I am a GSP staffer!

  Being a GSP Staff for two consecutive years is such a great experience to keep in my heart. I am really grateful to Maam Maye for making me one of her staff. She became my mentor and my friend too.
           This year’s School-based Girl Scout Camping was a really great experience for me. Before the camp, tons of preparations were really needed to make. We almost have meetings every day. Since I was the secretary, Maam taught me how to make minutes of the meeting; that even sharpened my skills in making reports and summaries of things we talked about.
        In addition, we were really out of time for the preparations. Since lots of new activities for camping were planned like the Talentadong Girl Scout and Clean-up Drive. Those two activities is such a stressful thing to organize since lots of people are involve like the judges, participants, barangay officials and even the people for the sound system. We do works during recess, lunch and even after class hours. We need to ready so many awards for the guest speakers, judges for Talentadong Girl Scout especially me since I was the chairman of the Awards/ Certificates. But with the help of every other staff, the camp became really successful.
        Even during the camp, we were still busy. Walking ang walking around the campus, finding some things, carrying heavy tools and grooming the stage for the new activity were the things we do. It was really tiring. But after the camp, it was really a great relief knowing that the girls enjoyed all activities and I’m really grateful for receiving the ribbon “Best Staff”. All the tiredness and problems vanished. All sleepless nights were at last ended.
        Working with Maam Maye was really difficult; she was a highly organized person. She keeps tracks of all records of the girls even their payments and assignments.  She really does her very best to have a great outcome in the end. There were times that she is really strict but in some other time, I do feel that she’s already one of my friends. She has a good sense of humor and she can make us all laugh even if she’s not really joking. She really let us experience many new things. And it did help me in becoming a better and a more confident person. I am grateful for all the memories I shared with her.  She always says that what she does for us is training for us to be good leaders in the future. Thanks a lot Maam! (Celine Tahimic)

A Homage to Josefa Llanes Escoda

Dress like a Girl Scout

As a flag is the symbol of a country, so is the uniform a symbol of an organization and its ideals. The Girl Scout uniform symbolizes the Girl Scout Promise and Law.

        The Girl Scout movement and the member herself is judged by the way the uniform is worn and cared for. The uniform should be:

• well pressed, with seams and hems in order,
• with buttons and pins well polished,
• cap in place,
• scarf properly tied,
• belt fastened in place,
• socks neatly folded and
• shoes well polished.

        The green cap, troop number, pins, council strip, socks, belt and shoes are integral parts of the uniform. each one of these has its own significance.

        The wearer should enhance the dignity of the uniform by being clean and well-groomed with neatly combed hair, clean and short nails, minimal make-up, and simple jewelry.

About the Logo

• The color green depicts youth.
• The three loops forming the trefoil symbolize the three parts of the Girl Scout Promise: God, country, and mankind.
• The circle stands for the sisterhood of Girl Guiding and Girl Scouting around the world.
• The stars represent Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
• The stalk serves as a reminder of the strong foundation which supports the organization in its character-formation and values- education initiatives.

About the Founder

Josefa was born in Dingras, Ilocos Norte as Josefa Llanes (y) Madamba. She was the eldest of the seven children of Mercedes Madamba and Gabriel Llanes. She was valedictorian in grade school and salutatorian in high school in Ilocos Norte. She went to Philippine Normal School in Manila to earn her teaching degree, and graduated with honors in 1919. While working as a teacher, she earned a high school teachers certificate from the University of the Philippines in 1922. 
After obtaining her teacher's certificate, she became a social worker for the Philippine Chapter of the American Red Cross (the Philippines was a colony of the United States at the time). The Red Cross granted her a scholarship to the United States, where she earned a masteral degree in Sociology. 
During her first trip to the United States, while she was at the Women's International League for Peace (1925), she met Antonio Escoda, a reporter from the Philippine Press Bureau whom she later married. They had two children, Maria Theresa, and Antonio. Also in 1925, she received a Master's Degree in Social Work from Columbia University.

Source; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josefa_Llanes_Escoda

History of Girl Scouting in the Philippines

Lone Girl Scout troops were organized in the Philippines as early as 1918 by American missionaries and servicemen. These Scout troops were directly registered with the Girl Scouts of the USA.

Pilar Hidalgo-Lim and Josefa Llanes Escoda spearheaded the organization of a Scout movement for girls, and requested the assistance of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines(BSP). In 1939, Mrs. Escoda was sent to the United States and Britain for training through the help of Joseph E. Stevenot of the BSP. Upon her return to the Philippines, she immediately started to set up the GSP with the help of other civic organizations.

On May 26, 1940, the GSP was chartered under Philippine Commonwealth Act No. 542.

In 1946, the GSP was accepted as a tenderfoot member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) during the 11th World Conference held at Evian, France. In 1948, the GSP became a full member of WAGGGS during the 12th World Conference held at Cooperstown, New York.

Since 1995 the organization lost nearly half of its members; the membership number shrunk from 1,275,113 in 1995 to 671,267 in 2003. In reaction to this, the BSP opened the Senior Scout Section for girls in summer 2006 which led to a public conflict about the focuses of both GSP and BSP.