ST. LOUIS -- Kids ran across the dark field behind the mosque toward a pile of trash. They had to quickly decide if an egg carton belonged in the recycle, compost or trash bin. Then, each one ran back to the kids waiting to continue the relay race.

“We need to go one at a time,” Nawal Abuhamdeh called out over the noisy din of about 40 young children.

“We cannot have chaos!”

It was a little chaotic at their first scouting event that combined several newly formed troops from the St. Louis area.

In January, the girls in Abuhamdeh’s Girl Scouts troop were heartbroken over the killing and devastation in Gaza. They started a bracelet-making fundraiser to help with urgent humanitarian needs for children trapped in the relentless bombardment.

Abuhamdeh, a Palestinian American mother of four in St. Louis County, had seen Girl Scout fundraisers for other war victims. But in their case, the regional council sent her emails saying that the activity violated their policies and ordered them to remove all Girl Scout branding from their flyers or face legal action.

She shared her experience with the Post-Dispatch, and it quickly attracted international media attention. Their bracelet campaign raised nearly $26,000 in donations for one of the worst humanitarian crises in the world. Within days, the national Girl Scouts organization apologized for the regional council’s legal threat. The treatment from the regional council led Abuhamdeh’s troop to disband from the Girl Scouts of Eastern Missouri.

But Abuhamdeh, who had led her daughter’s troop for five years, wasn’t ready to give up on scouting.

“I valued Girl Scouts so much because I saw the skill development scouting offers,” she said. In a small WhatsApp group she shared with three other moms, she wrote that she wanted to find a way to keep her daughter’s troop going.

“I think we need to start something,” she wrote.

“We are ready,” Melissa Saunders, of Manchester, responded. “Just lead the way, and we are coming.”

Charting a new path

Saunders’ oldest daughter became a fourth generation Girl Scout when she joined Abuhamdeh’s troop in second grade. Saunders, her mom and grandmother were all part of military families, who moved frequently. The troops she belonged to growing up were all Christian and white.

“There was no diversity, for sure,” she says. She wanted her children, who are also of Pakistani heritage, to have a sense of community. She was upset by the “bracelet fiasco,” as she described it.

“As Muslims, it just felt like another hit,” Saunders says. But then, the support started pouring in from around the country and the world. More than a hundred Girl Scout troop leaders signed a petition in support of their fundraising activity. Abuhamdeh, who had felt isolated and scared to speak out about her views growing up, did daily news interviews for two weeks straight. They received so many encouraging emails and letters, some of which included checks for the girls to keep up their activities even after disbanding.

“It restored my faith in humanity,” Abuhamdeh said.

She opened a bank account and reached out to attorney Azra Ahmad, with Mid-America Law Practice, about starting a nonprofit. Ahmad asked her what she wanted to call it.

At that moment, the name came to her.

“Salam Scouts,” she said.

She figured she and the three other moms in her WhatsApp group would each lead a troop. Then, in July, she received a call from another mom, who had heard about the Salam Scouts troops that had formed.

“I’m in California, and I have a group of moms who are not going back to Girl Scouts, and we need something to do.”

Abuhamdeh decided to take her fledgling scouts group national. They had volunteers interested in starting troops in Texas, California and Michigan. A couple of educators in California offered to help write the curriculum. They would unveil one new badge a month.

Some of the emails Abuhamdeh received were from other independent scouting organizations offering guidance and encouragement. Groups like the Radical Monarchs, Life Guides, American Heritage Girls, Frontier Girls, Spiral Scouts, Quest Scouts, Campfire Scouts, Earth Scouts, Navigators USA and Adventure Scouts are all independent scouting organizations.

Friends advised Abuhamdeh to take it slowly and launch it next year. She decided to start in October.

“We’re a baby organization,” she said. “They will give us grace.”

Initially, there were some technical glitches with their portal and registration site. They are still waiting on their uniforms.

But they’ve already got 21 troops in four states with 176 children registered and many on waiting lists. They are actively recruiting more volunteers to lead troops.

Making new friends

Iyla Mufti, 9, joined a Salam Scout troop at Al Salam Day School in West County. She participated in a meeting where the scouts made cupcakes for a new friend in the group.

“I like how they are trying to encourage us to make new friends and meet new people,” she said. Her mom, Mehwish Bilal, grew up in Pakistan and had never been part of a scouting group. She appreciates that this organization shares her religious values.

“When it’s prayer time, they stop and pray together,” she said.

Fazila Bobat was already running an independent scouting troop for Muslim boys in St. Louis when she encouraged Abuhamdeh to also take the leap. She had grown up in Zambia and the UK and wanted to give her children opportunities she hadn’t had. She leads about 16 school-aged boys in her troop, and they have done activities like canoeing, fishing, woodworking and leather working.

Bobat decided to join forces and come on board as a troop leader for Salam Scouts.

“I was very excited and hopeful for this opportunity for our kids,” she said.

Saunders, who also transitioned from a Girl Scouts leader to Salam Scouts, said her troop has girls from an array of backgrounds — Syrian, Pakistani, Indian, Somali, Palestinian, Egyptian, and white American, like herself.

“These girls don’t care where they are from; they just love each other,” she said.

She added that the experience of leaving a large, established organization to start something new taught all of them valuable lessons. They realized that their message meant something to more people than they ever anticipated.

None of them regrets the decision to leave the Girl Scouts.

“There really is good in everything, and you just have to find it,” she said.

Yumi Ota grew up in Japan, came to the United States as a graduate student and lives in Ellisville. Two of her children have joined the Salam Scouts.

Ota knew Abuhamdeh before the Girl Scout controversy began. At first, she was worried about her friend’s safety. She saw trolls doxxing her online, posting her personal information and kids’ information and calling her a terrorist.

“Instead of running away, she decided to step forward,” Ota said. “She created something positive out of that hate and attention.”

She was inspired by Abuhamdeh’s resolve and commitment.

“It shows the Palestinian spirit,” she said.

Leading the way

Abuhamdeh’s dream is to see the organization continue to grow and thrive.

“I want to be in every mosque, every Islamic school, every Muslim community so there is a nationwide network of troops, and we equip them with the skills they need to be leaders.”

They are planning events like a potluck iftar, a Ramadan Bazaar and fundraiser, a charity walk and an advocacy day to learn how to become more civically engaged.

On a recent Saturday, all four local troops gathered at West Florissant Mosque in north St. Louis to volunteer with Project Downtown, a group that serves the local community with free meals and winter coats.

The younger scouts sat at a long table with construction paper and markers, making cards to put inside the winter jackets that would be distributed next week. They wrote messages on the disposable boxes that would each be filled with the salad, macaroni and cheese with beef, fruit and dessert.

One girl wrote, “I hope you enjoy your meal. We support you!”

An imam offered a short talk on the importance of serving those who need help in their communities. Abuhamdeh walked around the tables, making sure each child was engaged in an activity. She helped bring in the trays of food the troop leaders had prepared for the 150 or so lunches that would be distributed.

She stopped to chat with parents and the troop leaders helping oversee the activities. This time, their combined event moved more smoothly than the first big event at the mosque.

Slowly yet surely, they are finding their way.

©2024 STLtoday.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.