What's Up With The Girl Scout Promise?

Happy September. I think I am now settled in at home and looking forward to a change in the weather. Fall is probably my favorite season. There is something about kids going back to school, the excitement of them seeing old friends, new school clothes, beautiful fall colors, better air quality, holidays just around the corner; it all makes for an exciting time.

Home Sweet Home

If you read http://stellasguidetoliving.blogspot.com/2012/08/home-sweet-home-montana.html, you may have wondered why I ended the post with the Girl Scout Promise. Or maybe you just read that I was planning to serve God and my country and didn't really put the two together. My husband, unfamiliar with the Girl Scout Promise, read the post and asked, "What's up with God?"

While on my trip to Tanzania, I learned of some really great, inspiring work that Mrs. Mary Kahembe, with the help of LTT, is doing for Tanzanian women; creation of the Manyara Region Chapter of Girl Guides of Tanzania. Ladies of Babati, you are very lucky to have Mary Kahembe in your community and in your lives. If you embrace her and what she stands for with all of your might, you will be stronger and better equipped to get through this thing we call life.

I had never heard of Girl Guides. I was a Brownie and Girl Scout and knew what that was about, but the term "Girl Guides" was foreign to me. Well, it turns out they are the same, but different names for different countries. The mission of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts is to enable girls and young women to develop their fullest potential as responsible citizens of the world.

To my simple way of thinking, that means we educate and empower women (young and old) to stand up for human rights and women's rights. Stand up for what is right. What does that mean in Tanzania? The same thing it means anywhere else in the world. Females are just as deserving of an education as males. Females are just as deserving of good employment with equal pay. Females deserve to own businesses and prosper. Plain and simple, gender equality. And by the way, Tanzanian women are not alone in this quest. There are many women around the world in need of Girl Guides. One day, one woman at a time.

As Chris and I learned about the Tanzanian culture, learned a little Swahili, learned the needs of schools, communities and the great people of Tanzania, we made a promise to each other that we would do a little more. I so enjoyed my visits with Mary as she explained to me what she saw Girl Guides doing for the young women of Tanzania. This is something that I want to support. Women of the world, unite.

"Great opportunities to help others seldom come, but small ones surround us every day." ~ Sally Koch