Final Update

Hey everyone! Thanks so much for your patience as I have needed some time after the trip to Haiti to gather pictures, videos, and information to share with you. I am very busy during this time preparing for graduation and college, so I apologize that it's taken a while to update this page and let everyone know about the final steps of my project.

Thank you so much for your support and prayers during our mission trip to Haiti from March 26th to April 2nd. We returned home safely and healthy for the most part, and we are now resting, recovering from, and reflecting on our trip. As you know, on Tuesday the 26th we flew out early in the morning to Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti. From there our team of 42 drove up to the town of Fedja and the All of God’s Children Orphanage with Global Vision Citadelle Ministries (GVCM). The orphanage houses 80+ children, and we worked on projects such as painting a mural, loving and playing with the orphans, handing out food and supplies to the community, organizing a soccer tournament, making repairs and putting tarps on widow’s houses to protect them from the coming seasonal rainstorms, and much more.

We spent a few days in Fedja and then made the four hour drive up a dirt road to the mountain town of Thomassique, where GVCM runs a school to educate around 1800 children, as well as a church. Here, the men on the team worked on making improvements to the team center to encourage more groups to make the trip to Thomassique and to help here on mission trips. They also spent time working on building tons of new school benches and desks as well as new pews for the church. During our time here, we also put on Vacation Bible School for hundreds of children, where many of them gave their hearts and lives to Christ for the first time. We handed out clothing, shoes, hygiene items, and more to the people in the town and to those in a smaller church community in the countryside. We attended the church there on Easter Sunday, and experienced a wonderful and moving time of worship, teaching, and praying. One of the most amazing things happened during the service when four people, including a Voodoo priest, came forward to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. What a powerful experience.

We headed back to Fedja after a few days to finish up our projects there, and to finish handing out the backpacks that I filled with items for my Girl Scout Gold Award project. We made it home safely and without too much sickness. We found the experience extremely humbling and eye-opening, even though it was challenging physically, mentally, emotionally, and spiritually. God is doing amazing things in Haiti and we were so blessed to be a part of His work there. Again, we are so grateful for your thoughts and prayers during our mission and for your financial support. Without you, our trip would not have been possible and we would not have touched so many lives with the love of Jesus and the mercy and hope that He promises. Please visit http://vimeo.com/63604658 if you would like to view a slideshow of our trip.

On Monday, April 29th I received my Gold Award along with around 30 other young women who completed amazing projects and made an incredible impact on the community and the world. Visit http://gscoblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/17/emily-marie-wagner-hope-for-haiti/ to view my page on the Girl Scouts of Colorado website, and check out the other Gold Award projects. Also take a look at the pictures - even though they cannot begin to illustrate the devastation throughout the country, they can begin to show you about just how difficult the lives of these people can be. Nevertheless, the Hatians are some of the happiest, most generous, and most grateful people I have ever met. Their courage and hope for a better future inspires me everyday. 

I would like to thank my liason for my project for helping give me ideas and keep me diligent on my project along the way, as well as my Girl Scout leader for being there for me for all these years and for giving me everything that I could have possibly needed to get me to where I am today. My parents have been absolutely amazing throughout this process as well, and I want to give them credit above everyone else for motivating me, inspiring me, encouraging me, and supporting me every step of the way. They help me to be the best person that I can be, and back me up in anything and everything that I do, including my mother helping me pass out flyers in a snowstorm and my dad flying on a plane with me to Haiti so that I could personally deliver the backpacks that I made. They are such incredible people and the greatest parents I could ever ask for.

I also want to thank all the community members, as well as family and friends, for donating items, giving money, and supporting my efforts. You are all inspiration to me to continue doing awesome things for others. Please contact me with any questions or comments you may have.

Many thanks,

Emily Wagner

Officially Done with the Gold Award

Wow!! It has been an amazing, inspirational, and challenging past few months. I ended up making up 150 backpacks for the kids in Haiti thanks to the generosity of a bunch of great people. I am so incredibly proud of the work I've accomplished and am so excited to go take the backpacks to Haiti.

You can still continue to give, by donating with the PayPal donation button on the right-hand side of the page. Again, if you have questions, please comment on this page or email me at emilysgoldaward@gmail.com. Thanks so much for reading, visiting, donating, and supporting me with this project. I will continue to update the blog with information about Haiti and how you can help in relief efforts to combat child poverty in this struggling nation as well as countries around the world.

I will also give occasional updates on my upcoming mission trip (in three weeks!!!!) and when I actually receive my award in April. My project is completed and I have officially earned my Girl Scout Gold Award, but will not receive the actual pin until the ceremony at a later date. Keep checking back for new information!

