Final days in the Maldives

Thulhaadhoo 16/7/19

After a late night of food, songs and games with the Leaders of Eydhafushi, we had yet another early start to make our journey to Thulhaadhoo. We finished packing and were out the house by ‪6am, with bags on our fronts and backs, heading to the school for breakfast. We said our final farewells to the leaders before loading the tuk-tuk vehicle up with our bags. We gave gifts of shortbread, badges and tea towels, as well as a handwritten thank you post card. 

As there were not enough people for the ferry, we had to get a private launch to get us to Thulhaadhoo. We all wondered if the choppy sea put the locals off traveling this day. Despite the large movements of the boat we got the Thulhaadhoo in an uneventful 45 minutes.

We were welcomed by Girl Guides and Leaders from every section, as well as parents. We said hello to all those that had come to see us and received real flower lays, palm tree hats and wooden bracelets (with our names carved into them) as gifts! We were given a cold facecloth to cool our faces and a coconut to drink. 😊 We took pictures with each guiding section before being led to the school where we went over the schedule for the next few days.

We then walked a short distance to our accommodation for the next two nights, where we ate our second breakfast of the day!  We were hosted by a local gentleman (the apartment belonged to his aunty) who done a great job of keeping us fed and watered. After breakfast we had some down time till lunch at 12.30pm. Most of us caught up on sleep whilst Lottie caught up on reading.

After a filling lunch we headed to the school to deliver our first session on the island, with 33 Little Maids. We were outside for the session, under some trees for shade. In their sixes the Little Maids set up some mats to sit on. We played parachute games, Me Too! (with shoes to replace chairs) and were introduced to a game called mouse and cheese. The activities we done were: Praise a Little Maid and This is Me! We finished the session with songs including Crazy Moose and The Penguin Song. 

Before heading to the harbor area to run a session with the Stars, we had a short break to change into our swimming clothes for the sightseeing trip we were going on after the session. When we arrived at the harbor there were 32 Stars ready for games and songs. We brought the parachute out for the final time, played cut the cake and sang Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes, Hokey-Cokey, the banana song and more. After the session each Star had an individual photo with us inside a picture frame that said, ‘Be My friend’. The Little Maids and Stars sections only started on Thulhaadhoo this year and we were all really impressed by their enthusiasm.

As we were already at the harbor it did not take us long to get to our next activity. The six of us, around eight leaders and the photographer all piled into two speed boats. Lyndsay, Alyson and Sophie were in the slightly smaller boat. One of the leaders was not too keen on the speed boat so kept hold of Lyndsay’s hand for the duration.  We headed towards an island but the other boat with Rachael, Lottie and Adeola was not in sight. After a bit of scanning across the choppy sea we spotted them on an Island. Originally, we were meant to be going to the island that we were at, but the sea was too rough for the other boat to get to, so we sped off to join the others.

When we got to the island of nothing but sand, we tried to disembark the boat smoothly, but it wasn’t to be. One of the Thulhaadhoo leaders fell into the water when getting off, getting herself and her bag wet. Once on the island we took some photos, made sand castles and turtles, played in the waves and took a walk round the island (which took two minutes). We named the island Sand Island (unsure of its real name) due to there being only sand on the island. We didn’t stay on the island for too long and took the smaller speed boat for a bumpy ride back to the main island, leaving some of the leaders there for the second pick up.

Back at the apartment, we got the sea water out of our hair and settled down for another magnificent meal of fish, rice, chili chicken and vegetables before heading back to the school to do a session with the leaders. We had 16 leaders of different ages and experiences. Some of them had only started in guiding this year, whereas other had been in guiding since they were a guide themselves. The activities that we ran were: I’m a leader because, what makes and good leader, the sweet game and lego communication. We also played human knots and crosses as well as signing lots of songs including Funky Chicken, Beaver Song, Singing in the Rain, Yogi Bear, Boom-chicka-boom and Linger to finish. The Leaders gifted us with shell earrings that were hand made by one of them. We ended the session with some photos before wandering back to the apartment to get some much-needed rest before counting the days back to the UK.

Travel to Soneva Fushi

We started the day not knowing what surprise laid ahead for us. We travelled to a guest’s house to have breakfast at 8:30am. Spontaneously, after breakfast we were asked if we wanted to visit a pre-school as the children were excited to meet us.

When we entered the pre-school at 9am we noticed that all the children wore the national clothing of various countries-it turned out that they were learning about the different cultures of countries across the world!

