Leicestershire Girl Guides - Our Cabana, Mexico

8^th-19^th August 2010

Our Cabana, Mexico

Shortly after returning from a brilliant trip to Switzerland in July 2009, I was invited to go to another World Centre; either Our Cabana in Mexico or Sangam in India. After nine months of fundraising and preparation and many hours of travelling, I arrived in Mexico City on the evening of 8^th August 2010 with seven other Girl Guides and two Leaders from around Leicestershire; we were all eager to have an amazing trip that we will always remember.

Firstly, we stayed in the Girl Guiding Headquarters in the heart of Mexico City called Ticalli for two nights. While we were staying in Mexico City we discovered many sights, including Aztec ruins which were originally built on a lake and my most favourite place we visited were the Floating Gardens. All of us were guided around the gardens on a boat and market sellers and musical bands offered what they had on their own boats. We also went on an open top bus tour around Mexico City to view fantastic spectacles and we went inside the Museum of Modern Art.

After rushing back to the coach due to a protest in the city, we departed to Our Cabana in Cuernavaca and arrived on a beautiful afternoon on 10^th August. I was stunned by the beauty of this World Centre as we had a tour around the buildings and grounds. There were a variety of nationalities staying within in the centre, including people from Mexico, Canada, Suriname in Latin America, the UK, Argentina and the USA. The dormitories were mixed so that we were able to mingle with people that we didn’t know.

In order to understand Mexican culture, the first day consisted of activities, including bingo to learn some Spanish, making guacamole, playing an ocarina and making Mexican decorations such as the piñata. Most of my free time was spent in the craft house in Our Cabana, where there were a variety of different crafts that everyone could try, such as traditional Mexican paintings, painting ceramics and even crafts that required patience.

Together we participated in many activities which successfully increased friendship between all participants, such as playing football tied in pairs, relays in bizarre fashions and even jumping into the swimming pool with our clothes on as part of a sun dance, as it rained quite a lot. We were in Mexico during the monsoon season, so I experienced many epic thunderstorms and heavy downpours, as well very warm temperatures during the day.

Many days were full of discovery, such as visiting the home town of Our Cabana, (Cuernavaca) and we even travelled further distances to tour places. Taxco, a town that makes its trade through silver, offered impressive sights (including the church of Saint Prasco) and Tepoztlan presented a beautiful monastery surrounded by markets. We were able to find out about Aztec history when we visited the pyramids in Teopanzolco (where I got to see a volcano) and Xochicalco (which were located high in the hills with stunning scenery).

On 16^th August it was the service project, which we were all looking forward to. With so much preparation done before hand by all groups, children of various ages from Cuernavaca arrived at Our Cabana ready for some fun and excitement. After some songs and games together the children split into groups, which were rotated around the various activities which the participants of Our Cabana had to offer.

In our group, we offered the options of decorating notebooks, making pencil toppers or designing badges. After we had lunch, we spent the remaining time with the children playing games. I played with some children with a parachute and we also had an entertaining ball game in which more children joined in with. During the farewells, I noticed how happy the children were and that we all had helped the less fortunate community by offering fun filled activities; it was an experience that I thoroughly enjoyed.

As well as helping people, we also raised awareness in ourselves by completing a series of tasks together called Girl Guides Take Action. We learnt about various problems in the world, including poverty, hunger and violence against women. To show our understanding we stood as a group and by beating our chests, we signified a heart beat while reading a quote together to raise awareness. One evening we had a peace ceremony, which was a calming yet thought provoking experience when people read out pleas for peace and harmony in the world.

On the final night we had a fiesta and everyone dressed accordingly for this special occasion. We ate traditional Mexico food for a party, whacked the piñata and danced to a Mexican band that came to join in the fun; all of this occurred during a grand thunderstorm! After the fiesta the volunteers of Our Cabana gave their gratitude and showed us a video that they had made of all the memories of this session of “100 Years of International Friendship” within this World Centre.

After emotional farewells, our group departed Our Cabana on 18^th August to return to Mexico City for a short stay before leaving Mexico. We left Mexico City airport at 10pm and then returned home at 5:25pm on Thursday 19^th August. Everyone was jet lagged, but it was definitely worth it. This trip was such a fantastic experience and I would like to thank everyone who supported me in any way. We had an amazing trip, which we will certainly always remember for the rest of our lives!