Sharjah Girl Guides turned up in force at the Sharjah International Book Fair 2019 (SIBF) to promote their ‘Cookies for a Cause’ fundraising initiative. SIBF attracts around 2 million visitors each year, making it an ideal platform for SGG’s Brownies (7 to 11 years) and Guides (12 to 15 years) to promote their delicious wares and make sales in order raise money for a good cause.

A group of approximately 20 Guides and Brownies have volunteered to sell the cookies, walking the halls of the exhibition. The girls say they love the event, the responsibility and the opportunity to give something back to the community.

The beautifully packaged goodies are made through a collaboration with a local chef who produces delicious combinations of chocolate chip, oat and peanut butter cookies. Especially for UAE Flag Day, the packaging reflected the Emirati Flag with the word ‘shukran’ (thank you) across the front of the single-cookie boxes. They also come with a pretty, pink, enamelled pin with every purchase.

These young volunteers are determined to raise money for the Faraj Fund, a charity set up to free prisoners incarcerated for debt and provides relief to inmates and their families across the UAE. The charity provides funds to repay the debt that caused the incarceration; offers aid to families of prisoners that find themselves in difficult circumstances; secures travel tickets for inmates and their families who are unable to pay return home upon release and raises awareness for the need of money management.

Last year, Sharjah Girl Guides raised approximately Dhs30,000 from the initiative, and hopes to match, if not exceed, that figure again this year. To reach this target, they already took Cookies for a Cause to the Sharjah International Film Festival for Children and Youth 2019, last month, and will continue to promote the cause at more such public events in Sharjah and the UAE.

SIBF is taking place at the Sharjah Expo Centre until Nov.9 with a star-studded line up of international authors, speaker and entertainers. The fair is featuring over 2,000 publishers from 81 countries under Sharjah World Book Capital’s (SWBC) theme of ‘Open Books Open Minds”. There will be almost 1,000 activities distributed among scientific, knowledge and literary themes, including 350 cultural events to be enjoyed by book and culture enthusiasts across every age group.

In the spirit of its 2019 strategy, Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG) earlier this year launched five innovative clubs to add to the accomplishments and learning of their Brownies (7-11 years), Guides (12-15 years) and Senior Guides (15-18 years). From culinary arts to media and everything included, SGG seek to make use and add value to the time spent by its young members learning about creative problem-solving, development and leadership, and recognising their potential in non-academic activities.

This plethora of choice means that SGG members can pick the ones most suited to their abilities and interests, and is a good option for parents who do their best to provide their children with a good, holistic upbringing, which will guarantee a bright future for them.

One of the clubs is the Cooking Club. SGG’s Cooking Club offers Guides a course in culinary arts divided into three levels. In its introductory level, girls will learn about easy, healthy recipes like soups, salads, and main courses in a timespan of three weeks. In the fourth and final week, members will be in a cook-off to make original dishes, putting into practice all their learning from previous weeks.

In the second level, the concepts of creating culinary delights with a special focus on appetisers, soups and salads will be taught. This will be followed by the third and final level, which will basically be a roundup, where the young cooks will learn dessert making along with food plating and decoration, to achieve the goal of creating a full meal.

SGG has also established an Events Club with the aim to introduce its young members to the world of event planning and execution. Their learning at the club will help them take up responsibility for creative, technical, marketing, communication and organisational aspects of events. The purpose of this club is to hone interpersonal skills that will eventually lead to greater self-confidence and problem-solving abilities.