After visiting the pre-school we then took a launch to Soneva Fushi - a nearby bio conservative resort island. We were welcomed by the lovely staff who worked at the island. Soneva Fushi is an island that promotes the importance of recycling and up-cycling materials. We were given a tour around the island riding bikes made from bamboo sticks. 
Not a single motorcycle in sight! 

We visited their Kids Club where children learn how to protect the environment by using unrecyclable materials to create art work. 

We also visited the island’s garden where fresh crops are grown and used as necessary. We also visited their recycling centre and found out that they recycle the aluminium used for canned drinks to make beautiful crafts. After the tour we ate lunch at a local restaurant before heading back to Eydhafushi for our pre-ultimate session with the Guides. 

For our 3-hour Guide session we had 117 energetic girls! We started off the session playing the game teapot tag which they enjoyed. For the team activities they played the ‘Me Too’ game, completed the ‘This is Me’ task. The guides learnt the importance of listening before taking an action and developed their team working skills.

After our session we were whisked off to the beach for evening tea before heading to prepare for our next session with the Leaders

We ended the evening with a BBQ whilst teaching the Leaders new songs and games that they can play with their units. We also revisited the personality quiz that they completed, highlighting the different types of personalities that exist and how they can work with one another to create a mixed guiding unit.

Eydhafushi Day 2

We started our day off bright and early and ready to go for breakfast. We expected to visit the school for breakfast as we usually do, but instead we walked past the school and across the island. Somebody’s house perhaps? Nope! We suddenly stopped and went inside a restaurant called White by Eight that was decorated like a tropical themed bar and looked beautiful. Definitely not what we’ve got used to! We were led past coconut trees growing through the floors onto the upstairs terrace and seated at a long table with some of the Guide leaders. A buffet breakfast treat awaited us! Cereal and bread mingled alongside the traditional fish and coconut dishes and the roshi we were used to seeing. Sophie nearly wept as she spotted a toaster, while Lyndsay and Lottie took full advantage of being served fresh espresso coffee. A wonderful way to start our day.

We then went back to the school and the delightfully cool training room where we ran last night’s leader session to spend an hour with the island’s Stars. As there was a much smaller group than we had had previously, we were able to get the parachute out after singing some songs and play some games with all of them at the same time. They were very taken with Cat and Mouse and trying to shake the beach balls off it resulted in the usual hilarity from the girls. During the parachute games, the group’s newest recruit, a tiny girl of five, took a shine to Lottie and her camera, climbing on her knee and mimicked holding the camera to her eye, waiting for the click of the shutter, then critically analysing the resulting photograph on the screen. Utterly adorable!

After the Stars session, we hastily ate some snacks (some of us took snacks and tea to eat and drink on the way!) before we were whisked back to the apartment to change into our swimming gear and raced to the jetty on the back of some mopeds so we could catch a launch out into the UNESCO Biosphere which surrounded this part of the atoll. Time to try and spot some manta rays! We stopped in the middle of the ocean and one of our tour guides dived from the boat to swim out to try and find the rays. The sun beating down and the rocking of the boat meant that we were soon feeling queasy, so we were allowed off the boat to snorkel nearby and refresh ourselves in the water. Most of the group had never used large fins for swimming before, which certainly took some getting used to.

 Sadly, no rays were to be found in the area, so we climbed back onto the boat with some difficulty, slipping and sliding on the step up. Poor Alyson cut her toe as she slipped which at first looked much worse than it actually was. We moved areas to a much deeper reef to try and find some turtles, with varying levels of success! Some of the group saw one turtle, some of the group didn’t see any, but Alyson was extra lucky and saw two! After swimming for a little while, we saw a pod of dolphins in the distance and shortly after we were waved over to start swimming to the shore of a nearby island. Although it looked close, it felt like it took an age to finally wash up on the beach. At first glance we thought it was another uninhabited island, but as we walked through the trees, a village appeared, and we met our boat at the jetty at the other side of the island. A short boat ride and a quick lift in a pick-up truck later, we arrived at the house where we ate a delicious lunch – a huge spread of traditional Maldivian foods, all home-made. Even the school’s principal turned up to meet us for lunch! Dripping wet as we were, it didn’t seem possible that we would have time to shower and get ready for our Little Maids session. But we were taken back to the apartment and raced to get ready nonetheless.

