Water Blogged

We recently received these cute photos from Girl Scout Troop #4406 in Arlington, VA.  These girls participated in the Tuckahoe/HB Woodlawn 5k to support a Escuela Pescaderia in the Dominican Republic, but also did much more.  Here is the note which arrived with the photos:

– Last year, as a Daisy troop, we went to the local nature center, where the guide talked to the girls about how water is filtered naturally by running through rocks and soil. She also demonstrated how runoff in our area pollutes our streams, and the streams feed the Chesapeake Bay. Afterwards, the girls walked along the stream banks and helped collect garbage to clean up the local area.

– This year, as part of our journey called “Wonders of Water”, the girls carried gallon jugs of water which were filled with water that didn’t look very clean for some distance. We then read a book about how some girls must carry water for their families instead of going to school. We also used an online calculator to see how much water we use in a day for showers, the dishwasher, washing machine, brushing our teeth, cooking and handwashing dishes, and then imagined trying to carry that much water every day. We then learned about ways to help conserve water, and talked about last year’s outing where we learned what it takes to have clean water.

– Finally, but not the last chapter, certainly, our local school sponsored the H2O for Life 5K to support fixing the water supply for a school in the Dominican Republic. The girls created a billboard about H2O for Life’s project, set up a stand at the local farmer’s market, and spoke to people about either joining the 5K or making a donation. They then took part in the 5K, and at a later Girl Scouts event for “World Thinking Day”, presented the Dominican Republic at that venue. One of our Brownies has a grandfather from the Dominican Republic, and we tried some snacks (pastellitos, and fried plaintains) and really enjoyed it.

The parents, and the girls, really appreciate that H2O for Life provides us a way to engage in an important environmental issue so that we can take action locally – conserving water, appreciating what we have here, and being good stewards – as well as globally – learning about other countries and through the projects and sites, about the history and culture of people living there.