PHOTOS: Johnston Girl Scouts Celebrate World Thinking Day

Each year, Girl Scouts around the world celebrate World Thinking Day in February. 

This is a day to learn about girls in other countries and experience new cultures. 

On Feb. 24, more than 170 Johnston Girl Scouts gathered at The Bridge to celebrate the event.

The theme this year was “We can save children’s lives.” 

The theme focused on both child mortality and maternal health around the globe. 
Each troop in attendance sponsored a booth from a different country. Countries represented this year included: China, France, Pakistan, Singapore, Jordan, Thailand, Great Britain, Venezuela, Germany, Chad, India, Uganda, South Korea, Malawi, Tanzania, and Ireland. 

The girl scouts traveled “around the world,” learning about the different cultures at each booth. Booths offered activities, crafts, and food samples. Each girl could collect a country pin for her sash as a special reminder of each country.
Girls sampled food such as dulce de leche, marzipan, irish soda bread, pad thai, and naan.  Others learned about the spread of germs, or practiced carrying jugs of water on their heads.  

In addition to the hands-on activities, the Girl Scouts and the Johnston Service Unit Leaders donated $578 to Holt International. 

Holt is an adoption service that helps children in need from around the world find adoptive families in the U.S.  Celeste Snodgrass, a Holt Director from Omaha, spoke about the work the agency does in the world. 

Several families with children adopted through Holt attended the event and shared their inspirational stories.

In addition to the speakers, several girls were recognized for earning their Bronze Award for community service and all the girls participated in the opening and closing flag ceremonies. 

The SFEL Choir of Des Moines closed out the afternoon with a performance of original songs.  The members of the choir are all refugees from Burundi, Africa.  As the choir sang and danced, the Girl Scouts joined in to celebrate their day of cultural learning.