Girl scouts send aloha to Afghanistan
By Kapono Dowson
Advertiser Staff Writer
KANE'OHE — When members of Kane'ohe Girl Scout Troop 423 tried on the Afghan burqas, it gave immediacy to their school supply drive for Afghan girls.
Deborah Booker • The Honolulu Advertiser
Peeking through a sliver of netting in the long, black garments that cloak every part of the body except the eyes, the troop's 13 girls sensed how much they had and how little Afghan women have in comparison.
Troop 423 members, from left, Chenoa Twogood, Sarah Krupp, Emily Gomes, Liana Pagaduan and Brenda Light delivered boxes of school supplies to Maj. Chris Hughes and other Marines who will send the gifts to Afghanistan.
"The girls in Afghanistan don't get to do a lot of things. They don't really have health care. They can't get jobs, and they aren't allowed to go outside," said Keyana Stevens, who just finished the sixth grade at Aikahi Elementary School. "When you hear about those things it makes you really thankful for what you have here, even if it means homework after school."
The girls collected more than 1,000 pounds of school supplies, which they turned over to Marines yesterday at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe. The Marines will pack the shipment and send it through Marine Forces Central Command to Bahrain, and then to Afghanistan, where they will distribute it to Afghan school children.
The scouts collected more than 60,000 items, according to troop co-leader Linda Krupp's supply record. Krupp said her girls received support throughout the island. Businesses, schools and other Girl Scout troops donated supplies and provided drop-off sites.
"There are no blackboards over there. No roof on their school," said Liana Pagaduan, 11, who has been a scout since kindergarten.
Describing the burqas, she said, "They're hot. Really, really hot. And dusty. It's hard to see out of with only this small netting to see out of."
The burqas were brought over in April by Ann Wright, a U.S. diplomatic corps member assigned to the re-opening of the Kabul embassy. When Wright visited the Kane'ohe troop, she also shared photo albums and spoke to the girls about people's hardships there.
Dawna Gomes, troop co-leader and mother of two scouts, said the girls learned the Taliban would beat women with chains if any part of their bodies but their eyes showed in public.
The girls also learned the literacy rate for Afghan women is only 8 percent. Schools are re-opening, with the average female student being 16 and in the first grade, said Jackie Reilly, membership development director for the Girl Scout Council of Hawai'i.
The girls started their drive in January when they realized the Taliban had made girl scouting illegal and disbanded Girl Guides (the international version of Girl Scouts).
"There used to be girl scouts there," said Laura Krupp, troop co-leader and mother of one member. "And we want to see girl scouts over there again."
Reach Kapono Dowson at kdowson@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-8103.