Thank you all so much for everything you've done to provide me support, encouragement, and inspiration in this project to help some kids that I passionately care for. I could not have done it without you.

God Bless,
Emily

Some Pictures of My Work in Action

Final Report

Below is my final report for the Girl Scout Council. Please take a minute to read through it and explore my thoughts on my project, how I was affected, and how I hope to impact the lives of others. Thanks so much!

Describe the community core issue you addressed.

My project addressed the issues of child poverty around the world, specifically in third-world countries, and the fact that many people living in more prosperous areas of the United States are often desensitized to and isolated from the current events and issues that are happening on a global scale today. The media covers certain topics, then quickly moves on to keep ratings up and to keep the attention of its viewers. I wanted to bring back attention to those who are neglected and forgotten about, and to offer a small solution to help tackle child poverty and to begin to help heal those affected by it.

Identify your target audience. Provide examples of the skills, knowledge or attitudes they gained.

I wanted to inform children and teens in my own community (Highlands Ranch) about child poverty around the world to broaden their worldview and get them information about how to help a struggling population. I feel that I am very lucky to live in such a wealthy community as Highlands Ranch and sometimes I forget that there are people living much harder lives than I am. I take my life in the US for granted; most children and teens around the world do not have nearly the opportunities and resources that I do. I feel that this project humbled myself and opened the eyes of my fellow classmates and friends to the rest of the world. I wanted people to understand that they should try to be grateful for what they have, and generous to those who are less fortunate. Many countries and global organizations are still working to provide both short- and long-term relief to Haiti. However, much of the public has pushed the issues aside at word of other current events. My hope was to raise awareness once again in my community so that we may network and communicate with others about the issues.

Specifically, how will your project be sustained beyond your direct involvement?

I have confirmed with two clubs at my school that they will be carrying on a school supply drive either at the beginning or end of each school year. I needed a club to take on this project and provide a means to continue on with community education and donation collection for a part of the world where children have been neglected by the media. For each coming year, the drive can focus again on Haiti or a new location may be chosen. An annual materials drive can happen for a nation and its children, while educating the public on why that location was chosen and how they can help.

List examples of immediate, near future and long term impact of your project.

Most immediately, my project benefited both the neighborhood families and the students at my school. Through my presentations to certain clubs at the school and with the publishing of my blog as well as advertisement of the website to the community, I tried to spread information about child poverty, Haiti, the issues surrounding Haiti today, where people can find more information, and how a person here in Colorado can help. In the near future, I will take the backpacks with me on my mission trip to Haiti in March, where I will deliver the supplies to the children, the school, and the orphanage. Long-term, my project will hopefully benefit more children in Haiti and others living in poverty around the world through the school supply drives in future years.


What did you find to be the national and/or global links to your issue?

I want to help raise awareness about children living in poverty locally, nationally, and internationally. Education is the first aspect, as it provides a means and a reason for people to help others. I am passionate to help Haiti and children around the world that are living in such horrible conditions. I understand that they need help with education for the kids, medical treatment, orphanage services, training for teachers, shelters for flood and earthquake relief, food distributions for the hungry, etc.; the list goes on and on. So with my project, I take on a small aspect of fighting child poverty, and work to make the impact that I can make, however small or large that may be.


Describe obstacles you encountered and what you did to overcome them.

One of the biggest issues I encountered was relying on others. I didn’t have any idea on how many volunteers I would have show up to have me hand out flyers around neighborhoods or later to help me pick up donations. I also wasn’t sure how much I could rely on my neighbors and community partners to offer donations. Sometimes I had to put in a few more hours of my own personal time and some extra effort to reach out and fill a void, whatever that may be. Another thing that I found to be a challenge was both the cost of shipping and how much space we had available for shipping the backpacks along with all of our other supplies for our mission trip in March. Through generous donations I am able to cover costs to transport everything. With brainstorming and offering alternative options, I have decided with my team leaders Blake and Marci that we will take as many backpacks as possible, and anything we cannot take we will send with the next group, use to send on other trips around the world for struggling children, or ship it to the orphanage’s large storage crate in Florida, which can be sent to Haiti when it is filled.


Describe what steps you took to inspire others through sharing/ "publishing" your project. (website, blog, presentations, posters, videos, articles, and so on).

So far I have made a website/blog that has information about my project as well as child poverty and the information I used, and also has links to websites where people can learn more about global issues such as child poverty in Haiti and how they can help. I made presentations to several clubs at school to spread the information and raise awareness to volunteers so they knew why and how they were helping the Haitian children. Also, on all the flyers I passed out, I put some background context for my project about Haiti as well as an email address and website where people could learn more or go if they had any questions.