Disaster struck about halfway through our time to get ready! All the power in the building went off, and we couldn’t switch it back on, meaning the showers wouldn’t work so Lyndsay was still covered in shampoo and poor Adeola hadn’t got into the shower at all! A call for help later and we found that all the power in the block of houses had gone off and there was nothing to be done! Happily, they both managed to get clean and ready for our next session. The group we had was bigger than any we had had so far, so we decided that for the girls to get the most out of the session we would divide them into two groups after Teapot Tag. One group did This Is Me – a creative activity where they drew around their hand, cut it out and wrote their favourite things about themselves on it, while the other group played games and sang songs. The groups then swapped over, and Lottie found a way to play a very boisterous game of Me Too after the swap. We rounded off the session with the Compliment Relay, which always ends up a little giddy.

We were herded quickly out of the session to yet another surprise – another boat ride! We needed to get our wet swimming gear back on – not a pleasant task – and be out as quickly as possible again! Getting onto a barge this time, we were taken to a nearby uninhabited island with all of the leaders. Lyndsay found a hermit crab on the beach and presented it to a squealing Adeola. One of the Guide leaders suggested that to persuae it to come out of its shell, you should make a silly wubbly noise at it! So they did, and it did sort of come out of its shell. Meanwhile, Alyson, Sophie and Lottie had a quick bit of snorkelling before we were all invited onto the beach for short eats consisting of fruit and dips, all spread

out on some giant leaves. First things first, a photograph of course! We all lay on the leaves around the food for a picture before all the leaders joined us. We didn’t have long to take the second photograph before to sea swept right up the beach and underneath those closest to the shore, resulting in much shrieking and laughter! The leaders then had us playing games with balloons and racing to fill up a couple with flour by tipping it over our heads in a line! So very messy!

Dusk fell with dark clouds gathering on the horizon – a storm on its way in perhaps? We hadn’t seen any rain since we’d arrived, but we knew it had sometimes rained during the night. As it started to get dark, we climbed back onto the barge and sailed back to Eydhafushi for yet another shower before the mystery Cultural Night later on. We had a few hours to ourselves to rest and get ready before someone came to do our hair and make up. Lottie decided to put her own make up on before anyone arrived, making us all coo with how different she looked! Rachael, on the other hand, decided not to put any on in anticipation of what pampering might await her later on. We put our dresses on and were soon collected to be made ready at the school, where parents and teachers were waiting with traditional veils and brooches. Satisfied, we were led over to the main hall where just a few hours earlier we had run our Little Maids session. It had been transformed into a giant picnic and small palm trees and woven panels decorated the stage. Around 400 people all in traditional dress were waiting for us – all 350 girls at the school, teachers and parents – seated in giant circles around the huge traditional lacquered pots saved for these events and a selection of other dishes. We at first took our places in the circle closest to the stage for some photographs before splitting up and sitting in one circle each. At this point, Alyson was asked to do an impromptu speech to the crowd! She handled it beautifully, as though unexpected speeches were just becoming the norm for her. As the guests of honour in each group, we untied the feili covering the giant pot and unveiled the contents of hard boiled eggs, bananas and rice.

We ate a chatted to the people in each group before being taken to front row seats to watch the show on stage. First a group of parents performed a traditional maafathi neshun dance, then a group of the Guides showed off the different traditional dresses of the Maldives, before the final group of parents and teachers performed a bandiyaa jehun dance with metal water pots. During this dance we were brought on stage unexpectedly to join in! The crowd watching us whooped and cheered and we soon picked up the movements and had an absolute blast, giggling and smiling the whole way through. After this, we were presented with some gifts on stage, shaking the hands of the principal and the lead teachers who had looked after us during our stay. A manta ray shaped pen and holder, where the tail pulls out to become the pen, and a beautiful feili were mounted onto a golden box for each of us. Once we had returned to our seats, the first group of parents came out to perform their dance again, but this time we stood up from where were seated and danced with them in front of the stage, to the joy and amusement of the parents and teachers around us! No doubt those videos have appeared online somewhere already...

We had such an amazing night, which ended after each year group had had a photograph with us, and we went home tired, but extremely happy, feeling like part of the incredible community on Eydhaushi. We are so grateful for the warmth and welcome you have showed us while we have been here! Shukuriyaa!

