Girl Scouts' World Thinking Day opens eyes to other countries, cultures

A colorful parade of nations headed down Redmond’s Education Hill on the afternoon of Feb. 24, as 90 Girl Scouts from Horace Mann Elementary energetically carried flags of many countries to a World Thinking Day celebration at Redmond Junior High School.

This year’s theme for World Thinking Day was “Together We Can End World Hunger and Poverty.” The Girl Scouts from grades K-6 did research on traditions and lifestyles in other countries, and in consideration of the year’s theme, paid special attention to the prevalence of need in various lands.

Displays at the junior high school featured international arts, crafts, foods and facts about how much people earn in different countries, how much education they have and how lack of such resources can hinder their health and employment opportunities.

For example, an exhibit about Ethiopia revealed that in this African nation of 83 million people, the average annual income is just $220 per person. Only 45 percent of Ethiopians go to primary school and only 27 percent to secondary school. The literacy rate is just 36 percent and life expectancy is 53 years.

Celebrated in hundreds of countries worldwide, World Thinking Day emphasizes friendship and sisterhood among Girl Scouts or Girl Guides as they are sometimes called.

To lend a more local touch to the crusade to end hunger and poverty, the Girl Scouts from Horace Mann donated boxes of Girl Scout cookies and canned foods to Redmond’s Hopelink Food Bank, as well as money toward Haitian earthquake relief efforts.

Contact Redmond Reporter Reporter Mary Stevens Decker at mdecker@redmond-reporter.com or (425) 867-0353, ext. 5052.

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