The theme for World Thinking Day 2013 is girls worldwide say "together we can save children's lives." This theme is based on United Nation's Millennium Development Goal 4, which is focused on reducing child mortality rates around the globe.

To earn the award, girls complete one or more activities below.


 

• In pairs, take turns sharing a story about a time when you, a sibling or someone you know was sick. Describe what illness you had, how you got it, and what steps your family took to help you get better. After you talk in pairs, regroup with everyone to share the types of illnesses you discussed. Keep a running list, noting the number of girls that had each illness. Are any of these related to the illnesses that are the major cause of child mortality around the world? If so, which ones? If not, discuss why some children are unable to prevent illnesses or unable to receive the basic care they need, and why the simplest illness can put them at risk for death.
• What do you think are the top ten things children need most? Then look up the Ten Things Children Need Before Age Five (PDF) (page 18). How do these compare? Discuss with others what surprised you most about the list. What else would you add to the list? Can you think of ways you could help provide some of these needs to children you know?
• Undernourishment is an underlying cause of 53 per cent of the 10.5 million child deaths around the globe each year. Create a family menu for one day: a healthy breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Make sure your meal choices contain a good balance of nutritious foods and work out how much these meals cost per person and per day. Compare those costs and food choices with what people who live on less than a dollar a day experience. Share your menus with your friends.
• Risk of diarrheal diseases and complications, especially for children, is often caused by lack of access to safe drinking water and poor hygiene and sanitation. An estimated 2.6 billion people in the world do not use improved sanitation facilities (flush toilets). Do you know how clean your drinking water is? What about your local rivers and lakes? Do you depend on a lake, reservoirs or river for your drinking water? What if you did? How would you keep it clean? Plan a trip to the local sanitation facility to learn more about how to maintain a clean water supply. Then investigate how a community without a water and sanitation facility could keep its water clean to prevent diseases.
• Did you know that malaria causes 200 million illnesses and kills nearly 600,000 people each year? In Africa, 1 in 5 childhood deaths are due to malaria. Watch April's video Fighting Malaria One Net at a Time. With your group, discuss how mosquito nets work to help prevent the spread of malaria. Why do you think some communities had never received mosquito nets before April's net distribution effort? How was this project successful in addressing malaria? What could you do to support global malaria relief efforts?
• Why do you think girls' education is especially important for saving children's lives? Watch the slide show Healthy Girls, Healthy Villages. Complete the viewing guide as you watch. After watching the slide show, in small groups discuss your findings from the viewing guide worksheet. Share what you found most interesting and surprising. Then make up a skit or game that will help educate other girls about one of the important issues presented in the slide show. Make sure the skit or game shows a skill or practice that can help address the problem.
• Discuss what factors contribute to global poverty and hunger. How would your life be different if you had to live on only $2 a day, like 40 percent of people around the world? How would you live? Where would you get food? What else would you need to consider?
• Environmental factors and contamination can lead to childhood illnesses such as asthma, pneumonia and diarrheal diseases. Every year, at least 150,000 people die due to climate changes that affect the air quality, drinking water, food and shelter. Become more aware, alert others and affirm your impact on the earth by taking the Breathe Girl Scout Leadership Journey.
• Invite a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer to speak to your group about her/his Peace Corps experience in the country where she/he served. Specifically, ask the volunteer to speak about her/his experiences working with children and what their lives were like in the community. Were they able to help prevent childhood illnesses? Not familiar with the Peace Corps? Watch A Legacy of Service and see Peace Corps Speakers Tip Sheet (PDF). If you cannot find a Returned Peace Corps Volunteer in your community, try contacting a local university and invite an international student to speak.