Saturday 23 August 2014

Evaluation day

Sadly all GOLD projects must come to an end... And now is the end of project Peru 2014. It has been the experience of a lifetime and we will cherish every moment.

To end project, we had a final evaluation with the National Board. We discussed the impact of training sessions and identified needs for next years project. Overall, everyone is happy with the outcomes and the key messages put across during training sessions. We talked about what aspects of the training went well and what could be developed to improve the coming projects.

We have felt privileged to be part of the first team going to Peru and have met some amazing people, making some friends for life. It has been great meeting new people that all share the same love for guiding. We'd like to thank all who have been so welcoming to us and supported us through our GOLD journey.




Year one of project Peru has been very successful. We wish the next teams to come the best of luck and know they will too be a success in the next provinces.

Lots of GOLD love,

Team Peru




Monday 18 August 2014

The final stop....

So our last stop for training came around pretty quick! Sullana has been yet another amazing experience filled with successful training sessions and cultural experiences. This has been the biggest difference in culture, in terms of both lifestyle and climate.







We've thoroughly enjoyed all our training sessions. Participants, as always, were very enthusiastic and took on board what we had to say. We were delighted to be joined by some guias (guides) and receive a welcome from some girosoles (rainbows). The guias enjoyed taking part in the leadership training sessions. It was interesting for the guiadoras (leaders) to see things from the girls perspective.

We hope all participants will take away what they have learnt and implement this in guiding in Sullana.
















We'd like to thank the participants for taking part in our training sessions and a huge thank you to our translators, Ana-Maria and Rocio!

Now off we go back to Lima for our final evaluation of the project!

Wednesday 13 August 2014

Training in Tacna

We have all enjoyed our visit to Tacna, receiving an amazing welcome on our arrival.



Training sessions all went very well. We delivered the previous sessions from Lima to the local board about recruitment and retention, training for leaders and training for trainings.







All participants were very enthusiastic and the training was well received. They enjoyed our approach to training and will be adapting their own practise.










In between training, we enjoyed some sunshine walking around Tacna and seeing some sites.










After training, we had a very nice surprise waiting for us at the house of one of the guiasdoras.




We have enjoyed our time in Tacna and really appreciate the effort the guiasdoras have gone to, making us feel welcome.

We are looking forward to the next part of a journey in Sullana!

Saturday 9 August 2014

Cultural Experinces

In between all the hard work we have been able to experience the Peruvian culture...

Members of the Peruvian GOLD team took us downtown to see some sites and taste local food.



We enjoyed a visit to the Cathedral. It was very beautiful, filled with a number of antique paintings and chapels dedicated to various saints. We also had a tour of the Monastery and the creepy catacombs!




For dinner, we tried anticuchos, cows hearts! Followed by picorones (fried donuts dipped in honey) for dessert.


Our final night in Lima was spent tasting a range of local delicacies.




Food was followed by an amazing performance of various Peruvian dances. We even got pulled on stage to join in!









Overall, we thoroughly enjoyed our time in Lima, exploring the area and meeting new sisters in guiding. We had an excelent send off, celebrating with some pisco sours (a traditional Peruvian beverage).





We didn't forget to have a play on the hamster wheel before we left...




Lots of GOLD love,



Team Peru!





Friday 8 August 2014

Training for Trainers

Katherine and Hannah delivered three 4 hour sessions on training leaders, with three or more years experience, to become trainers.


The training consisted of identifying what a good training session looks like, qualities of a trainer, different learning styles, the importance of evaluating and also developing existing training strategies. The final sessions pulled all the learning together. The participants worked in small groups to plan and deliver a training session. Unfortunately for them, we had a few sneaky tricks up our sleeve which they responded very well to.


The sessions went very well and all participants were eager to learn new techniques. The National Council training team have already met to discuss ways to implement the training techniques learnt over the past few days.






Training the National Board & Recruitment and Retention training

Our main objective here in Peru is to help the Asociacion Nacional de Guias Scouts de Peru (ANGSP) with some of the problems they face regarding recruitment and retention of volunteers. We will be delivering three types of trainings:

  • Leadership trainings, run by Heather and Emma, to improve the quality of guiding and the support available for adult volunteers. 
  • Sessions for trainers, run by Katherine and Hannah, to support the Peruvian association providing leadership trainings, after the GOLD project finishes, and to enable more trainings to take place in the provinces.
  • Sessions on recruitment and retention techniques, run by Claire and Caroline, identifying what the needs are, overcoming barriers volunteers may face, as well as looking marketing materials and social media.

Claire and Caroline ran the two 3 hour sessions. The first was focused on recruitment, exploring the topic of flexible guiding. We discussed the reasons people volunteer in guiding and how this can be used in recruitment. Caroline facilitated a mapping exercise to help identify the association's strategic recruitment needs.
The second session focused on volunteer retention and marketing. We discussed volunteer recognition and supporting volunteers through mentoring. After that, we explored how the ANGSP is seen by the public in Peru and how they would like to be seen. We talked through the differences and used them to help develop key messages and the outline for a marketing strategy.


Both these sessions took place in the evenings, both following on from a four hour session in the afternoon. Even though they ran ´til late, all particiants were eager to attend the sessions, all leaving continuing their discussions and buzzing with enthusiasm the days trainings.






3.08.14 - First day of training!

Today was the big day! We had an early get up and were all ready and excited to meet the participants and begin the training.

Heather and Emma took lead on today's training session on Leadership. We had a great start with a round of 'two truths, one lie' which proved very entertaining for everyone.

Activities were well underway and we were all working hard when we received an announcement that the hall had been double booked... We had a swift transition to the tables outside - yes, this meant being out in the cold all day! This lead to more energisers - '1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 pollo loco' was very popular!




The day continued and all sessions were very smoothly run.

The leadership training ran over eight hours. The training explored different leadership styles and skills as well as sharing experiences from the UK. We also looked into non-formal education and how it can be applied to guiding.










The sessions went well and all participants were enthusiastic throughout. There were many lively discussions and a marked increase in the confidence of participants when leading an activity.