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“Wonders of Water” Journey
Urbandale Girl Scout Troop 541, Leader: Dee Richards - March 3,
2013
Water is life.
This is what the Troop 541 girls have been learning this year, in their
second year as Brownies.
They’ve learned that, while water is lots of fun in its different forms,
it’s also a resource that can easily become in short supply. And it’s a resource that’s vital
to life - ours, animals’, and plants’.
As such, we have to love it.
Protect it. By protecting
it, we help to sustain life. There
are many ways we can do this. Many ways we can have an impact.
And we begin with One…
We looked for small ways we could make an impact - as one,
in our own homes. The girls showed
that they loved water by turning off the water while they brushed their
teeth…until it was time to rinse; by re-using leftover water in drinking
glasses and bottles to water plants and give pets a drink; by catching
rainwater in buckets…to water our flowers later; and by being careful to keep
our water “clean”… getting garbage into its proper place.
We then look a little further outward and move on to
Community…
The girls teamed up as a troop to make an impact outside
their homes. They participated in
a “clean the creek” event at Walker Johnston Park, where they pulled garbage
from inside and alongside the creek. They trudged through cold, ankle deep water,
through brush that left them covered in burrs, and continued excitedly on to
get more. They knew they were doing a good thing and had a blast doing it.
These girls are amazing!
They then got others involved in protecting and loving
water. The girls built a list of
water saving ideas for their school mates, and then in smaller teams created
beautiful posters for their schools.
They incorporated their saving ideas, as well as the Girl Scouts “Love Water”
design, and some of their own creativity and artistry into the posters. They
were so proud of their creations and eagerly took them to their school
principals to hang up for their school communities.
Several times in the first few months of the journey, we
talked about people in other parts of the world. Not everyone enjoys the ease we do of getting
clean water from our faucets. Many have to search for water. For miles and hours. Every day. And
many times, this water makes them sick, or even kills them. In fact, one child dies every 20
seconds from drinking this unclean, unsafe water.
We watched a video showing people scooping water from
puddles and ponds. This water was very dirty. After a
borehole well was installed in their village, they had much better water. We also enjoyed a visit from our friends
Lucy and Ashley, who visited us last year to share stories of Kenya. Last year they told us about a book
shortage there; this year they told us about all the children who get sick
there. From bad water.
To better understand why this water makes many people sick,
we decided to take a closer look at our own water system. What happens to our water to help keep
us from getting sick, too?
We visited and toured the Des Moines Water Works plant and learned about
the extensive, careful process of pulling water from our community’s rivers,
cleaning it, and transporting it to our homes. DMWW staff gave us plenty of eww’s, ahh’s, and wow’s
as they told us about each part of this process. They even took us inside their science labs, where we
learned about the culprit behind the sickening, or killing, of so many people in
other parts of the world.
Bacteria. We saw microscope
magnified images of some of these live creepy crawlers, and learned that
chlorine helps to kill them to make our water safe to drink. The tour was definitely a
fascinating, worthwhile learning opportunity for all.
So…with this knowledge, how can we have an impact for people
in other parts of the world?
How can we help them get better water? It’s very difficult to do without the help of others. So we asked for help. We asked for a
partner. We invited Water Our
Thirsty World (WOTW), a non-profit from Mount Pleasant, Iowa, to become our
partner. WOTW has a device that
makes chlorine to kill the bacteria in water - the same bacteria that’s making
so many people sick. And they help
to get borehole wells in place.
So people don’t have to spend hours searching for water. Children can
spend more time in school, learning and growing. Parents can spend more time
caring for their families in other ways – like tending their gardens. WOTW
plans to visit the girls on March 10 to tell them more about their work and about
the impact the girls can- and
will- have by helping people get better water. These girls will be helping to save lives. Very cool. And …even more cool, we’ve gotten a 2nd partner
commitment! Molly Long’s 2nd grade
Brownies heard what we were doing and excitedly agreed to help us get the word
out and walk with us. So, more
girls having an impact!
In fact, through the combined efforts of Girl Scouts and
WOTW, we could have an amazing impact on lives saved around the world. We are doing this by organizing and
promoting a “water walk” as partners. We are hoping to bring several people together in our
community to tell them about the water crisis. And we hope more people will want to also help get better
water around the world. We’re
going to walk for a mile, all of us gathered together, carrying water – to
symbolize the daily ritual of so many who are thirsting for clean, accessible
water. We’re also going to
talk about what we can do here at home to make sure our own water stays safe
and protected. We’ve invited Polk
County Conservation to help us educate and inform others at our walk.
We’re already getting the word out, inviting lots of people
to join us at our walk.
We have presented our story to Urbandale Chamber of Commerce members at
the Girl Scouts Shades of Green event. We’re also going to share our story with
State Legislators, and invite them to come walk with us. The girls have also begun hanging
posters around Urbandale. And finally, the girls will capture their journey story in a video, to
reach even more people of the community. To help more people of the world. These girls are amazing!
So…that’s where we are in our journey. We’re hoping to be
successful in our efforts.
And we’re hoping more people will be aware, as we are now, of how
important it is to love our precious resource, water. Water is life, and it’s our responsibility to protect
it.
The girls are learning to be great leaders of tomorrow
through their journey experience.
Below is a summary of each award earned.
- Love water – girls recognize that they can have an impact on protecting the earth’s resources. They shared what they most enjoy about water, and made commitments to protect water at home. They also participated in “Clean the Creek” event at Walker Johnston Park.
- Save water – girls realize that if they can extend their impact by asking others to join them in their efforts. They created posters to encourage others in their (school) community to also protect and conserve water, and gave them suggestions on how to do it.
- Share water – girls realize that if they tell others what they’ve learned and how they are making a positive impact at home and in their community, others may also want to join in to make the impact far greater. Girls are doing this via short presentations, event posters & invitations, and video.
WOW! – this is the culmination of the girls’ efforts. They hope to have a large
number of people participate in their water walk event. This will be a visible indication
of how many people they’ve reached by sharing their story. They will celebrate their efforts
with a WOW! party at their final troop meeting.
Other awards earned:
- World Thinking Day Award
- Global Action Award
In promotion of the efforts regarding water, there is a local event below if you are interested in participating. Go to www.ourthirstyworld.org for more information.
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