Travel to Eydhafushi

July 13th-15th

We were able to have a lovely lie in Saturday morning as we didn’t need to go anywhere, until later that afternoon. The morning consisted of a lovely cooked breakfast, by Rachael and Adeola. Adeola had never cooked eggy bread before, so Rachael was there to teach her, but she did have one rule. Adeola needed to write down the instructions. As part of the breakfast along with the eggy bread, we had two types of luncheon meat, one chicken and the other beef. (One tasted better than the other - which one was which we don’t know)!! 

The night before we had been liaising with Imm, one of the Malé Young Leaders, to arrange a taxi or two to the jetty. We arranged for the taxis to pick us up at 12:30pm. However, Raza another YL phoned in the morning to change the time of the taxi to 12pm. Which meant it was a little bit of a scramble to finish packing and tidying, before we left the apartment. 

The taxis arrived and we all piled in. Three in one car and three in the other. The first car that was ready was with Lyndsay, Rachael and Sophie. They set off for the jetty before we had even locked the doors. Once Lottie, Adeola and Alyson were in their car, they set off for the jetty too. 

Surprisingly it was the second taxi that got to the jetty first, we were trying to look out for the other team members, but couldn’t see them. That was because they haven’t arrived yet. As their taxi pulled up, Imm arrived to greet us and guide us to our ferry launch to Eydhafushi. 

We were the first at the ferry and were able to pack all our bags on and get first choice of seats. This boat was extra special, as it had individual seats (with cushions) and they were all forward facing. We all went for the back of the boat, as that is the best place to sit. Especially if the sea is a little bit choppy. As the boat set off we were able to spread out a little more as not all the seats were taken. This meant we were able to write our diary entries and edit photos and videos while on the move. (It was a nice smooth boat ride - the first one). 

We even had time for a little nap before we arrived. 

On arrival at Edyhafushi, we were greeted by the Stars and they gave us a lovely palm leaf bowl, full of plumeria alba flowers and an invite to their colour party. 

We then went along the line to shake hands with the Little Maids, Guides, Leaders and parents of the island. 

We were then placed in two lines and had a procession down to the school. We were told a couple of times that we were walking too fast for the rest of the procession. So we had to stop and the dancers went in from of us. We then continued to the school, where we were shown stalls of all the traditional crafts of the island. We were also able to try some of the traditional methods, like rolling the coconut husk into small sections, that can then be used to make rope. We were also able to try dehusking the coconut, which Lyndsay thoroughly enjoyed. Alyson was also able to put her degree into action on the hand made loom, weaving small strips of palm leaves to make a large mat. 

Once we had been round all the stalls, we ended with a stop at the sweet short eats stand and we tried all the different types. It was very tasty if a little sweet. 

We were able to sit a lovely air conditioned room, where we were asked if someone would make a speech for the media, so Alyson as team leader went and gave an interview to a man and phone. We are not too sure where this footage has gone, or what they did with it. 

At 4:30pm, it was time to party with the Stars. The Stars has met us at the jetty early in the afternoon and they had all gone home and changed into their beautiful red dresses. The theme of the party was strawberries and everything was red. The stars wore red and all the food was also red. We had red bread for tuna sandwiches with red food colouring in the mayo. We also had red drinks too. Alyson got called upon again to give a speech to the stars. She thanked then for the inviting to the party and said how excited we all were to have our games session with them. 

Once the party had finished, we had a little time to go back to our accommodation, before heading out for our first session with the leaders. In this session we started to lay the ground works for what makes a great leader, which we were going to continue with in a couple of days time. The session was 1 hour long, and we mixed in some games and songs too. 

After the session it was time for food again. It was the lovely rice, tuna and chilli favourites. 

When everyone had finished we went back to the accommodation to prepare for the following day. By this point we were ready for bed!!

Last day in Thinadhoo 11/07/19

We had to wake up early (5.30am!) and after a late night we were feeling quite tired! However it was completely worth it as we had such a great time at the Maldivian evening the night before. We were so overwhelmed by the kindness and hard work from the people of Gadhdhoo. They put together such a wonderful evening with delicious food and brilliant entertainment. 

At 6.30am we got on the speed launch and made our way back to Thinadhoo. The team and other passengers on the boat were once again entertained by Lottie falling asleep. It was so funny to watch her sway side to side while sitting so upright and holding onto her phone and bag. 

Once we reached Thinadhoo we were greeted by one of the leaders and taken to the G.Dh Education Centre for breakfast. Like every day that we have been here, we were treated to a selection of delicious home madetraditional foods. We were served by the Young Leaders and then lucky enough to be joined by the school’s Principle.

