One local Girl Scout troop has embodied the advocacy role promoted by the national organization by starting a library for an African primary school.
The girls of Troop 2304, a small troop of five with members from Latham to Saratoga, decided that, after volunteering at organizations around the Capital District, they wanted to turn their sights abroad. The fifth grade students collected over 2,000 books in a drive to begin a library at a primary school in Lesotho, Africa, earning them a Bronze Award for their efforts.
The effort began last year during cookie-selling season in the spring, after the girls had researched The African Library Project and chose to begin the library in Lesotho. Since shipping cost over $500, the troop put all they could into cookie sales to raise the money.
The African Library Project collaborates with volunteers in the United States to set up book drives for children’s books to ship the books overseas. Partners in the Peace Corps or local school personnel then help set up the libraries for African communities.
The second phase of the project included a book drive with a goal of 1,000 books for the primary school. Between local schools, libraries, friends and families, Troop 2304 collected about 2,600 books.
“They were thinking of possibly setting up a second library in Africa, but they decided they wanted to see this from start to finish,” said Jennifer Carraher, mother of troop member Cassandra.
Instead, the girls sent 1,200 books to Lesotho, and donated the other 1,400 to CAPTAIN Youth and Family Services in Clifton Park for the organization’s summer literacy program.
After Troop 2304 packed the books into boxes of 40 pounds, the books were shipped off in December 2014. Since then, the troop has been getting notifications of where the books are. In January, Carraher said they were told the books were in on a container headed to Africa. In March, the books were set to arrive at Lesotho’s point of entry.
Carraher said that packing the books was half the challenge, since the girls had to first divide them by age, then pack them in waterproof bags and put them into boxes weighing no more than 40 pounds, so the people retrieving the books could easily carry them.
Since March, the troop has yet to receive anymore word from Africa, but the girls recently celebrated their Bronze Award for the project, the highest honor a Girl Scout at the Junior level can receive.
“It needs to be a take-action project, and making a difference in your community,” said Allison Marinucci, Girl Scouts of Northeastern New York (GSNENY) Community and Government Relations Associate. There is a 20-hour minimum requirement of hours worked on a project to be considered for a Bronze Award.
“It seems that they really wanted to help create literacy overseas, and it sounds like it’s going to be very sustainable,” said Marinucci of Troop 2304’s project.
While the troop heard it received the award in January, the girls wanted to wait until they heard more progress from the library in Africa before celebrating. The troop held a banquet Saturday, April 25. At the banquet, the girls also heard they have been recognized by GSNENY as a high service group after selling about 1,700 boxes in cookies this year.
“In addition to the banquet being a celebration, it was also an opportunity for each girl to get up and have a forum to speak publicly about why they love Girl Scouting so much,” said Carraher. “They were able to be seen as a leader and an authority on something that’s girl-driven and girl-led.”
While still waiting to see the end of the library project, Carraher said Troop 2304 is considering working more with the elderly, which it has done before with arts and crafts and signing songs. The troop is also considering starting to meet outside of Girl Scout meetings to work with other girls to talk about all that girls can do, whether it be a book club or girl empowerment group.
“These five girls are learning what happens if you set your mind to a goal,” said Carraher. “Who would have thought these five girls could start a library in Lesotho?”
