Join Us as We Celebrate Asian Pacific American Heritage Month!

May is Asian Pacific American (APA) Heritage Month—a celebration of Asians and Pacific Islanders in the United States. Asian Pacific American Heritage Month is celebrated with community festivals, government-sponsored activities, and educational activities for students. Girl Scouts are proud to promote awareness of, and appreciation for, the Asian Pacific American community here in the United States.

Lisa Ling to be featured in the Spring/Summer Issue of Leader Magazine
As a correspondent for the National Geographic Channel's Explorer, The Oprah Winfrey Show, and the Oxygen Network, intrepid reporter—and former Girl Scout—Lisa Ling has traveled the world. Through an exclusive, in-depth interview with Leader Magazine, read all-about how growing up as an Asian-American child, and her experiences as a Girl Scout, have inspired her to truly become a global difference maker and how she hopes to inspire today's youth.

Local Girl Scout "Reunites China with Her Children"
Girl Scouts of the USA is thrilled to introduce you to an amazing socially conscious individual who has changed the world for the better—and what makes this person even more special is the fact that she is a teenager.

Minna (16) from the Hmong Women Circle Girl Scout group at the River Valleys Council in Minnesota is already thinking about the long-term effect lack of exposure to their cultural roots has on children. With this in mind, Minna created "Reuniting China with Her Children," a program that helps to familiarize local adopted kids born in China with the Chinese language and culture. For over five months, Minna held classes for different age levels at the community church. "Since the project ended, I have become a true leader in the community," says the Girl Scout Gold Award recipient.

"The inspiration for my project lay wholly in the adopted Chinese children in and outside of my community, particularly those I taught. I had noticed how many of the kids adopted from China whom I met throughout the years never really knew about their heritage," said Minna.

The adopted children learned about their own culture, a culture that they were not in contact with, and otherwise had no means of getting in touch with. They gained interest in it and in the language. They learned their Chinese names, daily-use phrases, and how to count in Chinese. Most importantly, as the parents and end-of-class surveys indicated, these girls gained an interest in their rich heritage that they hopefully could continue to carry with them.

"To me, leadership means being able to change the world, even if it's just on the local level. It's a combination of traits that help make an idea or image turn into a reality. A leader can guide people to help execute that vision. Leadership includes the ability to listen to and respect others, as well as the needs of the community. It's being able to take the initiative and have the courage to be the one to take charge of a cause. It means fighting through the rough times that might flag your spirits, being responsible, resourceful and always compassionate."

These days, Minna continues to spread the word of her passion through outreach and public events, including speaking at the Girl Scouts Imagine If… fundraiser in November 2007, and creating cultural awareness advocacy through media interviews.

Minna's work has been recognized both locally and nationally. Girl Scouts of the USA honored her as a National Young Woman of Distinction in 2007. Senator Kathy Saltzman personally presented her with a commendation, Minna had been chosen to throw the honorary First Pitch at a Minnesota Twins baseball game, and in April of 2008, Minna will be accepting the Ann Bancroft Dream Maker Award from the Ann Baker Foundation.

Girl Scouts: A Partner of Colorado's Pan-Asian Community

By Amanda, Girl Scouts of Colorado

In only its second year, more than 1,000 people attended the February 10th Asian Adventure, an event sponsored by Girl Scouts of Colorado and the Colorado Chinese Language School each year in the Denver area. The participants, who were Girl Scouts, their friends and family and other community members, spent the day learning about Pan-Asian culture while also celebrating Girl Scouts' World Thinking Day and Chinese New Year.

World Thinking Day is February 22nd of each year and is a day when Girl Scouts and Girl Guides worldwide celebrate international friendships and cultural understanding. At the February 10th Asian Adventure event in Highlands Ranch, girls learned origami, colored characters from the Chinese calendar and took a turn trying to jump in rhythm over moving bamboo sticks in an activity from the Philippines called tinikling, among other activities. Pan-Asian community members brought in the activities, and teen Girl Scouts and adult volunteers served as role models to participants by lending a hand at activity booths or helping out with other event logistics.

Asian Language Fact Sheets
Today, more than half of our nation's 13 million residents of Asian descent speak an Asian or Pacific island language at home. The most commonly spoken languages are Chinese, Tagalog, Vietnamese and Korean. Girl Scouts is proud to offer our fact sheet in six different Asian languages (all in PDF format).

For more information about Girl Scouting in your area, please visit or contact your local Girl Scout council.