Aug 27, 2018
Kelsey Chico talks about her Girl Scout Gold project - United for Haiti.
My project was constructing a playground in a community space and delivering donations in Haiti. After the events of Hurricane Matthew in 2016, many countries in the western hemisphere were the most impacted, Haiti being one of them. Supplies and rations were needed due to the destruction taken place mostly in the South of the country. I decided to take action and gather donations from many businesses and organizations that included toys, clothing items, hygiene products, shoes, etc.
Episode available as a video at https://youtu.be/T17SXtF7V4M
More about Kelsey:
My name is Kelsey Chico and I am now an Ambassador Girl Scout. I am 16 years old, 15 when the project was complete, and I live in Florida. I joined Girl Scouts at the Brownie level and have enjoyed it ever since. My hobbies include video gaming, reading, painting, music mixing, singing and dance. This year will be my tenth year playing the violin and ninth year dancing. I like creating videos inspired by YouTubers and hope to one day start my own on topics such as gaming, singing, and general topics. Music is a big part of me and I like a variety of genres from video game soundtracks to movie soundtracks to modern artists. I enjoy playing FPS games on Xbox such as the Halo franchise but also creative thinking on Minecraft. I would like to be in the engineering field of STEM, perhaps audio design or video production because of my passion for video, editing and music, things that can create a message through the world of media. I would like to visit the company in charge of the Halo video game franchise, 343 Industries, because of my passion to learn about game design, soundtrack development and CGI. In addition, talk to movie directors and composers such as Andrew Stanton, Francis Lawrence, Joseph Kosinski, Steven Speilberg, Neil Davidge, Martin O’Donnell Kazuma Jinnouchi and voice actress Jen Taylor, to experience being in the shoes of directors and acting. I plan to continue dance and playing the violin but also Girl Scouts because of its life-changing goal.
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More details about Kelsey’s project:
My project was constructing a
playground in a community space and delivering donations in Haiti.
After the events of Hurricane Matthew in 2016, many countries in
the western hemisphere were the most impacted, Haiti being one of
them. Supplies and rations were needed due to the destruction taken
place mostly in the South of the country. I decided to take action
and gather donations from many businesses and organizations that
included toys, clothing items, hygiene products, shoes, etc. I had
the help from the Haitian Consulate of Orlando to determine the
destination for the donations. The Drive lasted over a 6 week
period. After sorting by category for each item the weekend it
finished, a confirmed weight of 2 ½ tons of donations were donated,
97 boxes total. I needed a way to deliver these donations overseas
because, as you can imagine, many laws such as borer laws, water
laws and international laws require many permissions and
clearances. I contacted multiple cruise lines for the transport.
Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines offered to ship the donations at no
extra cost.
I drove with my parents down to
Port Canaveral where the company’s warehouse is located. I met with
the transportation team and they unloaded the 97 boxes onto 4
pallets and proceeded to load them in the warehouse. They would be
left there for inspection by K-9 dogs and other scanning procedures
to verify the clearance of transportation. The donations would be
loaded onto the cruise ship going to its next port of call:
Labadee, Haiti. I met the Haitian Consulate of Orlando at the
border of Labadee, Haiti and the rest of the country. We loaded the
boxes into 3 separate pickup trucks and drove down to the district
of Nippes, one the most affected areas of the country. It was about
a 5 ½ hour drive. I stepped onto the back of the pickup truck and
opened the boxes, handing them out to women, children and families.
To see them happy and grateful for these donations made this art of
the project successful.
Children in the country of
Haiti did not get the physical education needed for early childhood
or an experience on a swing. I took the initiative to construct the
playground in the same district. This would benefit their physical
education and have a memorable childhood experience. I had
purchased a playground set consisting of two swings, a monkey bar,
rock-climbing wall, a dome and a slide and was funded from the
Charity Ball hosted during the donation drive which was another
successful take on my project. The funds came from organizations
and local funders who also participated in a silent auction and
fashion show to help raise funds for the playground set. The item
was then shipped overseas through air transportation to Port Au
Prince, the country’s capital, where I met the Haitian Consulate of
Orlando and drove to her house where the set had been in safe
keeping. We agreed to construct the playground in the district. I
had the opportunity to speak with the mayor of the district and ask
him for space needed. He agreed to a 49 sq ft grass space that was
perfect for the playground! Added alongside the playground
construction was a Geodome and picnic tables. The overall
construction process lasted about 6-7 hours in the day. A ribbon
ceremony was held before the playground’s opening of use. Many kid
and children were excited about seeing this playground they had
never seen before! Two distinct memories I had upon its completion
was during the process of consulting it. The native language for
Haiti is Creole, which I did not speak. Using hand signals and
communication, I was able to direct when I showed them what tools I
needed or what could be done. The other moment was when I showed a
little boy the Geodome for the first time. He was the younger
brother of a boy who helped me. He was about 5 years old. I guided
him over to the Geodome and showed him how to swing on it. I
invited the other boys and girls to join in. The reaction from them
all was excitement and joy! It is a moment I will never
forget.
If there are a few things I had learned from my
project, they are perseverance, risk-taking and stepping out of my
own comfort zone.
What inspired me to take action for my project
was the fact that I enjoy helping others. Traveling outside the
country to another place showed me things from a different
perspective such as learning a new language, inspiring others and
overall creating that connection of love and help that was
needed.
The biggest challenge for my project was the
transportation matter. As I had mentioned, many clearances and
requirements have to be met in order to ship items overseas to
another country so having Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines to be a
helpful partner in my project made it all the difference. Another
was the language barrier. Not only did I learn a bit of Creole but
I managed to use international hand signals and communication to
talk with the native people and interact with them.
My mom and my family were a big help in my
project. They were the ones who motivated me for my project and
helped me out along the process, the Haitian Consulate of Orlando
for meeting with me to plan where to build and deliver the
donations, Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines for transporting the items
overseas and of course Girl Scouts, for inspiring me to achieve the
Gold Award and building the courage, confidence and character to
make a difference in the world.
My advice for any Girl Scout or anyone who wants to help out, you don’t have to say in your community to make a difference – you can take it globally or internationally! Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone and expand your knowledge of ways to help others in the amazing world that we live in, especially in foreign countries where we can connect and understand each other. Any act of help or service goes a long way and it starts with you. What do you want to change? How can your service impact others? What effect will it have?