The Guyana Girl Guides Association (GGGA) last month appointed new members of its National Council and its Executive Committee, including its youngest Chief Commis-sioner in the person of 32-year-old Schemel Patrick.
According to a press release issued by the GGGA, Patrick is the youngest Chief Commis-sioner to have been appointed in the 95-year history of the local Girl Guides body, which is the oldest association in the country dedicated to the social development and wellness of girls and young women.
The new appointments were made at its Annual General Meeting, which was held on October 9th, 2019.
The release said Patrick, who has been an active member of the association for over 20 years, has previously served as Public Relations Coordinator and a member of the Executive Committee. It noted that in 2013, she was the first Guyanese elected to serve on the Western Hemis-phere Regional Committee of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts. Additionally, as a member of the GGGA, she has represented the organisation both regionally and internationally, and has spearheaded many local initiatives.
“Patrick has worked extensively on youth and women and gender issues; she is passionate about working towards the advancement of girls and young women in Guyana – this is evident in the work she continues to do and the organisations she serves in. She is the co-founder and current secretary on the steering committee for SASOD Women’s Arm Guyana (SWAG); she is the first Chairperson of the Human Rights and Social Justice Commission of the Anglican Diocese in Guyana and serves as the youngest and only woman on the Provincial Human Rights and Social Justice Commission of the Province of the West Indies and she is a Caribbean Advisor for FRIDA – The Young Feminist Fund – an international funder for grassroots women’s groups,” the release added.
Patrick has signalled that her first order of business will be strengthening the visibility of the GGGA in addition to focusing on recruitment as well as retention.
The release said the National Council, which serves as the governing and policy body of the Association, also announc-ed its members for the term 2019-2022. The new Presi-dent of the Association is Patricia Gray. The other office-bearers are as follows: Patricia Woolford, First Vice-President; Gillian Frank, Second Vice-President; Doreen Dealy, Secretary – Trea-surer; Shawn Hughes, Assistant Treasurer; Tiana Ross, Youth Represen-tative; and Mrs Gloria Thompson, Life Vice President.
Also appointed to the Executive Committee with the Chief Commissioner were June Halley as Deputy Chief Commis-sioner, and Ambalika Elliot-Belle as Inter-national Commissioner. Halley, who has been a member of the association for over 30 years, is a Guide Leader at the St Paul’s Plaisance Girl Guides Unit. The Inter-national Commissioner, Elliot-Belle, who has been a member of the association for over 15 years, is the Guide Leader at the Bishops’ High School.