After a short rest we began our first session with 15 Young Leaders. The girls had asked to learn some new games and songs and also do a couple of activities on team work and decision making. One of the activities that they seemed to particularly enjoy was the Lego game. There was a structure that had been built out of Lego and in teams they had to take it in turns to look at it and then go back to the rest of the team and tell one person instructions on how to build it. Once each team had managed to build the structure we asked them if they found the activity easy or difficult and what they thought they could do better next time. We talked about the importance of giving clear concise instructions and how sometimes having one person in charge can benefit a team. 

After lunch we began our session with the Guides. Eighty nine of them turned up for our session on decision making and team work. As they arrived we soon realised that we weren’t all going to fit in the room we were given so we quickly came up with a plan. We decided to do some activities together and then some where we would split into groups and use the outdoor space. We started off with a game to get to know each other. In small groups the girls had to tell each other two things that were true about themselves and one thing that was a lie. The others then had to guess what was the truth and what was the lie. After this we did a couple of activities. One that went particularly well was the activity called ‘end of the world.’ The Guides were told that it was the end of the world and that there were ten people who wanted a space in an underground bunker. However only five people could have a space. The girls were given limited information about each person and they had to pick who they would like to give a space to. They were told their sex, age and occupation. It was interesting to hear the discussions round the room, particularly when we gave them more information about each person. Every team chose to change who they would give a space to in the bunker.

In the late afternoon we went for a lovely stroll down to the beach. We were met by a local gentleman who was on a mission to plant more coconut trees on the reclaimed land. He had planted over three hundred and fifty already. We each took our turn in planting a coconut tree and then sat down for some short eats. The doughnuts and chocolate cake were a big hit with the team! 

After dinner we held a held a session with fifteen leaders. We taught them one of our favourite games which we have played a few times on project, the pen game. This game involves passing two pens around the circle crossed or uncrossed. Everyone playing had to decide how they wanted to pass it. They needed to work out the rule to see if they could get it correct. Some leaders found this very frustrating and many found the game funny. Once they worked out the rule the room erupted in laughter. We explained to everyone that this game teaches you to look at the bigger picture to ensure you have all the information and to listen to each other.

We finished up the leaders session just before 11pm and then went back to the apartment to go to bed! 

Gadhdoo 9th-10th July

Gadhdoo 9th-10th July

On the 9th and 10th July we headed to Gadhdoo for a few more sessions. Nothing could prepare us for what was awaiting on the Jetty! But lets take a few steps back...

We had a huge rush to the ferry in the morning which was packed, only 6 spaces left dotted all over the boat (another launch boat). It was very rough and at our first stop, the airport, nobody got off, more got on! It was very cramped and stiflingly hot when there was no breeze from the boat moving!

Thankfully at the second stop lots of people got off and we were all able to sit at the back to lessen the blow of the jumps and bumps the boat was doing. The 3rd stop was a resort island and a man got on. He asked us where we were going and said that there were lots of people waiting for us when we arrive! I don’t think anything he said could have prepared us for what awaited our arrival. The island has a population of just over 1000 people and there must have been at least 300-400 people lining the jetty. Guides and Yls, but also people who had dressed up in national dress, dressed up their children too and Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts!

We were given a cold towel, then further down the line we were given a feyli (this act means we are now part of the island), a coconut in a hand made basket, a handmade shell necklace, a handmade hat, finally collected the towel back. We had a huge line of people to shake hands with. There was an official photographer to capture the moments and even a drone wizzing around us. It was like we were celebrities! Once we had all got down the line, there was a stage beautifully decorated for photos, then men with feylis and red scarves on created a procession to walk us to the school where we were given more gifts from the Boy Scouts of birds made from coconut leaves.We shared some short eats and more photos in the old school then were given some free time in our apartment where we re-planned some of our sessions and reflected on the amazing welcome we had received.

