[00:00:00] Walter: The hearts of gold podcast is brought to you by the grow and share network produced by off the Walter media.
[00:00:11] Sheryl: Welcome to hearts of gold today. We have Himani with us. Hi Himani.
[00:00:16] Himani: Hi, how are you?
[00:00:17] Sheryl: I’m great. Can you tell us about your Girl Scout Gold Award project?
[00:00:22] Himani: So my project is called Project Save the Girl Child, and I started it in 2018.
[00:00:27] So the main goal of my project is to raise awareness about the issue of female gendercide. So for the people who don’t know, female gendercide is when in patriarchal societies, when there’s a preference for a male child over a female child. A lot of times when families find out that they’re expecting a baby girl, they will either abort the child, or if they decide to keep the child, they’ll terminate her after birth through, you know, poisoning, drowning, or just deliberate neglect.
[00:00:54] And it’s a very serious issue in a lot of Asian, South Asian, East Asian countries. And it’s said to have claimed the lives of more victims in World War One and World War Two combined. So it’s a, it’s a issue of like, like staggering effect. So the main aims of my project, I have two. The first one is to raise awareness about this issue, because a lot of people don’t even know that female gendercide exists.
[00:01:18] So first is education. Then it’s also educating them about the effect and the consequences that this has on societies and on populations. And so I’ve done this through Genocide Awareness seminars, which I hold at Asian cultural centers. And then also distributing brochures in slum districts in India, and then I partnered with an organization called the Invisible Girl Project, and they work to end female gendercide in India through rescuing girls who are in high risk domestic situations where they’re at risk for female gendercide, and they work to rescue them and then resettle them and empower them through education.
[00:01:55] And so. I worked with them for a while and then I became their youth brand ambassador, which was very cool. And the second aim of my project is to empower girls through education and healthcare. Because a lot of where the issue of female gendercide stems from, is that in these societies people don’t value girls as much as they do boys.
[00:02:15] They, you know, they see less potential in them. They don’t invest in their education or their career progression. And so I noticed a lot of this when I’ve been in India, you know, girls are often kept at home to do housework or do chores. They only do education up to a certain level where boys are sometimes invested in more there.
[00:02:35] You know, they go to They finish their high school, they go into college and then onto jobs. And so where the second aim of my project comes into is, if we educate girls and we provide them with the same access to, you know, their health, then we can uplift their status in society. We can empower them and make people see that they have as much potential as the boys and the sons of society.
[00:02:57] And so that is the second aim of my project is to really, you know, empower the girls that so they aren’t hindered by this mindset that causes female gendercide.
[00:03:06] Sheryl: How did you find this project when you were looking for a gold award project?
[00:03:10] Himani: Where this project started was really from personal experience because I am the second daughter in an Asian household.
[00:03:16] So I’m very, I’m well aware of like, you know, the stereotypes and the mindsets that exist within an Asian household, you know, so I have an older sister and even when my parents were expecting me relatives, family, friends would say things like, you know, we’ll pray that you have a boy, really hope you have a boy.
[00:03:32] And then after I was born, so my grandparents, they live in India and they’re doctors. So they would often go to treat patients in the slums and I would sometimes accompany them. And, you know, I’d see the same, the mindset where the girls are kept at home, the boys go off to school. And so I was very aware of like the injustices that occur in India and in the communities, but I think when it really hit home to me was in 2018, there was a news story and it was in John’s Creek, which is in Georgia, very close to where I live.
[00:04:02] And it was a story of there was a baby girl and she had been found wrapped in plastic and thrown in a trash can. And luckily some people had heard her crying and they were able to find her and rescue her. But she was a newborn baby had been abandoned by her family and it was a case of female gendercide.
[00:04:20] Which was not occurring halfway across the globe. It was occurring, you know, barely five miles from my home in a developed country like the United States. And that’s, you know, that’s when it really hit home to me that this is an issue that, you know, someone needs to take charge, someone needs to create change.
[00:04:35] And so that was the spark for Project Save the Girl Child.
[00:04:39] Sheryl: And I understand there is an update to that story.
[00:04:42] Himani: Her name is Baby India and there was they recently found out who the mother was and who the family was who abandoned the child and this happened very recently, actually, I posted, you know, I try and keep my followers updated on a blog on my social media and so it was, it’s, you know, this has been a long, a long progress and a long project in the making and just seeing.
[00:05:02] It’s not, it’s not like I had anything specific to do with this, but just seeing that people are recognizing these things, they’re working to make change and that, you know, things can come full circle was a really, it was really powerful for me to see that happen.
[00:05:15] Sheryl: And I understand another personal connection to your project that is that it was inspired by your grandma.
[00:05:23] Can you tell us about that?
