Over 100 young girls in Sharjah undertook month-long virtual workshops that helped them hone their creative skills, capabilities and confidence amid the Covid-19 pandemic.
The workshops – organised by Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG) – for girls aged seven to 18 were aimed at helping them gain life skills and keep their morale high during the pandemic by interacting with their mentors and peers remotely.
Jawahir Almail, one of the senior guides at SGG who had received lessons during workshops in the past, came forward to share her skills at a workshop on bookmark embroidery.
Held for girls in the age group 16-18 years, the bookmark embroidery workshop, delivered on the WebEx platform, was an introductory lesson on the basics of embroidery using just a needle and thread.
During the workshop, Almail offered participants friendly guidance on how to make their own embroidered bookmarks and taught them ways of adopting the technique to produce other simple objects.
Almail said: “Apart from teaching them how to create pieces from scratch using a needle, thread and beads, the objective of the project was to instill discipline, endurance, patience and time management skills in the participants.”
Another batch of girls in the age group 12-15 years spent the month learning about and connecting with nature in ‘The Art of Gardening’ workshop.
Following sessions on sustainability, the teens went on to design a container without generating any waste. They created a plant pot – to be placed in the room – from a kit supplied by SGG, which included a customised jute bag, seeds, potting soil, pebbles and basic gardening tools.
Another workshop that targeted the teenagers was Think Right session.
The workshop essentially taught the girls how to face negative situations optimistically and with the right mindset, focussing on positives. “They were taught and encouraged to practice these skills in all aspects of their lives to succeed and be happy,” said one of the mentors.
For the younger lot in the age group 7–11 years, the month was about learning the importance of eating healthy and choosing the right ingredients to make healthy meals.
SGG ran a workshop titled ‘Healthy Food’ for these girls guiding them through the process of preparing a healthy dish and at the end of the session, they were asked to create an illustration of their idea of a healthy meal.
The final workshop of the month was a talk on the topic ‘How to Protect Yourself from the Coronavirus?’
During the session, the instructor explained to them about the ways in which they can protect themselves and those around them by practicing safe habits.
One of the mentors of the programme, the SGG programme assistant manager, said: “SGG’s workshop programmes are designed to keep the participants engaged in their homes by imparting them important life lessons and new skills so they can play an active role in the community in future.”
© Khaleej Times
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