The session with the Guides was amazing, we had 18 girls in total (there are 22 Guides on the whole island) in a room of perfect size for them which made it really easy to get to know the girls and work with them closely. We changed the activities and the girls really got involved and we got a lot out of the session too! Lots of games, lots of singing but also working on decision making. We started with 2 truths and a lie where the Guides had to quickly make a decision on two statements about themselves that were true and one what was a lie and we had to guess which was the lie. The girls who went first found it difficult to choose statements to say whereas the girls who went last within the group had more time to think of their statements. We then played out a scenario where the world was ending and there was a nuclear bunker that could save 5 people, there were 10 to choose from, 5 females and 5 males and all we knew was their sex, age and job. The girls had to choose 5 people and give their reasons why. We then gave them more information about the people and asked if they changed their top 5, it was interesting to see how the girls made their decisions and we discussed the importance of knowing all the details before making such important decisions. We ended with the activity of the farmer and the chicken, a farmer has to get his chicken, grain and cat across a river but can only take one at a time. He can’t leave the cat with the chicken as the cat would eat the chicken, and couldn’t leave the chicken with the grain as the chicken would eat the grain. The girls had to work together to find the solution and I’m pleased to say they all did manage to get the items across the river without any being eaten! We ended the night on a high and all went to bed feeling like we had really made a difference to these Guides!

The next morning we were ready to go for the day ahead, a hearty breakfast with bread and jam followed by a Little Maids session where we did the ‘This is me’ activity. The girls loved cutting out their hand shapes and using the different coloured felt pens to write all the things they love about themselves on their hands. We put them into a fish head on the wall and left them there for the girls to look back at again. It was such a rewarding session!

We then were rushed back to get changed into our swim gear and drop off our little maids resource bag, then off for juice break of passion fruit. We boarded a boat and headed off somewhere unknown. A surprise they kept telling us! On the way we saw manta rays in the sea and a turtle coming up for breath. When we arrived, nothing could prepare us for what we saw! The beauty was just stunning! Think of honeymoon brochure photos: white sand beaches, palm trees bending over towards the sea of stunning colours of blue and turquoise. No rubbish lined beaches in sight. We saw a few pieces of rubbish during our time on the island but picked them up and bought them back to put in the bin - doing our bit to ‘keep the scene clean!’

The scouts had been at the uninhabited island the night before to prepare for our coming. A welcome sign, a bridge, a bench, a huge table and a swing all made from pioneering! Men gutting fresh fish they had caught that morning for lunch and men in feylis beating drums with a large speaker playing traditional music for us! We arrived off the boat and were gifted parrots made from palm tree leaves. Photos on the swing and then into our Leaders session. We had 5 of the 12 leaders with us, sat on the beach talking about why we are leaders, what makes a good leader and how we can’t all have the qualities needed but a mixed team makes up for that, then the sweet game to show that even manufacturers make mixed bags of sweets to appeal to the wider market! We had a go at playing teapot tag and cat and mouse, we weren’t sure how it would work with small numbers but we managed to rope the scouts in to helping us in the games. We had a lot of fun and giggled a lot! It was then time for lunch! Our lunch was all made and cooked on the island. The most amazing fresh fish and lobster caught that morning! We were truly spoilt!

As soon as the Scouts were finished with their lunch, we walked across the sea bed to the next island to find a bit of deeper water, a lagoon, to swim in. We saw sea cucumbers, a baby shark (of course everyone started singing baby shark!), and lots of fish! The Scouts all had knives to keep us safe in case any wild animal tried to attack us! They were our escorts. It was lovely to see Guiding and Scouting working in harmony. After a few minutes of swimming in the lagoon we walked further to a spot surrounded by coconuts. One of the scouts was opening a fury coconut, we tasted the milk from it and then got to eat the fresh coconut, it’s so much better than the stuff we get back home!

We headed back and the scouts started to pack away the camp, we piled onto the boat and headed back to Gadhdoo. When we were in Gadhdoo, we put on life jackets and got onto a rickety little sailing boat that also had oars and we rowed across to Gun Island. Gun island used to house a British army base on it, since the Maldives gained independence, it has remained an uninhabited island but is still used every day for farming. A snorkelling instructor met us at the beach and we all piled back onto the original boat to get set up for some snorkelling! We saw some lovely shoals of fish, a sea turtle, an angel fish, some clown fishes cleaning themselves in an aenenomy. It was an amazing experience.

We then went onto Gun island itself where we were treated to some handmade crowns, another escort from people in traditional dress and then a dance. The island was decorated so beautifully, gorgeous red flowers everywhere and another pioneered table from coconut trees! The people here are so handy and really do use every bit of the coconut tree in their daily lives! The women dressed in their feylis and red hijabs performed a traditional dance with sticks, a bit similar to Morris dancing. A few women sung the song which was amazing, the harmonies and the way they use their voice to sing is so special. We were then invited to have a go at dancing before it was time to get back on the boat! When we arrived on the Jetty, we were given invitations to a Maldivian night that evening. We headed back to shower and change and wear our new feylis   too.

