Activism Log #7

Jessica Schwendeman
WST 3015 – Perez
4/11/10

Activism:
This week I had the opportunity to go with Mariana to visit one of her troops for the first time. Citrus Council is restarting a troop at Grand Oaks Village, which is a foster care home for children who have been abused by their caretakers. We met with the girls with very little preparation and expectations – we weren’t really sure how many girls would be there or what to expect from them. However, we feel that it’s important to reach out to these girls with extracurricular activities and the enrichment opportunities that Girl Scouts provides.

Once we got there, eight girls of various ages were waiting for us. They had already had a troop leader in the past year, but she had had to leave, and they hadn’t been participating in any activities since then. Because we weren’t sure what the girls had already worked with, we decided to do a simple overview of scouting and figure out what they wanted to get from the experience, as well as what they expected from the Girl Scouts. We did a simple activity with them and a few games, and then left with the promise to come back next week.


Reflection:
In general, the girls seemed very excited, but it was clear that they were not as well-socialized as other girls of their age – many of them were very shy, or seemed less emotionally mature than they should have been. Additionally, several of them were unnecessarily aggressive or withdrawn from the group. I believe that is a result of their abuse. The concept of ecofeminism can be related back to the girls in that, similar to some of the ideas of deep ecology, that the earth and nature is weak and vulnerable and needs protection (Kirk 538). The girls of Grand Oaks Village were abused by their caretakers – in many cases their parents, and were taken away from them. Though humans are not necessarily the caretakers of the earth, we can clearly see how in many cases we have abused our power.


Reciprocity:
Overall, it was a positive first meeting. The girls seemed responsive to our enthusiasm, though I can see that Mariana will have a somewhat more difficult time reaching them than she would with some other populations. However, I really think that if she is able to reach out to them and earn their trust, they will be richly rewarded from the program.

Works Cited
Kirk, Gwyn, and Margo Okazawa-Rey. Women's Lives: Multicultural Perspectives. 5th ed. Boston, MA: McGraw-Hill, 2010.