...Iceland and Thailand
Kathy, Eleanor and Anaïs, three Rangers at Thames Ditton, all formerly Guides, worked for a wonderful opportunity to visit Thailand and Iceland this year, to attend international Guiding events.
Eleanor writes: "During the year we raised our fares of about a thousand pounds each, by carol singing, making and selling craft items at fairs (and cakes to Brownies!) and running competitions, tombolas, raffles and online auctions. We wrote to many individuals and organisations, including the Ambassador of Iceland, for sponsorship or items to raffle. Locally, Colets and Sandown Park helped us; the County gave us £133 each, and the Trefoil Guild £40. Thank you!
Anaïs and I were selected to go to the NordJamb Scout and Guide Jamboree in Iceland for ten days. On the first day there the driver of our tour minibus, who had been drinking and had a hangover, hit the crash barrier at the side of a mountain road. Nobody was injured, and he was arrested. We spent the first three days camping in the Skaftafell National Park, where we picked up litter. 
Each contingent planted a tree at various spots. We watched geysers erupt, walked on a huge glacier (really cool) and straddled the mid-Atlantic ridge - Iceland is the only place you can do that without getting very wet! We could wear shorts occasionally, but it drizzled a lot of the time. There were loads of flies - you could scoop them out of the air. We saw lots of puffins and Icelandic ponies, and moss and lichen that had been growing for a thousand years, though you can get tired of that. We visited a museum with traditional Icelandic houses covered with turf for insulation. But we were all disappointed not to visit Iceland's famous museum of phallology, which has moved up-country to Husavik.
The Icelanders use hydroelectric power and geothermal energy, from which they get 98% of their hot water, and they recycle a lot. You are supposed to strip off completely and have a shower before you go for a swim, and this applies also to open-air spas. Fortunately they weren't so strict with visitors when we went to swim in the geothermal Blue Lagoon. The nights are long in the winter, and Iceland has the highest rate of illegitimate births in Europe, with over 60% of children born out of wedlock. Cultural differences are many. They eat ram's head sawn in half, sheep's eyes, puffin - which must be why the birds always look worried, whale, reindeer and horse meat, seal, dolphin, rotten shark - buried for months in the icy ground, and haggis. We lived on pasta, cup-o'-soups and Doritos, and drank lemonade in a bar made completely of ice, where the seats are fur-lined so you don't stick to them, though the bottoms of my trousers were wet and froze to the floor! The local newspaper, the Reykjavik Grapevine, is a bit like Thames Ditton Today. I brought one back. It was a fantastic experience and my parents were jealous!"
Kathy writes: "I went to Thailand for three weeks this summer as part of a group of 16 girls selected from all over London and the South East of England. We explored lots of the country while we were there, staying in Guiding Centres, and even spending some time on an "eco barge" in collaboration with the Magic Eyes charity, which promotes education in pollution and its effects on Thailand's waterways. My group also did some work in several schools, teaching English songs and games, as well as time at a school for children with special needs, which was very rewarding. We also contributed to the building of a toilet and wash block at a Girl Guide Association Thailand campsite, to help improve the facilities. I had an absolutely fantastic time and I've come home with some amazing memories and new friends."
It certainly kept them off the streets!