Peace Patch

Peace Patch is an All Ages Award from the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas Council.

# Activities

**Background**: the Peace Garden at the Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center in San Antonio, Texas was established in 2008 and dedicated at the Building Blessing ceremony on March 30. This patch program was developed in honor of the original Peace Garden in Hiroshima, Japan, which was built in 1958 in memory of 12 year old Sadako Sasaki.

*Girls should complete the following activities in order to earn the Patch.*
Girl Scout Daisies and Girl Scout Brownies: complete the 4 items denoted with an \*
Girl Scout Juniors: Complete at least 6 items including the 4 \*
Girl Scout Cadettes / Seniors / Ambassadors: Complete at least 8 items including the 4\*

**DISCOVER**
1) \* September 21 is the International Day of Peace. The Peace Pole Project is an international tradition of setting aside a quiet place to meditate about world peace. It allows an individual the freedom to use their personal faith or cultural tradition in this practice. Do a search of the world-wide web to find more information about Peace Pole Projects. Discover where and why the tradition was begun. (Brief information can be found in the Junior Handbook in the Adventures in Girl Scouting section. Earning this patch may be used as a portion of the requirements for the Sign of the Sun.)
2) \* How do YOU say “peace?” Identify at least 4 cultural or language traditions and learn how the word “peace” is spoken and written within these traditions.
3) Define the word “peace.” Look up the definition in a dictionary, thesaurus or other source of information. Using what you discover, write a piece of prose or poetry that includes your thoughts and how you feel about peace. This would be a fun time to try your hand at Haiku, Tanka, Cinquain or other genre of poetry.
4) There are 1,000 origami cranes placed within the earth’s foundation of the Peace Garden at the Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center. Research the meaning behind the origami crane to find out the significance of this element of the garden. Learn to fold an origami crane. (There are directions in the Junior Badge Book under the Art in 3D badge or in many other resources.)

**CONNECT**
5) \* Learn a song about peace. (example: Dona Nobis Pacem, Shalom Chavarim, Let There be Peace on Earth, etc.) Practice singing it with your troop or another group.
6) The Story of Sadako Sasaki is a part of the Peace Garden tradition. Locate her story and read it together.
7) Using at least 2 books of cultural, religious or holy writings locate the use of the word peace within the documents. Share and discuss the connections you observe among the documents you have chosen to examine.
8) There is a traditional belief in Japan that if one folds 1,000 paper cranes, one's wish will come true. A similar European tradition practiced here in the USA is a wishing well. Can you think of other similar cultural beliefs or traditions? (wish upon a star, tossing a coin into a fountain of water, etc) Try to find out how those beliefs came about. Next time you’re able, practice one of these traditions and make a wish for the children of the world. Or use craft sticks or other media to make a wishing well to hold your wishes for the children of the world. (see Wikipedia, Wishing Well).

**TAKE ACTION**
9) \* Visit a Peace Garden\* and hold a Scouts Own using what you have learned in this patch program as the framework for your ceremony. You may do this as a stand alone outing or in connection with an Investiture, Rededication, Bridging or Thinking Day celebration. If there is not a Peace Garden in your area, locate a quiet place to hold your Scout’s Own ceremony. (\*GSSWT Peace Gardens can be found at the Sally Cheever Girl Scout Leadership Center and at Camp Mira Sol.)
10) Design a service project that has Peace as the core of making the world a better place.
11) Create a Peace Garden or Place of Peace for another site. You may want to develop one for a place of worship, a neighborhood park, at your home or meeting place, or other significant site in your community. Be sure to obtain permission prior to beginning your project. Use safety precautions for digging and adult supervision during your project.
12) Participate in the current Peace Garden service project or assist with the maintenance of one of the council’s Peace Gardens. Contact the Resource Center for details. Ensure that your work at the Peace Garden is an enhancement that keeps the integrity of a place of multicultural meditation.
13) The Juliette Low World Friendship Fund was established in 1928 as a living memorial to Juliette Gordon Low, founder of Girl Scouting in the United States. It perpetuates the belief held by Mrs. Low that Girl Scouting and Girl Guiding could make a positive contribution to world peace through fostering the friendship of young people of different cultures who have the common bond of Girl Scouting/Girl Guiding, whatever their language or nationality. One participant wrote: "We have all traveled many miles... but the greatest distance traveled by any one of us was the distance from misconception to a deeper understanding of each other and our cultures." Members voluntarily make contributions to the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund (JLWFF) throughout the year with all proceeds used to support the international friendship projects. With your troop/group or individually, make a contribution to the Juliette Low World Friendship Fund.

*This patch program was created by Kaitlyn DeHaven as part of her 2008 Silver Award Project that focused on connecting Girl Scout values to each Girl Scout’s personal faith journey. May Peace Prevail On Earth*
www.worldpeace.org/peacepoles.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace\_pole
www.peace-pole.com/peace\_pole\_history.html
www.peace-pole.com/translations\_for\_peace\_poles.html

For information such as price, availability, etc. or to order patches, contact the Girl Scouts of Southwest Texas Council Shop in San Antonio at (210) 349-2404 or (800) 580-7247, extension 244. Six weeks advance notice required for orders of 100 or more patches.

# External Links

http://www.girlscouts-swtx.org/images/gssa/ResourceCenter/PatchUpdates/ThePeacePatch\_Jan09.pdf