Thinking Day Information about Kuwait
In response to requests about information other troops could use about Kuwait in their Thinking Day activities, we have this page, Troop 26's Thinking Day Postcards and a few links. Sorry, we don't have any games or songs to share with you at this time. We'll certainly add some as soon as we can (for 2001?). If you have any questions, suggestions or comments about this information, please contact me by email Katie C.
Note: The music playing with this page is the Kuwait National Anthem.
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Kuwait Girl Guides
Association
This patch is worn on the navy blue beret (hat)of the Guide uniform.
For more patches and insignia from the Kuwait Girl Guides Association, check our KGGA insignia page.
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Brownie Uniform
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Guide Uniform
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Girl Guide Promise
I promise upon my honour to do my best,
in doing my duty towards God and my country;
in helping people under all circumstances;
in following the Law of the Girl Guides.
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Girl Guide Law
1 The honour of the Girl Guides is faith and confidence.
2 The Girl Guide is sincere towards her country, her parents, her seniors and her juniors (sincere).
3 The Girl Guide should be useful to herself and to others (useful).
4 The Girl Guide is the friend to all and sister to every other Girl Guide (lovable).
5 The Girl Guide is of good character (polite).
6 The Girl Guide is kind to animals (kind).
7 The Girl Guide sincerely obeys her parents, the head of her division and the leaders of her group.
8 The Girl Guide smiles in the face of trouble and faces it with patience and steadfastness (smiling).
9 The Girl Guide is thrifty.
10 The Girl Guide is pure-hearted, decent in word and generous in deed (pure).
Brownie Promise
I promise to do my best in carrying out my duty towards God and my country,
and in helping people under all circumstances, especially those at home.
Brownie Law
The Brownie must obey those who are older, must be resolute,
must not yield to her whims, must take the Brownie Promise.
Traditions and Culture
There are many interesting aspects of tradition and culture as there are in any country. I'm just going to list a few things here that might be of interest to Girl Scouts and Guides taking a cursory look at Kuwait:
* The main religion here is Islam. People who are followers of this religion are called Muslims and they refer to God as "Allah".
* The weekend here is Thursday-Friday. People go to the mosque on Fridays, much like Christians go to church on Sundays.
* Muslims do not eat pork and thus it is illegal to sell pork here. (However, people on the US Military base here are able to buy it.)
* Stores close from about 12:30 PM - 4:00 PM every day for everyone to rest in the hot part of the day.
* During the holy month of Ramadan Muslims do not eat, drink, smoke nor chew gum during the daylight hours. It is illegal for anyone to do these things in public during Ramadan, regardless of their religion. All restaurants are closed and no food is sold at schools during this time. Children who are non-Muslim and wish to eat at lunch must eat privately, say in a classroom with the drapes drawn. School hours are shorter during this time - 9:00-2:30 instead of 7:30-2:30.
Pictures of Kuwait
For some pictures of Kuwait, see the postcards sent for Thinking Day 2000 by Cadette/Senior Troop 26. Larger images of the small pictures below appear on that webpage. These pictures make Kuwait look so great, you may all want to move here!
Crafts
# 1 - Tatooing hands with henna - This is very commonly done here in Kuwait and throughout the Middle East. Many women and girls go to beauty parlors and have beautiful designs tatooed on their hands. The designs are temporary since they are done with henna, and thus are allowed by the Muslim religion (tatooing is not allowed, nor is wearing wigs nor hairpieces or any type, and makeup is only allowed if one's husband approves) I am not sure what would be best to simulate this activity at a meeting or Thinking Day event as we use the real thing here! Perhaps brown paints such as those used in face painting? Or maybe henna can be purchased and mixed to use in this way at home. Anyway, Troop 26 sent out some postcards illustrating this craft for Thinking Day:
# 2 - Weaving in the traditional bedouin way (sadu weaving)is still done in Kuwait and there is even an organization here in Kuwait that is preserving the art and helping artisans pass on their craft. Weaving is done with camel wool and sheep wool and usually incorporates geometric designs and the colors red and black. Again, Troop 26 sent out postcards illustrating weaving.
# 3 - I've been told that leathercraft is an old and traditional craft in this area. I've seen belts with geometric tooled designs that have been colored. Red is a common color on these belts. Of course, the leather they used was camel leather. Belts could be difficult so you may want to think about a simple leathercraft project using simple geometric designs, if you wish to do Kuwaiti leathercraft.
You can see more postcards of these crafts and of others displayed on the postcards sent for Thinking Day 2000 by Cadette/Senior Troop 26 webpage.
Songs, Games and Dances
Unfortunately, at this time we were unable to come up with anything for this section. We hope to develop some information for this section by Thinking Day 2001. We couldn't find any websites to refer you to either, nor do we have any books to help. The best we can do is suggest that you visit your local library and ask for help locating information about Kuwaiti songs, games, and dances or other those of other nearby countries, as the bedouin culture is similar in Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and other Middle Eastern nations.
Links to more about Kuwait and Kuwait Girl Guides
There is good link that has drawings of the Kuwait Girl Guide uniforms and better pictures of the Girl Guide symbols here: World Girl Guiding Site (see the Kuwait page)
Back to Homepage USAGS - Kuwait
Copyright © 1998,1999,2000,2001 By USAGS - Kuwait
Last Modified March 23,2001
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