The Maldivian night had been put on especially for us at the new school on the island. The drone was out again as was the official photographer. A number of huts had been built housing traditional Maldivian crafts, we were taken around and shown the historical practises such as using the coconut, weaving, black smiths making tools, lace making for the stunning traditional dresses, traditional teaching and much more. Two tables were laid out for us and lines of chairs behind for locals to join us. There were so many people at the event they ran out of chairs and people had to bring their own! Before we ate, Alyson was asked to make a speech about the work that GOLD does and how important the partnership is between the MGGA and Girlguiding UK. She also took the time to thank the people of Gadhdoo for everything they had done for us. Whilst we ate, the Littlemaids, Guides and Boy Scouts performed traditional dances for us, the final one was the stick dance from earlier on Gun Island and we were asked to join in! It was amazing to be a part of their traditions. The evening ended when we were presented with woven pieces of art and the school principal (also a Guiding leader) thanked everyone who had helped to put the night together.

We went to bed feeling so privilaged to have had the experiences today and amazed at the traditions we witnessed.

To the people of Gadhdoo, Shukuriyyaa.

Day 1 on Thinadhoo - 8th July 

Thinadhoo was awaiting us, but we wouldn’t get there without getting over a few hurdles. The first came when traveling to the airport. We thought we were getting a 10 seater taxi, which would have comfortably fitted the 6 of us, Raza (our YL liaison) and all our luggage. However, a 6 seater turned up! Defiantly not big enough. So it was packed up with most of the bags and 4 of the team while Alyson, Lyndsay and Raza waited for another. But no taxis came. Raza phoned them up to see what was going on. We waited and still no taxis. Raza phone once again to find out that the taxi had been cancelled because her previous call cut out. Five minutes later (30 minutes after we originally set out) we were finally on our way to the airport finally! 

Check in did not go smoothly. Some of our bags had started their journey to the plane when we realised that metal cutlery was not allowed in cabin luggage. There was a mad scramble for everyone to get the metal straws (given to us as part of Rayya’s session ‘Keep the Scene Clean’) out of our hand luggage and put in the remaining hold luggage. 

The second hurdle was Lottie’s bag (I sense a recurring theme here). A little bit of back ground for you on the bag: it houses the camera, 5 lenses, go pro, power pack, other stationary and a laptop when traveling. The man behind the desk was happy with everyone’s hand luggage, except Lottie’s, which he wanted to weigh ... 19.3kg! Now, just to put this into perspective, that is the weight of some of our hold luggage for the full three weeks. When we were in London, Lottie was carrying this rucksack on her front, and one weighing 27kg on her back. Due to the size of the bag it had to be checked into the hold, but because of the specialist equipment, Lottie was keen to see it on and off the plane at a cost of $19 (we are still unsure if this is due additional manual handling or something else).

Our final hurdle was getting through security. Due to it being an internal flight we were able to take as much liquids as we wanted through, however we seemed to forget that scissors were prohibited. Racheal tried to take 2 pairs of scissors through and Lyndsay tried to take the scissors from the first aid kit. All three pairs were confiscated. 

We landed at the airport on an island that was a 10 minutes speed boat away from Thinadhoo. The airport was tiny. We disembarked the aeroplane and walked over the airfield to the terminal, which consisted of 3 rooms. We were met by Guide Leaders and the President of the Council of Thinadhoo, before boarding the speedboat. 

On arrival to at our destination we were greeted by a jetty full of Little Maids, Guides , Young Leaders and Leaders as well as some other island officials and were given a gift of dried flowered wrapped in hessian. We then loaded our bags into a taxi and took a short walk to our apartment (where the president of the Maldives stays when he visits). We unloaded the bags, had a quick refresh before heading out for lunch and the start of our sessions.

After our quick stop and refresh, we took a short taxi to Abookakuru school, where we were greeted by Little Maids who gave each of us a floral headdress. They then lead us into the center of a circle and preformed their ‘Little Maids are we’ song. We then had lunch accompanied by some traditional Maldivian dancing. 