[00:05:24] Himani: It was inspired by my grandmother because I spent, I used to spend every summer in India with my grandparents. And my grandmother was a doctor along with my grandfather and they would work, you know, tirelessly to help you know, patients in the slum districts or patients who didn’t have as much access to healthcare.
[00:05:42] And I think seeing their work really, you know, inspired me, first of all, as a person, and seeing how much emphasis they placed on their own daughters. You know, my grandmother gave my mother the access to the best education. She supported her so much. My mother, in turn, has supported me and my older sister so much.
[00:06:01] So I think just having a legacy of strong woman to look on to and to learn from has been such such a big deal for me. It’s really impacted how I’ve grown up and I’m very, very grateful to both my grandmother and my mother.
[00:06:14] Sheryl: Who else was on your team working through your project with you?
[00:06:17] Himani: I partnered with a lot of different organizations and a lot of different individuals.
[00:06:21] So as I mentioned earlier, I partnered with the Invisible Girl Project, which works to end gendercide in India. Then I also partnered with an organization called SEND International, and They were able to connect me to Afghanistani refugee families which live in an area of Georgia called Clarkston, and it’s a refugee resettlement area.
[00:06:42] And I was through them. I was able to work with Afghanistani refugee girls and daughters to educate them using a self designed stem curriculum and then also classical reading curriculum. And so I was very grateful to send international because. In the refugee communities, it’s, you know, it’s very, it’s very stringent background check process.
[00:07:01] It’s sometimes the families are kind of wary of, you know, people who they don’t know. And so I think send international really helped me connect with that community. So I’m very grateful to them. And then. I also had a team of almost 75 volunteers who have been so, so supportive, and they wrote almost 450 letters of support for the girls that were rescued through the Invisible Girl Project, and I think these messages, these letters of support are really what show these girls that they mean so much to us and to society.
[00:07:30] And so I’m very grateful for the volunteers who wrote messages who helped me in other areas as well. And I’m very grateful to the Girl Scouts organization as well, because I think they provided me with a great platform to spread my message and you know, great mentorship. And I think it was an amazing learning.
[00:07:46] experience for me, both professionally and personally. So I’m very grateful to everyone who helped.
[00:07:51] Sheryl: As you mentioned, you have continued the organization you created from your Gold Award project since your Gold Award project wrapped up. What has it been like to continue that work and what kind of support have you needed to find in order to be able to continue that?
[00:08:07] Himani: So I started in 2018 and it’s still happening currently. And so a major life change for me that happened was I went to college. So I’m now in New York. And so New York has a lot of you know, they have a lot of, it’s a very diverse community. They have a lot of refugees, a lot of immigrants. And so I’ve been looking to partner with organizations in New York to access, you know, more people who would be interested in working for my cause and seeing who else I can partner with to take Save the Girl Child forward.
[00:08:34] And as of now, it’s still been continuing in Atlanta as well and in India. And so I’m, I’m hoping to continue and grow as well. But I think, I think where it’s come has honestly been so So I’m so grateful for how big it’s become because I don’t think I expected that it would even reach this state.
[00:08:53] So I think this is, it’s very, it’s very neat for me to see this this grow.
[00:08:57] Sheryl: What was the biggest challenge that you had during your project and how did you overcome it?
[00:09:02] Himani: I was at the time a high school student trying to tackle a topic which is very culturally and politically sensitive. And so They’re kind of two different connotations in India and in America.
[00:09:13] So in India, it’s a more common issue and people know about it, but they don’t want to talk about it. So it’s often swept under the rug. And it’s very hard to to get people to open up about this issue. But then in America, it’s, it’s very different because people don’t even know that female gendercide exists.
[00:09:30] They can’t fathom that, that this happens. And so and then on top of that, it deals with topics like abortion, which is a very, you know, political and politically charged topic in America. And so I think that was one of the main challenges is educating people about one a topic they don’t know exists or that about a topic where they don’t want to talk about it.
[00:09:52] And on top of that, I think as a high school student, when I was doing research, there were very few organizations that first of all work to combat female gender side. And then on top of that, there are very almost none, which are youth flat. And so as a young person trying to have my message taken seriously and finding the organizations and the connections that would be able to spread my message, I think that was the biggest challenge I had at first.
[00:10:17] Sheryl: You mentioned GSUSA, our national organization earlier, and you are honored to be, as it turns out, part of the last class of National Gold Award Girl Scouts. What was that honor like?
[00:10:32] Himani: Honestly, it was so amazing. I didn’t think that when I started my Gold Award, it was honestly, it was a very personal thing to me.
[00:10:39] And It wasn’t necessarily done with this is what I want to do for my Gold Award project. It was really something that I wanted to personally achieve, personally make a difference in, and to see the hard work which me and my team had done being rewarded in such a manner and being honored as a National Gold Award Girl Scout was, it was, it was truly beyond anything for me.
