Girl Scouts of Colorado is pleased to announce that Samantha G., a Broomfield Girl Scout, has been awarded the “Look Wider” International Travel Scholarship for an upcoming trip to Zziba, Uganda. To learn more about Samantha’s trip and her experiences as a Girl Scout, please read this portion of her application.
General trip details
While there (Zziba, Uganda), I will be working with orphaned and severely disadvantaged children, as well as children and families in the surrounding area. My responsibilities will include math, science and English tutoring, assisting with the health care programs at the local outpatient clinic, and visiting homes as part of community outreach. I’ll also be helping to run a “Kids Camp” for several hundred children, where they’ll play games, hear stories and learn life lessons. Many of the orphaned children are close to my age, and I look forward to learning as much as possible from them as we share our cultures and life experiences. I’ll also be contacting the Uganda Girl Guides Association to find out if there are Girl Guides in or near Zziba. If there are, I’ll make arrangements to meet with them.
Explain why you want to participate in this trip and how it is pushing you to “Look Wider.”
Since first grade, I’ve been reciting the Girl Scout Promise and Law. This trip is an opportunity to put those words, as well as the Girl Scout Mission, into action – to help people, be caring and make the world a better place, all while exhibiting courage, confidence, and character. Serving and helping people in Waco, Texas the past two summers has allowed me to “Look Wider,” and traveling to Uganda will enable me to look even wider. More than anything, my life dream and long-term goal is to help others, and more specifically women and children in developing countries. I don’t yet know whether this means through policy change and/or enforcement, grant writing to secure money, focusing on health/sanitation issues, hands-on support of people in villages, etc., but I’m hopeful that this trip to Uganda will help me find out. I want to learn what the greatest needs are so I can focus my college studies appropriately.
Explain how your trip will help you learn more about the sisterhood of international Girl Scouts. What are your plans for relaying that message and enthusiasm to other girls?
I will thoroughly research and learn everything I can about Uganda and Africa and its people over the coming months in order to be as prepared as possible. I’ve read about the Uganda Girl Guides Association (UGGA), and plan to email UGGA to see if there are Girl Guides in the Zziba area. If there are, I will make arrangements to meet with them to learn as much as I can about the issues and challenges they face, their projects and service work, and some of their songs, traditions, and fun activities. I’ll also plan to share what I’ve learned as a Girl Scout, favorite memories, songs, etc.
To relay their message and enthusiasm to other girls, as well as my message and enthusiasm from the trip, I plan to reach out and hope to stir in girls compassion and empathy for others, a passion for taking action to help other people, and a desire to pursue their dreams and know that they can do anything they put their mind to. Upon my return, I’ll put together a PowerPoint to share with area service units and troops. I would love to share the stories, songs, and traditions of the UGGA girls I meet, as well as share my experience traveling to Uganda. In addition, I plan to submit an article and pictures to be posted on the GSOC travel blog.
Final Remarks
Finally, I have a heart to want to serve and help others, and this passion was in great part developed through my Girl Scout experiences over the last ten years. I do my best to make community service a priority by volunteering 3 hours/week at Avista Hospital in Louisville and at local community and Girl Scout events as much as I can. I’m looking forward sharing so much of what I’ve learned in Girl Scouts when I’m in Uganda, and I also look forward to bringing my experiences back to Colorado to share with other Girl Scouts.
“Look Wider” International Travel Scholarships are made possible by the Rae Ann and Richard Dougherty Look Wider International Travel Fund Endowment at Rose Community Foundation. Thanks to this generous commitment, Girl Scouts of Colorado will award scholarships to girls every year.
Learn more about Girl Scout destinations and other international travel at forgirls.girlscouts.org/travel. Applications for destinations travel are due before Thanksgiving each fall. The application for the “Look Wider” International Travel Scholarship is available from November through February and is meant for individual girl travel. Read more about Global Girl Scouting and how to get involved at girlscoutsofcolorado.org/global-girl-scouting.