After being well fed and feeling refreshed from our journey we were ready to start our session with around 60 excitable Little Maids. We started the session with a game of teapot tag, which they thoroughly enjoyed (especially when there Leaders were running). We played lots of games and sang lots of songs as well as doing the ‘Praise a Little Maid’ activity. This activity encouraged the girls to think about positive and negative traits of a person within a team and then something that they could be better at. They then wrote a compliment about everyone else in the group in secret, that was sealed with a sticker to be opened at home. We took lots of photos before a short juice break before we started the session with the Stars.

The stars session was full of songs with actions and games including: cut the cake, hokey-cokey, head shoulders knee and toes, there was a crocodile, down in the jungle and the beaver song. During the songs we heard the Call for Prayer, so stopped until this had finished. They all had a great time, and we think the leaders did too! Hopefully we were able to show them some new games and songs that that can do with them. 

When we had finished the session we went on a tour of the island. Adeola, Lottie and Rachael jumped on the back of mopeds, while Alyson, Lyndsay and Sophie piled into a car with all the bags and resources. The island was not very big, so it did not take much time, but we did drive past the Mosque and to the reclaimed land. We returned to the GDh Atoll Education Centre (E.C), across the road from our apartment to have some short eats and Bombay tea (sugary, milky, spiced tea) which went down well. 

We returned to the apartment for some rest and to get ready for dinner. After a busy last few days we were all exhausted, and most of us had a nap of sorts. The beds were big and comfy, to the point that three of us fell asleep on the bed. 

We were taken in the taxi for dinner. We weren’t told where we going to eat, but we could see we were heading out to the reclaimed land, where there were no buildings and no lights. We got out the taxi and were told to stand in two lines. We were lead away from the taxi by two women playing traditional drums. We walked through a channel of mopeds and the lights were turned on when we walked past. We were then treated to a feast of local food prepared by the leaders. To finish the evening each group of leaders and young leaders (YLs) performed a song. One group performed a native song, that the Young Leaders started dancing to, we were invited up to dance too. We had a go at the Maldivian style of dancing but we were not anywhere as good at it as the YL’s. The YL’s then performed ‘Linger’, which we all loved as we have been singing it a lot ourselves. They then asked us to perform a song. We decided to do Edelweiss as we think it is a lovely song with some nice actions to go along with it to finish the night. We all had an amazing, but busy day and were glad to get back to the apartment to prepare for the next day and sleep.

Day 2 on Thinadhoo – 9^thJuly

We had an early rise once again (5.45am) for some morning swimming. The Young Leaders came to get us from the apartment and walked with us to the sight for the swimming. This was on the other side of the island from the jetty. We clambered over some rocks to take the plunge. The YL’s had a couple of sets of masks and snorkels with them that we took in turns to use. Even Adeola dawned a mask to look down to the sea bed, after not previous putting her head under at the YL weekend. We saw loads of different fish, but did not venture too far due to the high tide and current.  After about 30 minutes of swimming we got back to the apartment via pick-up truck. 

Breakfast was back at GDh Atoll E.C. where we had roshi, beans, peanut butter and chocolate sandwiches and a fish and rice dish. We also had a coffee each, but not everyone likes coffee so Lottie and Lyndsay had them all! 

We then had a bit of down time back at the apartment where some of us napped and some of us tried to organise the 1000’s of photos and minutes of video that we had gathered so far. With our bags packed once again (but left in the apartment) we heading for lunch at Hoet Buffet with some of the teachers and leaders from the schools we had been at. 

Our final session in of the day was with 85 Little Maids at Thinadhoo School.  The school welcomed us with the ‘Little Maids Are We’ song and a crocheted flower bracelet. We took photos with the Little Maids and Leaders before starting our session in the main hall. 

We were kindly provided with a microphone, although it did not seem to be working well. Lyndsay was introducing the team, becoming louder due to the apparent faulty microphone. However, it was evident that the system had been working the full time as the speakers were wheeled in with the sound of her voice booming through. 

The session started with a game of teapot tag, before doing the starter to praise a Little Maid and compliment relay as well as a load of games and songs. We only had an hour for the session so tried to squeeze as much as possible. We were on a tight schedule so whizzed round all the girls giving them a sticker before saying our goodbyes. 

We only had 15 minutes to get back to the jetty to get the ferry to our next destination, so it was a mad rush to get back to the apartment, pick up our bags, go to the toilet and change clothes for those of us that needed to. We got to the ferry (speedboat with 22 seats) in the nick of time. We were the last to board and caused a bit of a scene getting our bags and ourselves to fit on. 

Finally we were all seated and we were on our way to our next adventure!