The Girl Guides As­so­ci­a­tion of Trinidad and To­ba­go marked its 112th an­niver­sary with a cer­e­mo­ny that high­light­ed dis­ci­pline, ser­vice and the en­dur­ing val­ues of guid­ing.

The Recog­ni­tion of Ex­cel­lence in Guid­ing Awards Cer­e­mo­ny, held at the Dr Sis Phyl­lis Wharfe Au­di­to­ri­um, St Joseph’s Con­vent, San Fer­nan­do, brought to­geth­er gen­er­a­tions of Guiders whose ded­i­ca­tion has shaped the lives of young women across the na­tion.

De­liv­er­ing the keynote ad­dress, Pres­i­dent Chris­tine Kan­ga­loo, pa­tron of the as­so­ci­a­tion, em­pha­sised that true lead­er­ship is not mea­sured by vol­ume or ag­gres­sion but by fair­ness, dis­ci­pline and ser­vice.

“Lead­er­ship is proved by dis­ci­pline, ser­vice, fair­ness and the ca­pac­i­ty to lift oth­ers, even in mo­ments of dis­agree­ment,” she said, un­der­scor­ing the val­ues that the Girl Guides move­ment in­stils in its mem­bers.

Kan­ga­loo praised the awardees for their faith­ful ser­vice and ex­pressed grat­i­tude to the as­so­ci­a­tion for its long­stand­ing role in youth de­vel­op­ment, cit­i­zen­ship and lead­er­ship train­ing.

She not­ed that the Girl Guides of­fer young girls a path that bal­ances am­bi­tion with com­pas­sion, en­cour­ag­ing them to be prin­ci­pled with­out be­ing un­kind and firm with­out bit­ter­ness.

The cer­e­mo­ny recog­nised Guiders who had giv­en be­tween ten and more than 50 years of ser­vice. Six women were ho­n­oured for over five decades of com­mit­ment, a tes­ta­ment to the strength and con­ti­nu­ity of the move­ment. Four­teen Guides re­ceived the pres­ti­gious Samaan Gold Award, ac­knowl­edg­ing their out­stand­ing achieve­ments and ded­i­ca­tion to guid­ing prin­ci­ples.

The event al­so cel­e­brat­ed the as­so­ci­a­tion’s mile­stone an­niver­sary, mark­ing 112 years of em­pow­er­ing girls and young women. Since its found­ing, the Girl Guides move­ment has pro­vid­ed op­por­tu­ni­ties for mem­bers to build con­fi­dence, re­silience, and lead­er­ship skills while fos­ter­ing a com­mit­ment to com­mu­ni­ty ser­vice. Gen­er­a­tions of vol­un­teers and lead­ers have sus­tained the or­gan­i­sa­tion, en­sur­ing its rel­e­vance and im­pact across chang­ing times.

The Of­fice of the Pres­i­dent joined in con­grat­u­lat­ing all re­cip­i­ents and ex­tend­ed best wish­es to the as­so­ci­a­tion for con­tin­ued suc­cess in its mis­sion. The cer­e­mo­ny served not on­ly as recog­ni­tion of in­di­vid­ual ex­cel­lence but al­so as a reaf­fir­ma­tion of the guid­ing val­ues that con­tin­ue to shape re­spon­si­ble cit­i­zens and fu­ture lead­ers in T&T.

By ho­n­our­ing decades of ser­vice and cel­e­brat­ing youth­ful achieve­ment, the Girl Guides As­so­ci­a­tion demon­strat­ed that lead­er­ship root­ed in dis­ci­pline and ser­vice re­mains vi­tal to na­tion­al de­vel­op­ment. The awards cer­e­mo­ny stood as a re­minder that true lead­er­ship is mea­sured not by dom­i­nance but by the abil­i­ty to up­lift oth­ers and build uni­ty.