During the Girltopia, Journey the
girls had the opportunity to map their community and put in the pieces that
were there. And I made sort of a
joking comment that I didn’t see a women’s shelter, and the response surprised
me! I was told, “we live in a nice
community,: there’s no domestic violence here.” And then in a Gold Award Project interview, I had a
similar response.
My response was startling to each
of them! I told them that in
Orange County, 1 in 5 women are touched by domestic violence in their
lives. That DV knows no color, no
economic income level, no religion and no residence. It’s all around us, and we don’t know who has been touched
by it. In my Advisory Board
meeting, of the 8 of us sitting around the table, 2 were survivors of DV.
I told the committee about the
girls and the Girl Scout Gold Award Project, and I asked, “how can a girl identify the DV issue,
be passionate about it and want to Take Action, but not have the 40 hour
training required to work with the shelter women and children?” I explained that a Gold Award Project
needed to be more than just a collection of needed things. The girls need to use their leadership
to make a difference in the world and take action.
We did not come up with an answer,
but Vivian Clecak, the Executive Director for Human Options, left the door open
for further discussion. I think it
would be great to offer girls the chance to hear from Vivian and then take the
lead to create their own Take Action Projects! She is a very passionate speaker about DV, and also a therapist,
so she knows how to speak well, and listen hard.
Perhaps as Senior Advisors and/or
Project Advisors, this is how we can help the girls take the lead and create
their own project. Help them to
identify the Root Issue that they are passionate about, then help to channel
that into inspiration and focus for a project.