[00:10:59] I was very, very grateful to the Girl Scouts organization.
[00:11:02] Sheryl: You mentioned the mentorship that you received during your Gold Award project. What did you learn about the Gold Award process while you were going through it that you might not have known and would be helpful for others to know?
[00:11:15] Himani: I think every Girl Scout should try and do it because it’s a, it’s a truly stellar learning experience.
[00:11:20] You know, it’s both professionally and personally because if they’re the topic you’re truly passionate about. Then, you know, you should try and take it forward. But even for people who are just setting out to accomplish their gold award, I think it teaches you so much from, you know, writing a project proposal to then interviewing and you know, advocating for what you’re trying to do.
[00:11:39] And then, you know, working with a team of volunteers working with your mentor, and then, you know, even writing your final report, which in my case was almost it was almost 60 pages was like writing a mini thesis. So I think it gives you so many personal and professional skills. And I think it’s a great learning experience.
[00:11:56] Every Girl Scout should try and do it.
[00:11:57] Sheryl: What other Girl Scout experiences have you had?
[00:12:01] Himani: One of the most rewarding experiences I had was Camp CEO. So Camp CEO is It’s kind of a, it’s like a summit, a kind of three day experience where a bunch of CEOs come together along with a bunch of Girl Scouts and you’re paired with one of the CEOs as a mentor.
[00:12:19] And throughout the weekend, you do a lot of, you know, girls, classic Girl Scout experiences, things like camping, like reciting the Girl Scout pledge, meeting other Girl Scouts, you know, eating meals around the campfire. But then there’s also the other aspect where you get to, you know, experience moments with a professional in different industries.
[00:12:36] And I think I think that that mentorship because I did it when I was, I believe, in ninth grade, so I was one of the younger people there. But I think just having that exposure to Girl Scouts who are older than me, then also so many like, you know, amazing professional career woman was so inspiring and Such like it was such a classic mix of just, you know, Girl Scouts activities and then also the professional world and I felt I felt it was a really cool experience and I enjoyed it so much.
[00:13:03] Sheryl: Do you have a takeaway from that experience that you still remember and use?
[00:13:07] Himani: You can always find a connection with someone because I think going in, I didn’t, I was, I was a little scared. I was like, how is a ninth grade student going to be able to converse with someone who’s done her MBA and running a company and All of that.
[00:13:20] And so I think to me, it was just the fact that I could connect with so many different people. And I think you should always try and, you know, go for that. There’s always a connection you can make in a conversation, in a relationship, and you never know where that could help you next.
[00:13:34] Sheryl: You mentioned you’re now in college in New York.
[00:13:38] What are your future plans?
[00:13:39] Himani: To finish college and to, you know, enjoy New York and my experience there. And then to also try and take Save the Girl Child forward, because I think New York City is really an amazing place of opportunity. And it’s, I think, an amazing place for for it to grow with access to so many diverse people.
[00:13:57] So those are my future plans as of now.
[00:13:59] Sheryl: What else would you like to share with the audience?
[00:14:01] Himani: To all the Girl Scouts who are out there, I think you should really try and identify a passion or a cause which you’re In which you’re interested in and you don’t even have to be passionate about just something you’re interested in and see how far you can take it forward because more often than not, it’s going to be, it’s going to go beyond what you expected.
[00:14:18] And it’s the Gold Award was truly one of the best learning experiences I had. And I, I can’t wait to see what other Girl Scouts do because it’s anytime I hear about someone who’s completed the Gold Award, it’s honestly, it’s such a, I love learning about other Gold Award Girl Scouts, their projects, their experiences, how much they learn from it.
[00:14:38] And I hope this story is inspiring to other people who are working on their gold award. Ooh, or who are, you know, thinking of undertaking it.
[00:14:45] Sheryl: How do you make your s’mores?
[00:14:47] Himani: I love this question. So I make my s’mores. I put my marshmallow fully in the fire. I let it catch on fire. Then I blow it out so it’s all burnt and crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.
[00:14:58] And then I put it between the chocolate and the graham cracker. And, you know, sometimes I like using a Reese’s peanut butter cup as well because it adds a little. Little touch. So that’s how I make my s’mores.
[00:15:08] Sheryl: Well thank you so much for joining us today.
[00:15:11] Himani: Thank you for having me.
[00:15:12] Sheryl: Make sure to click follow or subscribe so you always know when new episodes are released.
[00:15:18] Power your passion and conquer your challenges.
[00:15:22] Walter: Thank you for listening. If you’d like to be on the show to share your story of how you earned your gold award, reach out and send an email to growandshare@outlook.com..
[00:15:33] Be sure to catch up on our previous shows on any of your favorite podcasting platforms, as well as view the full video versions at youtube.com/SherylMRobinson.
[00:15:45] Thanks again for listening, and we’ll see you next time.