Inspiring Tweens Build Girl a Hand, Give a Mother Hope

The Stir: Inspiring Tweens Build Girl a Hand, Give a Mother Hope

Oh, kids today ... Between the emotional tirades of several of the Teen Moms and the reckless shenanigans of the Jersey Shore kids, sometimes kids today scare the heck out of me. And then I start to lose hope for my own kids' futures and for the future of all mankind, forever and ever. But then I, luckily, come across an inspiring story like this one about some very cool Girl Scouts with ginormous hearts and smarts! And all is not lost ...

Check this. A Girl Scout troop in Iowa called the Flying Monkeys, all aged 11 to 13, has created a working prosthetic hand for a 3-year-old girl who was born without fingers! They did what? Made a girl a hand that works? Holy cow!

Sure, they had some help but still! If a group of tweens is still willing to sit around and think about helping someone else for a good amount of time, this totally gives me hope for the future of all mankind.

One of the Girl Scouts who has a limb difference inspired her troop's beautiful act of kindness for young Danielle. With the help of a prosthetics maker and an occupational therapist, the team came up with the BOB-1 tool, a design that straps to the arm and has a holder for writing or other tools. With her new device, the 3-year old tot can now write better than she could with human fingers.

The creation of the BOB-1 was part of the FIRST Lego League (FLL) competition and part of the STEM effort, which promotes girls’ exposure to science, technology, and engineering. Plus, the girls earned an FLL Global Innovation award of up to $20,000 to patent their invention and will soon be working with Danielle’s family on a similar device for their adopted 5-year-old boy.

These inventor scientist girls are totally awesome! And so may be the future!