Girl Guides returning to western Nunavut hub

Talia Maksagak holds a Girl Guides uniform complete with blue t-shirt and white, maple studded scarf. (PHOTO BY KELCEY WRIGHT)

Special to Nunatsiaq News

CAMBRIDGE BAY — Young girls in Cambridge Bay will soon be able to do something they haven’t been able to do for 10 years: wear a Girl Guide uniform.

For the second time in the community’s history, there will be a Girl Guides of Canada program in this western Nunavut town for girls aged seven to 12.

“The community needs more things for girls to do,” said Talia Maksagak, the contact guider for the program. “I really enjoyed [Girl Guides] when I was little, and since then all the little girls have been really missing out.”

Maksagak, a youth outreach worker in the community, will be heading two of the six possible branches of the Girl Guides — Brownies and Guides. Gatherings will take place once a week for about an hour an a half a week, with start-up planned for the second week of November.

The Girl Guides of Canada program is similar to the Cub Scouts program — which also operates in Cambridge Bay.

Girl Guides have existed in Canada for about 100 years and more than seven million girls have participated throughout the program’s history.

The organization’s mission, according to its website, is to “[enable] girls to be confident, resourceful and courageous, and to make a difference in the world.”

“It’s important for young girls to learn leadership skills, communication skills and relationship building skills,” said Maksagak. “Plus it will help keep kids out of trouble and give them strong female role models.”

Not only will the girls learn important personal qualities, but they will learn life skills as well, such as budgeting and fundraising.

Across Canada this year alone, more than 61 million Girl Guide cookies, which have been popular in Canada since 1927, have been sold to help support their activities.

Soon, Cambridge Bay will be able to enjoy them. Each box will cost $5; this will help raise funds for the groups’ activities, crafts and $70 uniforms.

Those prices, standard across Canada, haven’t changed since the last Girl Guides program in Cambridge Bay ended about 10 years ago.

This time, the program will be run by three women — Maksagak, Gloria Song and Shauna Angulalik.

“I’m really excited, I’m ecstatic about starting this,” said Angulalik, a program assistant at Nunavut Arctic College in Cambridge Bay. “It’s something I’ve been wanting do for two or three years now.”

There’s still plenty of organizing to do and those involved are looking for at least two more volunteers to be team leaders and order cookies. As well, registering the young girls will take at least another week, said Maksagak.

“Registration is $150 per girl,” said Angulalik. “With a subsidy program and donations, we are trying to waive that fee for girls who can’t afford it so that everybody can participate in this program. We want to help empower all girls in [Cambridge Bay].”

But once all the logistics are sorted out, she’s hoping the program enhances the lives of dozens of young girls in her community.

“The goal is to really strengthen their relationships, especially within their own peer groups,” said Maksagak. “I think this will help build a lot of character [with the young girls in the community].