An empowering movement for girls and young women : girl guides

Abstract

The definition of voluntary work could be unpaid work for the benefit of the community and carried out of one's own free will. Women might use volunteering as an outlet for their creativity and dedication or they might decide to volunteer for one particular reason. However the benefits women gain from volunteering at any stage of their lives will still be personal empowerment, social connection and community development. What is seen as altruistic can also lead to internalization of new knowledge and skills which will benefit both the individual and the community. The focus of this research was on a gender specific, voluntary participation in the Girl Guides Association. This study will try to find out how this benefits the person that participates in such an organisation, directly and indirectly, while underlining the obstacles that women have to surmount in order to follow a project based, leisure pursuit. To conduct this research a qualitative approach was adopted. An interview was conducted with the Girl Guides Chief Commissioner and an on-line questionnaire was sent to the guide leaders (guiders).