” as a Senior
Guide a year later on 4th February 1997. As I was already in my A/L class, my guiding journey
as a student was very short. Some of the memories that stand out are the 50th Anniversary
celebrations of 23rd Colombo and visits to 142nd Colombo, the Girl Guide unit at Vajira Sri
Lama Nivasaya (Kotte), which was run by the Girl Guides of 23rd Colombo.
My next level in the Guiding journey began when I joined the staff at Musaeus College as a
fresh graduate out of university. I “re-joined” Guiding and this turned out to be the stepping
stone to so many opportunities. The Senior Guide Company of 23rd Colombo had run
without a Captain for many years (with the Guide Captain keeping an eye on them) and it
was mandated that all Senior Guide units to have a leader. As I already knew the basics, I
was asked to train as a leader and obtain the warrant as a Lieutenant of the Senior Guide
Company of 23rd Colombo. I took to this opportunity like a duck to water and received my
Warrant on 7th January 2003, becoming the first Lieutenant of the Senior Guide Company in
the history of 23rd Colombo.
What really drew me to Guiding then and I guess, still keeps me in it today, is the service;
that chance to do something for someone else without expecting anything in return. A
chance to be a better me. The foundation that was laid several years before was
strengthened further when I continued my service at 142nd Colombo and was instrumental
in bringing up its initial First Class Guide. I do recall a twinning project that I was a part of
with the Senior Guides of 23rd Colombo and Girl Guides of Embilipitiya. The experiences
gained by camping at each other’s schools and helping to collect dry rations for those
schools during floods are lasting memories.
I remember two opportunities during this time that stand out as special milestones in my
journey. One was attending the “Learn and Share” training organized by the Youth
Committee of the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association (SLGGA) at the National Training Centre
(NTC) in Kadawatha. The other was representing the SLGGA at the Democratic Youth
Leadership Programme at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute (SLFI). The former because it
was my first trip to the NTC while the latter was a stepping stone to another remarkable
opportunity.

2. Based on the recommendation of the organizers of the programme at SLFI to SLGGA, I was
nominated to represent SLGGA at the Juliette Low Seminar (JLS) to be held in Pax Lodge,
London UK. This was in January 2005 and was under the theme of “Our Rights, Our
Responsibilities”. This event had a significant impact, not only in my guiding life, but in my
professional life as well. By this time, I was no longer a teacher but a budding trainee at the
Central Bank of Sri Lanka.
From JLS, I was asked to serve as the young member of the Strategic Leadership Planning
Workshop in Cambodia. I was elected to the Asia Pacific Committee of World Association of
Girl Guides and Girl Scouts in Malaysia in 2007 and served two terms until 2013. During this
time, I gained useful insights to non-formal/informal education, programme planning,
capacity building and cultural diversity of the region. The journey continued with another
three years with the Membership Growth Committee of WAGGGS.
I am amazed when people express surprise that I’m still actively involved in Girl Guiding.
Many seemto think that this is an activity done only during school years and that our
leaders are only teachers or need to do something in the educational system. But this is not
so. As a volunteer movement, there are many facets that someone can be involved with
even after leaving school. Ladies can join as a leader, at so many levels, be a resource
person depending on their profession and skills or even be a fund raiser. Girl Guides do
many service projects a year and many trainings are provided across all levels that fund
raising is a vital component of our activities. The icing on the cake is that all this is done to
provide girls and young women opportunities to be useful citizens, not only for their country
but also globally.
The next steps in my journey? Well, it is still continuing. While juggling a full time job at a
leading financial institution of the country, I’m a member of the Executive Committee of
SLGGA. On the global front, I am a Honorary Associate of WAGGGS and a member of the
Friends of Asia Pacific WAGGGS (FAPW), which raises funds for Girl Guide activities across
the region. Closer to 23rd Colombo, I’m really proud to be a member of the Ex23rd Colombo
Club, which gives me the chance to maintain my ties to the place where it all began.
We are only months away from having the 13th Asia Pacific Regional Conference in Sri Lanka
(August 2019) under the theme of “Unite, Thrive and Grow”. I can’t think of a better
message to all other than to unite as Girl Guides, thrive as friends and grow as sisters in
service. After all, once a Girl Guide is always a Girl Guide!
Ruchira Jayasinghe
For more information on WAGGGS, please visit www.wagggs.org