Need Help?
Read the Intro before diving into "Global Girl Scouting." Just want a quick refresher on what to do? In order to earn any of these Interest Projects:

• Do the one REQUIRED activity
• Do ONE activity of your choice from each of the THREE categories (LEARN, DO, SHARE)
• Design and do ONE activity of YOUR OWN
• Create a short REFLECTION after you've completed all of the activities

Food for Thought! Often, an activity in the "LEARN" category will help you build a skill that you'll have the chance to try in the "DO" category and then share in the "SHARE" category. Make connections between the "steps" when planning which activities you'll do. For an example of a skill-building connection, check out the first activity of each "Global Girl Scouting" category.

Global Girl Scouting

Required: Consider these sobering statistics about our sisters overseas:

• More than 700 million women in the world have to find a way to live on less than $1 a day.
• Women make up 70% of people this poor.
• Of the more than 1 billion people in the world who cannot read or write, two-thirds are women.
• 73 million school-aged girls around the globe do not have an opportunity for basic schooling.
• Every year, about 515,000 women die from pregnancy-related causes. That's one every minute! Many of these deaths could be prevented through better medical care.
• Women farmers produce half of the world's food—but they own only 1% of the world's farmland.

With so many women in need of help, what kind of assistance would you provide if you could? For this required activity, assume the role of a "Girl Grantmaker" at the Global Fund for Women (a foundation that focuses on helping women's groups all over the world do projects to help women and girls in their communities).

LEARN

1. Nonprofit organizations (or NGOs—non-governmental organizations—as they are called in most of the world) use logos to send their messages. Some of these are well known (think of the Red Cross's red cross, or the sheltering hands logo of the United Way). How would you put your creativity to use to help an NGO in another country get its message out? Research NGOs that work in other countries to improve the lives of women and children. Pick a group whose mission you believe in, and design a logo that will communicate what they do. Write a short explanation about the message it sends.
2. Did you know that the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) is the combined voice for 10 million girls worldwide? Check out the WAGGGS website (www.wagggsworld.org) to see how that organization is an advocate for girls' issues globally such as HIV, AIDS, human trafficking, education, and health issues. Laws are an important way to ensure the rights of girls and women but different countries can have very different laws regarding women's rights.
3. Women in action! For some women, sisterhood is not just an ideal, it's a personal mission. They devote their energies and their careers to helping other women live better lives. They are incredible models of all that women can accomplish.
4. Great guys! It's not just women who appreciate women. Around the world, many men also devote their energies to improving women's rights. And for good reason: Research shows that when women are fully involved in development programs, the benefits can be seen immediately. "Their children are better educated; they are healthier and better fed; their families' income and economy improve." (from a speech by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the UN, March 8, 2002; see www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2002/sgsm8157.doc.htm).

DO

1. When you think about the kind of career you might like to have, do you ever think of working for a nonprofit organization or NGO? Working for an NGO can be a very meaningful and rewarding job. And there are all kinds of jobs in NGOs. In addition to the ones you might think of first—like pediatricians and nurses working for Doctors Without Borders, or farming specialists working for Oxfam, which helps people during famines—there are many others. Accountants, computer technicians, writers, and office managers all play important roles in nonprofit organizations. So do graphic designers and truck drivers. Look at some NGO websites and make a list of jobs that people are doing to help. List your skills and interests and match yourself with one of the jobs you researched. What are the pros and cons of such a job?
2. Performing a skit for a group of people is not only fun, but also a great way to inform people about a particular situation or issue that they may not know about. For example, the Ajoka Theatre Group in Pakistan travels around the country doing plays about the injustices that people face in Pakistani society—most of their plays are about issues that affect women and girls. Create a skit about international women's and girls' rights. Consider what you want to know more about regarding women's and girls' lives in other countries and then make a skit of your own that addresses this concern.
3. Write a poem or short story OR draw/paint a picture about what women's lives are like outside the United States, in developing countries.
4. Interview someone in your community who has worked in a developing country. Here are some questions to get your started:
   • What country did they work in?
   • When were they there?
   • What was life like for women in that country? Is it different now?
   • How did their work relate to the lives of women in that society?
   • Why did they choose to work in a developing country?
   • How did they feel when they were there?

What else would you like to ask them? Report what you learned back to your group and friends.

TIPS FOR FINDING PEOPLE TO INTERVIEW:

• Peace Corps alumni
• Religious service organizations
• Local colleges and universities (students who are from other countries or have studied abroad as well as faculty)

SHARE

1. A number of organizations are doing excellent work for women and girls—each of them could use your help. Research and identify one that you would like to help. Plan and carry out a project, with your group or as an individual, that will contribute to the lives of girls in the developing world. Be sure that the organization you choose to help really needs what you are providing (so you don't cause them unnecessary work and expense). Or, maybe they need help educating others about some of the issues women and girls face?
   IMPORTANT: Check in with your council about guidelines and possibilities for making donations.
2. Organize and host a "Global Girl Scouting" event and perform a skit about an issue that concerns you most about women and girls' lives across the world. Your skit can involve other "actors" and should be performed in front of an audience of six or more.
3. Since beginning work on this IP, what have you learned about the lives of girls in developing countries? How do you think the problems and challenges they face compare to those you and your peers face? How could young people like you help girls in other countries improve their lives? Lead a discussion in a group setting (in or outside of Girl Scouts) about women's rights internationally with specific emphasis on the work that women are doing to help advance women's rights in the world. (Consider an assignment you may already have at school—social studies, geography, current events or history, for example—could this satisfy it, too?)
4. Locate an organization in your community that is part of a global network which provides help to women and/or girls. Volunteer to help support their work abroad by donating your time or skills locally for as little as a day or as long as a week. Consider the Red Cross, Salvation Army, or missionaries established by a local faith organization. Where you live may be part of the "Sister Cities" network (U.S. cities with "sisters" overseas). IMPORTANT: Check in with your council about guidelines and possibilities for making donations.

NOTE: This activity differs from No. 1 in the "SHARE" category because your work is for a local organization with global connections; the work in No. 1 should directly impact a cause located outside the United States.

YOUR OWN activity
REFLECTION
IP Intro