What did you learn about yourself as a result of this project that surprised you?

The most surprising thing I learned about myself from this project was the fact that even though I am just one person in a world of billions, I have the potential to change the world. There are endless resources and opportunities available to me, as well as so many people that are willing to help and support me, and all I have to do is start something and get the word out. I didn’t necessarily think that my project or my own ideas would have enough force to really make an impact on someone, but I learned that it’s not about how much I do, just that I’m working towards a positive change and a benefit to somebody else.


What are you most proud of about your project?

I am most proud of the community response and the willingness of others to help. I got a ton of free plastic shopping bags from grocery stores to use to pay out with flyers for donations, as well as discounts and donations for copies of the flyers. I have gotten emails from people asking how else they can help and if I need any more items, and am collecting more donations all the time even weeks after the “official” collection date. I am also proud of the opportunities and interests that I have personally been lead to, including the trip to Haiti to take the results of my projects to the kids themselves. I wasn’t sure if I could go, but have been inspired by the incredible response to finish my project strong and make sure that everything was delivered to where it needed to be and used how it should. I am amazed at how this project has opened doors to more service opportunities, relationships in my community, and ways that I can get others involved.


The following is a list of the 15 Girl Scout Leadership Outcomes. Which do you think you developed through this project?

Please mark all that apply and give one or two examples for each outcome you developed.

Discover

x I developed a stronger sense of self.

x I developed positive values.

x I gained practical life skills.

x I sought challenges in the World.

x I developed critical thinking.

Please give one or two examples of your growth as a leader in this outcome.

I had to truly discover myself and the things that I value with this project, such as patience, compassion, kindness, self-control, and empathy. I learned that, as Gandhi stated, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” Some life skills I had to develop were public speaking and asking for help from strangers, as well as detailed organization and extensive planning not only to plan out my own project but to make it easy and clear for those who were helping me. I sought one of the biggest global challenges, taking on child poverty, and made my own efforts to at least make somewhat of an impact.


Connect

x I developed healthy relationships.

x I promoted cooperation and team building.

x I resolved conflicts.

x I advanced diversity in a multicultural World.

x I felt more connected to my community, locally and globally.

Please give one or two examples of your growth as a leader in this outcome.

During this project I met so many new and incredible people who a believe I will build a strong relationship with in the future. This includes the members of the clubs at school, who have great potential to do amazing things in life, as well as my team leaders, with whom I have developed my relationship and furthered my connection with them. I had to resolve conflicted between members of groups and clubs that didn’t work well together; I used their own talents and strengths to build off one another and make their volunteering as effective and efficient as possible. I brought global awareness and cultural understanding and diversity to my volunteers and team members, because I informed them about the issues that my project involved and how our efforts were actually helping. I didn’t want people to blindingly show up and be there just to be there; I wanted the volunteers to want to help and to have some background as to why I was doing what I was doing. I think that I built a strong connection to my community because I talked to neighbors and community members and spread information to the public about my project and about child poverty.


Take Action

x I identified community issues.

x I was a resourceful problem solver.

x I advocated for myself and others, locally and globally.

x I educated and inspired others to act.

x I felt empowered to make a difference in the World.

Please give one or two examples of your growth as a leader in this outcome.

The community issue I addressed was the continuing causes effects of child poverty, and the fact that we have isolated and desensitized views of third-world nations because of the media. I had to use the limited ideas and resources that were available to me to solve the problem of how I could help make a difference in the lives of the Haitian children when I was only one girl in a big world. Through my informative presentations and website, I advocate for the children in need all over the world who are forgotten about every day. They need someone to speak for them because their voices are seldom heard. My project has sparked ideas in the Student Leadership and Key Club at my high school and they want to help further my ideas through supply drives and class competitions with donations in the future. They are always asking me about what else they can do to help and how we can continue to advocate for these children. After this project, I realize that I have the potential to spark change. Even though I may not be able to do everything alone, I feel that when one person starts, a chain reaction begins and great work can be done.

The "Hope for Haiti" Project

This post is meant to accompany slide #9 entitled "The 'Hope for Haiti' Project" from my presentation that I gave to the volunteers helping me with my project. The presentation can be found in a post below. I will update this blog with detailed information about the others slides as well.

Gold award project must make an impact on the community and has to be sustainable for the future.

My goals include education for the public and donation collection for the kids.

