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`C' IS FOR COMMUNITY, CARING AND ...(General News)(A Girl Scouts outreach program wants more young Latinas and their families to feel included)

Byline: Susan Palmer The Register-Guard

Daisy and Patricia Martinez turn all shy and serious when you ask them why they like the Girl Scouts.

The Eugene sisters - 10 and 7 years old - say Scouting is fun and they liked camp last year.

Then, looking over at fellow Scouts shrieking with joy in the rain, the Martinez girls get that "Can we go now?" look in their eyes and rush back to the action in front of Fairfield Elementary School in Bethel.

The 16 girls of Troop 361 donned cookie costumes and carried hand-made signs on a recent day, luring passers-by to their cookie stand in the school's parking lot.

Ranging from 6 to 11 years old, the giggling girls were a study in diversity - white, black, Latina, Hawaiian, Filipino.

"At this age, the girls don't realize that they are diverse," said troop co-leader Alicia Allen. "I don't think children see the differences in ethnic background. I had to explain to my daughter the other day why some people refer to her friends as Latinos. To her, they're just her friends."

And that's what Martha Elias, outreach coordinator for the Girl Scouts, wants to hear.

For two years, Elias has worked part time for the Girl Scouts of Western Rivers Council to bring more Latina youngsters into the program.

"The most important task in my job is to make one world," said Elias, an immigrant from Colombia. "It's important for the Latinos and it's important for the American people."


The Oregon effort is part of a nationwide outreach.

Census figures show that Hispanics are the fastest growing demographic group in Western and Central Oregon. The Girl Scouts, an international program for girls ages 5 to 17 years old, wants to reflect its community, said local Scouting development director Megan O'Connor.

The Western Rivers Council serves almost 4,000 girls in Coos, Crook, Deschutes, Douglas, Jefferson and Lane counties and a small portion of Klamath and Linn counties.

The goal this school year was to bring in 100 Latinas new to Scouting, O'Connor said.

They're about 75 percent of the way there, she said.

Language is the biggest barrier to that effort - not for the girls, who are often fluent in English, but for their parents, Elias said.

She meets with them individually and also provides them with a wealth of written material in Spanish about Scouting, its activities, goals and range of programs.

"That's helpful for families. It makes them feel comfortable that they know what's being said," Elias said.

Workbooks written in English and Spanish especially for girls and provided by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services acknowledge the challenges the kids face mixing the culture and customs of different countries.

Elias also eases worries about program costs. Girls must pay for things like the vests they wear, but donations make it possible for any girl to participate.

Part of the outreach includes a summer camp in Eugene for Latinas titled "Soy Unica, Soy Latina - I'm Unique, I'm Latina," which acknowledges cultural heritage while integrating Scouting ideals.

After participating in last year's camp, several girls wanted to join troops in their own neighborhoods, Elias said. For girls who want to continue sharing Scouting with other Latinas, there are two Hispanic troops in Eugene and Springfield, she said.

The outreach doesn't just bring girls into the program.

Parents learn that Scouting needs them, too, and many are responding to the call, Elias said. A leadership training session conducted in Spanish last fall attracted a dozen women, and another training session in late March or April may bring another 20 potential new leaders, Elias said.

"It's like dropping a pebble into a pond," O'Connor said. "Martha reaches out to them and they reach out to one another."

At last week's rain-soaked cookie sale, Emma Martinez - Daisy and Patty's mom - held an umbrella over sign-waving youngsters. "Me gusta ayudarles - I like helping them," she said, and praised Scouting for offering her daughters recreation, entertainment and learning experiences.

Lucrecia Diez's children are grown and gone now, but she also volunteers for the Girl Scouts, sitting at information booths during community festivals such as Cinco de Mayo or teaching Scouts how to cook ethnic dishes such as arepas.

"In my country, I always volunteered," she said. Diez, who is from Colombia, said she'd do more such work here if she felt more confident with her English.

Assuring such community members that they can contribute, regardless of their language skills, is part of Elias' outreach work. And it has the benefit of helping adult volunteers improve their English as they mix with other girls and parents, O'Connor said.

"She's saying one by one to the Spanish-speaking community, 'We are here for you and for your daughters' ' she said

GIRL SCOUTS

More information: 485-5911, Ext. 109, or online at www.wrgirlscouts.org

CAPTION(S):

Girl Scouts, including sisters Daisy (left) and Patricia Martinez, start the annual sale at Fairfield Elementary School. Paul Carter / The Register-Guard Selling Girl Scout cookies is a cause for high exuberance for Malia Hoopai (left), 10, and her pal, Alicia Barrial, 9.