Do you know an adventurous teen who wants to do good in the world – and is keen to travel, to do that good work hands-on? The UNA-USA HERO campaign is looking for 20 Youth Ambassadors (ages 16-19) from across Canada and the United States.

Through the HERO Youth Ambassador program, teens travel to southern Africa each summer for a month-long service and education program. There, they help to build classrooms, construct fences, install kitchens and engage in classroom activities.

Teens interested in applying to be a 2008 HERO Youth Ambassador can visit beinggirl.com/hero until March 1, 2008.

Here’s why –

In developing countries, many girls miss out on a lot of education time (and may drop out of school altogether) when they hit puberty, just because of a lack of clean and private bathroom facilities and hygiene products. (Don’t squirm, guys, it’s a fact of life.) And no child should lose out on the chance for a life-changing basic education – certainly not for such a fixable problem!

“Girls will stay home rather than be embarrassed,” says Faith Macharia, National Director of FAWE Kenya. “In some areas of Africa, girls can miss up to four days of school each month because they lack the basic necessity of sanitary protection and other resources to help manage their periods while in school.”

The HERO campaign is funded in part by Protecting Futures, a program by beinggirl.com founding brands Tampax and Always, dedicated to helping keep girls in school in southern Africa by improving access to feminine hygiene products as well as education and health services.

In the summer of 2007, Protecting Futures supported school and water construction programs at a HERO school in Namibia. The program is now expanding to HERO schools in the KwaZulu Natal region of South Africa where Protecting Futures will provide sanitary protection to young girls at 9 regional schools to help them overcome the obstacles to attending school during menstruation.

Deadline for applications for the 2008 program is March 1, 2008.

Festive 5-dollar bling from Moon Child Jewelry @ Etsy

Score! I just got back from a Christmas craft sale where I snagged a glittery pair of long bead earrings for my 14-year-old fashionista niece. Not these earrings in the picture, but similar and an equally fine price — Five dollars! … which is just about the maximum amount I want to spend for a stocking stuffer.

Kailee’s stocking is one of those super-sized ones, so I’ve got the holiday issue of a music magazine she likes, which I’ll roll up and stuff with little chocolates and lip balm and bookmarks and such. That will help to fill out the long leg of the stocking quite nicely. But, I do need to pick up just a few more items…

And here, from Rachel Paxton who’s always full of clever and quite frugal ideas, is a quick list of other gift ideas for tiny treasures to fill a teen girl’s Christmas stocking.

Stocking Stuffer Gift Ideas for Teen Girls

by Rachel Paxton

It’s fun to buy stocking stuffers for teen girls. I always use this time of year as an opportunity to give them the little treats they want and/or need throughout the year but that I don’t want to spend the extra money for. Here are some items our teenage daughters will find in their Christmas stockings this year:

Who can resist her?
Betty Boop Christmas Stocking (Kurt Adler @ Amazon) Boop Oop a Doop!

• $5 Starbucks card
• AA batteries for portable CD player/MP3 player
• Matching knit camisole/panties
• Fun fashionable socks
• Small hoop earrings
• Chocolates and hard candies

I try to find them things that they can use but will also not necessarily expect in their stockings. Listen for clues for what to get when you’re out shopping with them. They really make it quite easy! Here are some other ideas:

• Movie tickets
• Fast food gift certificates
• Perfume/body spray
• Lip gloss
• Nail polish/manicure set
• Disposable camera/film
• CD cleaner/scratch remover
• Journal/pen
• Small inspirational book
• Tear-off calendar
• Car or room air freshener

Rachel Paxton is a freelance writer and mom who is the author of What’s for Dinner?, an e-cookbook containing more than 250 quick easy dinner ideas. For more recipes, organizing tips, home decorating, crafts, holiday hints, and more, visit Creative Homemaking at http://www.creativehomemaking.com.
Article Source: www.ladypens.com