It’s never too early to teach girls some ‘real grown-up skills’ — from budgeting and saving up to hobbies that they can eventually turn into businesses, like soap-making, knitting and arranging flowers. Some 150 girls in Sharjah got to learn all these things and more during a month-long virtual workshop.
Organised by Sharjah Girl Guides (SGG), the workshops for girls aged seven to 18 were aimed at helping them hone their creativity and keep their morale high during the pandemic.
Fatma Ali, the SGG programme assistant manager, said: “We aim to prepare young girls to face the future by conducting workshops that equip them with different soft and hard skills. They got the chance to learn how to be more confident by developing their self-esteem, promoting healthy lifestyles and options, and encouraging good financial habits that will help them become responsible, independent individuals.”
During a workshop titled ‘Art of Soapmaking’, girls aged 11 to 14 learnt how to make organic homemade soap. Then, the group of seven to 10-year-olds were taught about the importance of staying physically fit and maintaining a balanced diet.
At another session, teenagers were introduced to ‘arm knitting’, where they were taught the craft of knitting blankets without the use of any tools other than yarn and their arms.
Naima Khan, co-founder of Naima Khan Designs, taught them the art of arranging artificial flowers, which also helped improve the girls’ motor skills.
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One session introduced the youth to the concepts of money, savings, credit, loan, and stock markets. Dr Tanya Gibbs, an educator and researcher, explained the basics of sound financial habits.
Alia Rashid, a senior guide category participant, said: “It was a lovely experience where we learnt to make productive use of our time at home. The good thing is that the workshop materials were delivered to my house. I made an artificial bouquet for my mother and surprised her.
“Apart from exploring my creative side, I also benefited from the financial management workshop, learned how to organise and channelise my finances so that I can start to invest at a young age.”
Another participant Hala Khalid said: “I learnt a lot of skills at the workshops, such as being creative and thinking out of the box and pursuing your goals. I loved the fact that I tried things I never did before.”
