Every year, Girl Scout Troops from all over the United States participate in World Thinking Day, where they will learn about culture from other countries and will support positive, life-changing fundraisers that will help young women and children in those countries. Over ten million Girl Scouts and their group leaders participate in this activity all over the world. This day full of activities has been going on since 1926, which makes it a must for most troops in our nation. World Thinking Day was created by WAGGGS (World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts) and has spread from five countries to one hundred and forty-five over the past century.
World Thinking Day is a chance for Girl Scouts of all ages and locations to learn about the importance of friendship, help people from other countries by raising money with multiple fundraisers, participate in educational games and activities, join together with other troops for an overall cause, and get the chance to earn the World Thinking Day Badge.
Along with all of the fun activities and meaningful lessons that they will learn on February 22nd, it is also an important day for fundraising for all Girl Scout Troops. The fundraising in late February has been part of the Girl Scouts’ tradition since 1932. The money that was raised by the fundraisers and donations will be sent to places all across the globe, where the girls and young women will receive educational resources and small grants for needed projects in their area.
Every year, the World Thinking Day has a different theme that is based off of things that are affecting young girls in our world today. Some of the themes from the previous years are world hunger and poverty, HIV and AIDS, and environmental sustainability.
This year is a little different because unlike the others, 2013 was given a double theme or a “twin” theme. Maternal Health and Child Morality are the official themes for 2013. Luckily, the two themes go hand-in-hand perfectly. It’s obvious that healthy babies come from healthy mothers and the lives of both parents and children are tightly knit together. WAGGGS has created many fundraiser ideas for the Girl Scouts willing to participate so that many lives of both babies and mothers will be saved and changed by the money donated to their region.
Although it may seem rare or uncommon, having a large number of unhealthy children is a growing problem around the world, including the United States. We may hear about many children in foreign countries that have died before the age of five and nearly 90% of those deaths that take place are babies under one year old while 60% of them are newborns.
Most deaths in small children are not caused by the lack of medicines, health services, or doctors. They are actually caused because women in certain areas do not have safe pregnancies or births, allowing the risk of death to be higher for both the mother and the child. This is why WAGGGS has decided to donate to help reduce child morality with the theme of “Together, we can save lives”.
There are solutions available to help save these lives, and that’s what the Girl Scouts plan to do with donations. The children and young people of today’s world may not know it, but they are the biggest generation that the world has ever seen and make up nearly half of the population. Girl Scouts and Girl Guides want to inspire other kids and leaders to help with this year’s World Thinking Day to have another great turn out and to help change lives of both children and families through small fundraisers and activities that will take place worldwide on February 22nd.
