Celebrating the Asia Pacific Region’s 50th Birthday
Birthdays are important and fun to celebrate. On 22 February we celebrated World Thinking Day, which is the birthday of Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. This year the Asia Pacific Region is celebrating its 50th birthday all year, and you are invited to hold your own celebrations in your Units, Districts, and Regions.
It is a great opportunity to share with our members that Guiding is so much bigger than just in their local area. The Asia Pacific Region supports 26 national Girl Guide and Girl Scout organisations and reaches 3.8 million girls and young women across the region. There is great diversity in membership across the region for girls to explore and learn, together with so many fun activities to include in 50th birthday celebrations.
The Asia Pacific Regional Committee is asking Guides across the Region to include a Candle March (it is not necessary to use candles – you can use lanterns). The Regional Committee ignited the Golden Light of Guiding and now it’s our turn to keep the flame alive and to continue to spread light across the region. During the Candle March, you could play the Asia Pacific Song.
We would love to see how you celebrate the 50th birthday of Guiding in our Region, so please share your photos by using your social media with the hashtag #AP50 or #LookBackLeapForward.
The 50th Anniversary of the Asia Pacific Region will also be celebrated at the 13th Asia Pacific Regional Conference which is being held in Colombo, Sri Lanka from 12-16 August. The theme of the 13th WAGGGS Asia Pacific Regional Conference is: Unite, Thrive, Grow.
WAGGGS Regional conferences are only held every three years and they are important for each Member Organisation in the Region to connect, share experiences, shape our Guiding future, and to elect our new Regional Committee members.
The Girl Guides Australia delegation to the conference will be led by me as the Chief Commissioner. The other members of the team will be Bronwyn Cole (GGA International Manager), Miranda Cummings, Bronwyn Hughes and Larissa Saywell.
While focusing on the AP Region – have you heard about the Friends of Asia Pacific WAGGGS (FAPW)? FAPW raises funds through membership. It then financially supports Guiding in the Asia Pacific region by providing financial resources for training programs, events, projects and activities for the development of girls and young women in the Asia Pacific Region.
Happy 50th Birthday Asia Pacific Region!
Wishing Girl Guides across Australia great fun as you enjoy planning and sharing your celebrations!
Rosemary Derwin
Chief Commissioner