With the education aspect, I hope to inform children and teens about child poverty around the world to broaden their worldview and get them information about how to help a struggling population. I feel that I am very lucky to live in such a wealthy community as Highlands Ranch and sometimes I forget that there are people living much harder lives than I am. I take my life in the US for granted; most children and teens around the world do not have nearly the opportunities and resources that I do. I feel that this project will humble myself and open the eyes of my fellow classmates and friends to the rest of the world. I want people to understand that they should try to be grateful for what they have, and generous to those who are less fortunate. Many countries and global organizations are still working to provide both short- and long-term relief to Haiti. However, much of the public has pushed the issues aside at word of other current events. My hope is to raise awareness once again in my community so that we may network and communicate with others about the issues.

For the donations, I will work to collect backpacks through donations from the public as well as companies that may be willing to donate and to collect school supplies through collection boxes in the community. Yves Prophet and Global Citadelle Vision Ministries have approved the project. They are willing to work with me to get the most essential supplies to the children in need and are very thankful for any help they may receive through this project. I am hoping to travel to Haiti over spring break on a mission trip to deliver the backpacks.

To achieve sustainability, I need a club to take on this project and provide a means to continue on with community education and donation collection for a part of the world where children have been neglected by the media. I hope that for each coming year, a new location can be chosen and an annual materials drive can happen for some nation and its children, while educating the public on WHY that location was chosen and HOW they can help.

HIGHLANDS RANCH VS. HAITI

My neighborhood in Highlands Ranch, CO 

A neighborhood in Haiti

Why Haiti?

This post is meant to accompany slide #8 entitled "Why Haiti?" from my presentation that I gave to the volunteers helping me with my project. The presentation can be found in a post below. I will update this blog with detailed information about the others slides as well.

Haiti is still struggling and there is a crisis there that has been occurring in the nation for many years, especially since the earthquake in 2010. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and the majority of its people live in poverty and inhumane conditions.

After the earthquake, Haiti received a flood of media attention drawing support and donations from around the world to help its people in a time of great need. However, the public began to lose interest quickly as it turned its attention to other topics. Haiti is still in dire need of help, and has been even preceding the earthquake.

I am passionate to help Haiti and children around the world that are living in such horrible conditions. I understand that they need help with education for the kids, medical treatment, orphanage services, training for teachers, shelters for flood and earthquake relief, food distributions for the hungry, etc.; the list goes on and on. Many countries and global organizations are still working to provide both short- and long-term relief to Haiti. However, much of the public has pushed the issues aside at word of other current events. My hope is to raise awareness once again in my community so that we may network and communicate with others about the issues.

Our Progress

This post is meant to accompany slide #7 entitled "Our Progress" from my presentation that I gave to the volunteers helping me with my project. The presentation can be found in a post below. I will update this blog with detailed information about the others slides as well.

We have been making tons of improvements in dealing with child poverty and have really helped solve the problems that children around the world are facing. A review published by UNICEF in 2009 found: declines in under-five mortality, less child malnourishment, increases in breast feeding, improved water systems, better education access.

However, it also states that despite these improvements… 24,000 children still die each day from mostly preventable diseases, 150 million 5-14 year olds are involved in child labour, and 100 million primary aged children go without schooling. We still have a long way to go.

The graph above is reproduced here:

And you can check out the full Save the Children report titled "Building Hope in Haiti." It's all about the efforts following the earthquake to create jobs, protect children, train teachers, and educate families about sustainable progress and improvement. Take a look at it here.

Effects of Child Poverty in Developing Nations

This post is meant to accompany slide #6 entitled "Effects of Child Poverty in Developing Nations" from my presentation that I gave to the volunteers helping me with my project. The presentation can be found in a post below. I will update this blog with detailed information about the others slides as well.

Child poverty is characterized by a severe deprivation of basic human needs. About 674 million children are living in poverty. Many things contribute to poverty such as war, disease, corruption, lack of resources and harsh environmental conditions, which are all major causes of death, leading to a higher number of single parents and orphaned children.

Using a relative measure of child poverty, an impoverished child growing up in a developing country suffers more hardship than most children living in poverty in a developed country. It is estimated that one third of all children in developing countries (about 674 million) are living in poverty, the highest rates being in the rural areas of Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia

All UN member states have ratified the 1989 Convention on the Rights of the Child, with the exception of the United States and Somalia, which aims at reducing violations to a number of rights relevant to reducing child poverty in different countries. There are still great inequalities within populations, and girls and children from rural areas more likely to suffer poor health, education and survival than boys and urban populations. Notable state attempts to tackle child poverty in the developing world, include Brazil's Bolsa Familia initiative and South Africa's Child Grant. Elsewhere, child specific social protection policies and programmes are few and the institutions to implement them are often lacking.