How the Other Half Tries to Live: Girls 'Travel' the Globe in Single Day to Learn...

How the Other Half Tries to Live: Girls 'Travel' the Globe in Single Day to
Learn About Intolerance and Injustice Faced by Women in Foreign Nations

Passport to Global Tolerance workshops to be held Saturday, April 26 at
International House

MIQUON, Pa., April 17 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Ever stop to wonder how
day-to-day life is for girls living in other countries around the world? And
how fair and equal it is for them?

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080312/DC16476LOGO-a )

In Thailand, for example, trafficking in the forced labor of women and girls
is commonplace.

More than 100 girls will learn about social injustices such as this when they
grab a Passport to Global Tolerance, a day-long series of workshops. During
Passport to Global Tolerance, girls will survey prevalent issues challenging
girls and women today and find ways to tap into their potential to effect
positive change and sharing across borders, language barriers, and
backgrounds.

The workshops are sponsored by Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania and will be
conducted by A Multicultural Youth eXchange (MYX), a Philadelphia-based,
nonprofit organization that works to increase tolerance among young people
worldwide by using art-based projects. The event will be held at the
International House on 3701 Chestnut St., Philadelphia, from 9:30 a.m. to 3:30
p.m.

"With guidance from local women artists, girls can become spokeswomen for the
rights and dignity of women and girls globally, creatively expressing their
ideas through art, poetry and dance and reaching out to build self-esteem and
send empowering messages to girls half a world away," said Stacey Woodward,
Membership Development Director for Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania.

The day-long event includes programs on:

-- Self-Esteem in Asia: Girls will learn about the statistics and causes of
trafficking in forced labor of women and girls in Japan, Thailand, and India
and what some amazing women are doing to support each other and stop this
crime. Each girl will create an art kit to send to a girl who has been able to
break free of forced, underpaid labor, and is seeking help through an art
therapy program in India. The project will include activities and messages
designed to raise self-esteem.

-- Building Character Skills in Africa: The program will focus on how ongoing
conflict in Africa affects family structures and women's equality socially and
professionally, and how some amazing women are taking the initiative to heal
and rebuild their communities in Rwanda and South Africa. Girls will use cloth
printing techniques to create slogan t-shirts to raise awareness about
upholding the rights of women, and the importance of women to society.

-- Personal Identity in North America: Girls in the United States have made
great strides in assuring equality for themselves and future generations.
However, media stereotypes of women and continued unequal representation in
politics present great hurtles. Girls will learn how understanding and
appreciating their own unique identity as a female is the key to developing
confidence in their abilities.

They will also work with an expert in local hip-hop, break-dance, martial-arts
and traditional dance to create an original dance performance incorporating
their expressive movement to be performed at the end of the day.

Admission to Passport to Global Tolerance is $20.00 per Passport and snacks
and beverages will be provided.

To register, please go to www.gsep.org and click on Events and Programs. Then
look for ECouncil registration link and click. You can also call or email
Sharon Pirelli at spirelli@gsep.org or 215.564.2030, ext.1024 to have a
registration form sent to you

Chartered in May 2007, Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania (GSEP) serves
nearly 45,000 girls, and 15,000 volunteers in Philadelphia, Bucks, Chester,
Montgomery, Delaware, Lehigh, Berks, Northampton and Carbon Counties with
premiere leadership development programs. GSEP is the largest girl-serving
organization in Pennsylvania.

GSEP is headquartered in Miquon, Pennsylvania with service centers located in
Valley Forge, Allentown, Reading, Delaware County and Northeast Philadelphia.
More information is available at www.gsep.org or call 215-564-2030.

CONTACT: Jeff Baxt, Director of Communications of Girl Scouts of Eastern
Pennsylvania, +1-215-564-2030 ext 1048, cell, +1-267-205-2375, jbaxt@gsep.org

SOURCE Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania

Jeff Baxt, Director of Communications of Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania,
+1-215-564-2030 ext 1048, cell, +1-267-205-2375, jbaxt@gsep.org