By:Carrie James
Through festival, they gain greater insight into people and places of the world
Dressed in traditional Pakistani clothing, a handful of East Meadow Girl Scouts prepared to show a small aspect of what they had learned about Pakistan in the last five months.
The girls, along with East Meadow Pakistani residents, performed a Wedding Dance for a crowd of onlookers at the Girl Scouts of Nassau County Worldfest II: A Celebration of Cultural Arts and Diversity, an event that brings together all 36 Girl Scout associations in Nassau County.
"We have 36 geographical associations, and each association picked a country to study and create an interactive exhibit on," said Stephanie Carlino, director of fund development and marketing for Girl Scouts of Nassau County. "It has to be interactive so each of the girls visiting the exhibit learn something about that country."
East Meadow's Girl Scout Association, which includes about 800 girls from kindergarten through high school, chose the country Pakistan.
Just visiting their booth at Worldfest II, Girl Scouts, parents and other visitors learned a variety of aspects about Pakistani culture, including religion, fashion, languages and food.
"The purpose is to expose the kids to different customs and to get the community involved," said Candace Osias, Worldfest II coordinator for the East Meadow Association. "We've spent about four to five months doing research. All the different troops got involved."
Osias, who wore a Pakistani Girl Scout Troop Leader uniform to Worldfest II, said it was important for the girls to do the research themselves by going to the library and museums. She did, however, contact Nasrin Ahmad, an East Meadow resident from Pakistan, to help educate the girls on Pakistanis in East Meadow as well as the culture itself.
"I wanted to give the girls an understanding of the Pakistan culture that's already present in East Meadow," Osias said. "It's also a great way to bring the community together."
Ahmad brought in several other community members, including a handful of Pakistani youths to help participate in the dance the East Meadow Association performed at Worldfest II.
"I'm directing them and I taught them the whole dance as well," Ahmad said of her involvement with the performance.
The four East Meadow Girl Scouts that took part in the wedding-dance performance gained specific knowledge of Pakistani wedding ceremonies.
"We learned that the bride wears henna for a month and that the ceremony itself lasts a month also," said Corinne Galvani, a Girl Scout from Troop 1256 at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Regional School. "They have three ceremonies in all during that month."
She also donated many cultural items to aid the display, Osias said, adding that Ahmad had been a great help throughout the research period. Ahmad and other Pakistanis in the community also provided henna painting during Worldfest II.
"We tried to cover everything about the culture," Osias said. "And we tried to make it hands on."
Worldfest II didn't just feature Pakistan, however. In all, 26 countries were portrayed from throughout the world, including Tanzania, Barbados, Fiji, Egypt and Switzerland.
Girl Scouts from throughout Nassau participated in their own booths and also visited others to complete a patch program known as Imagination First. As the girls worked through the program, Carlino said, they received their "Ticket to the Arts," leading them to the patch.
East Meadow Girl Scouts said the event, and patch program, helped them to learn about the different cultures in Nassau and throughout the world.
Already, they are looking to the next worldfest.
"I think I would like to do Ireland because of the dances they do," said Ashley Robertson, also from Troop 1256.
