Girl Guide and Girl Scout share their Arctic experience

"On Saturday 30 June, we heard a sound we will never forget.

"When the Greenpeace ship Arctic Sunrise reached the edge of the Arctic sea ice, the sound of the ice scraping and scratching the hull of the ship was strong and it resounded intermittently as the ship ploughed into the ice.

"We have travelled from afar to bear witness to the changes that are taking place in the Arctic. While onboard the ship, we are sleeping on a bunk bed, sharing a small cabin, but we feel comfortably at home.

"We come as Girl Guides and Girl Scouts: Deputy Ranger Commissioner Yvette from Ghana and International Commissioner Miryam from Peru.

"The Arctic is of real importance to us because changes in the Artic sea ice cover will bring changes to the weather patterns on continents like Africa and South America. Our homelands, Ghana and Peru, could be affected; home to more than 50 million people combined.

"As the voices of WAGGGS, representing 10 million Girl Guides and Girl Scouts across the world, we want to raise awareness because we believe we can have a real impact.

"We should take action. We can save the Arctic. It’s our future that we are saving.

"Last night we saw a polar bear from a distance and today we saw some paw marks on the fallen snow, as we tried our hand at cross-country skiing on a melting ice floe.

"We feel really privileged, but what if the ice cover continues to disappear? What will happen to the polar bear?

"What will happen to us?"

Written by Yvette Sena Blankson and Miryam Justo