A day around Male 🇲🇻🏝

August 18, 2022

This morning we went to meet the state minister for schools. The minister had read the project report and then we discussed how the project was going. The minister asked our opinion on how we felt the sessions had gone so far and even asked us for some suggestions of how take Guiding further in the Maldives. We were grateful for the opportunity to have this discussion!

Members from the MGGA took us for a quick tour around some of Male. We visited Sultan Park and stopped for some yummy ice cream at Seagulls ice cream parlour! 🍦

A quick trip back to the association to prep for our training sessions with the Guiders and some small eats! This should have been pizza but the blackout meant we had to wait for the electricity to come back in Male!

Before we knew it it was late afternoon and we were treated to an in depth history tour of Male. It is safe to say we learnt a lot on this tour!!! Here are some facts about Male that we’d like to share with you:

-One square metre in Male costs $3,999

-Maldives was originally a Buddhist country, however by 1153 it converted to an Islamic country.

-Maldive’s oldest mosque is 860 years old. It is made with coral and is a puzzle which used no glue or cement. It is fixed with water. The grooves are made with little fingers.

-A Dhaani was used in all houses to shower. And ablution is made before prayers. If a male and female contacts, they have to ablute before doing the prayers. Unless they are blood related or married.

-A Sun dial is used to help know when it is time to call for prayer

-The cemetery has round and pointed headstones. The round ones are for women and the pointed male. Previously, it was the case that the taller the headstones the more important the individual was. Now everyone is equal.

-Every 5 years a new president is elected. They are allowed to stay on for a maximum of 2 terms.

-Green zones means no vehicles.

-The largest mosque can hold 5000 individuals praying. It is a 3 storey building. Various counties such as Egypt, UAE, and Sri Lanka (just to name a few) helped contribute to its construction.

-Shaheed Hussain was the first soldier to be killed by gunshot in front of police headquarters so the building is now named after him in his honour.

In the evening we hosted a training session for Guiders. The focus of the training session was ‘recruitment and retention’. Our first activity focused on why we are part of Guiding and how we could encourage others to join. Answers ranged from “unique experiences, increased self awareness, builds confidence and inspires others”. Our second activity focused on retention. Leaders had to write ideas of what they believed would keep leaders in Guiding. A couple of ideas included “recognition from parents, having more badges and awards and increased social occasions”. Leaders then read all of the suggestions and discussed their favourite ideas.