Site 2: South Africa: Who Let The Girls Out!?

1 week. 60 girls. Beautiful, Bountiful Banff. 0 boys. Awww yeeee!

I could tell right then and there, once I stepped out of the van after 15 hours of driving, breathing in the fresh aroma of a kindling fire and evergreen trees that this was gonna be an unforgettable week, and it was.

The week consisted of good food, lots of pictures, a 4 hour hike at Lake Lousie, shopping, laughing, walking on the Columbia Ice Fields glacier, a private night at the Hot Springs, shaking our booties at a Zumba class, deep conversations, worshipping, and learning. Our speaker for the week was Sharon, who blessed us with her calming presence and knowledge. The topic was how to Live Lifeful as women with God, in our own skin, in our relationships, our sexuality, and in our dreams. It was really interesting and eye opening to learn more about what it truly means to live as women of God and in our sexuality. I think most of the girls would agree it was an empowering, bonding, and super cool learning experience where we were able to discuss some taboo topics.

And let’s be honest, you can’t have girl talk without talking about our favourite subject: boys! We were actually given a sweet opportunity to any questions we had for them, and they did the same for us. We swapped our questions with the boys and we both answered each other’s questions. Then some male leader representatives for the guys came over and presented us their answers. It was pretty interesting to hear where their hearts were at, and how they also struggle with some of the same things we do. It was so good to settle some super important issues like what a padded bra was and “that what!? Guys have feelings too!?” All in all, I think it opened our eyes to see no matter how immature or stinky they may seem sometimes, deep down they really are super duper guys (which we all kinda had a feeling of already).

It’s funny, Sharon pointed out to us that the first things you usually notice in a group setting, especially all girls, are the differences between each other. I think by the end of the week, when we all left Banff, we left our differences behind and carried a new sense of unity and strength as woman.

Written by: Becci