Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Aug 15/01) - There's a vacant rung at the top of the Rankin Inlet Girl Guides ladder. Well, sort of. Carla Kolysher has been wearing three guiding hats for the past several years.

Girl Guide leader Carla Kolysher will be staying on as district commissioner in Rankin Inlet, but is looking to relinquish her Kivalliq area duties. - Darrell Greer/NNSL photo

In addition to being a regular Girl Guides leader, Kolysher has performed the duties of Rankin Inlet district commissioner for the past three years and Kivalliq area commissioner for two.

A former district and division commissioner in the South, Kolysher is ready to hand over her Rankin hat.

"I quite enjoy the administrative position," says Kolysher. I'm an organizer and I enjoy administrative duties. They intrigue me."

The greatest improvement Kolysher has seen in the past three years has been with Inuit leadership.

When she assumed the commissioner's office, adult Inuit leadership was at zero per cent. That number has risen to 22 per cent.

"When I first came here, somebody told me guiding was 'white and rich.' I worked very hard during my term to show the community that perception isn't true."

The effort has paid off. Inuit girls now make up 83 per cent of the Girl Guide movement in Rankin.

And to counter the "rich" myth, Kolysher says no girl is ever turned away from the guiding program due to financial concerns.

"We allow girls to join whether they can afford to pay or not. We find the money in other places."

Kolysher says seeing the impact guiding has made on the lives of many Rankin girls has been quite incredible.

"I'm pleased to say, as a whole, they've made some very smart choices. They're staying in school and saying no to drugs and other bad choices in life," she says.

"Collectively, they're a group of confident young women who have developed some great leadership skills."

Kolysher says she wants to relinquish her district duties to concentrate more on leadership time.

She says she doesn't want her involvement with local girls to suffer because she's too busy with other responsibilities.

"There's a lot of work involved, but the job has given me a lot of human resource and administration experience I never would have received anywhere else.

"It's been a great way to mesh with the community and it's neat when you're walking down the street and kids are yelling, 'Hey Carla!'

"That, personally, feels very good."