Girl scout earns top honor after quake

AUSTIN (KXAN) - It is not often you meet a girl scout who is 17-years-old. Vivian Shaw, a junior at Westwood High School, still sells cookies.

The Gold Award, equivalent to an Eagle Scout ranking, has been added to her accomplishments. Like the boy scouts, a special project must be completed that enhances leadership and builds character.

The project Vivian started as a high school sophomore has singled her out from thousands of other young women across the country. She recently became one of ten girl scouts to be named a National Woman of Distinction. Congratulatory letters from President Barack Obama, the Pope and even Oprah have arrived at her Northwest Austin home.

"Part of the mission of it is to have a lasting impact," said Shaw.

The teenager wanted to make a difference after the earthquake in China's Sichuan Province in May of 2008. The 5.1 magnitude quake killed more than 40,000 people and left an estimated 5 million homeless. A photo of a young boy she saw online who was pinned under the rubble was a sign.

"Two days later I saw a picture of the exact same boy but he was in the hospital," said Shaw. "And he was smiling and there were flowers around him."

It was that smile Vivian wanted to bring to others who were in his same shoes.

"I just thought If I was having a really difficult time what would I want with me and so I listen to music a lot. I really love music," said Shaw.

Vivian raised money to buy Mp3 players, school supplies and high-quality backpacks, but wanted to do more.

"I didn't want to be like 'hey, here's a bunch of stuff it's nice, drop it off, see you later'," said Shaw.

That is when her pen pal idea evolved. Vivian, who speaks Chinese, recruited 21 friends in the Austin area who are also fluent in the language to help. Their plan was to develop friendships with other teenagers affected by the earthquake who would receive the gifts.

The project came to a hault when the government told her contact information for earthquake victims was classified.

Vivian did not give up. She decided to make a public appeal and shared her project with a newspaper reporter in China. The journalist published a story on Vivian's project and at the end of the article, encouraged families and teenagers affected by the earthquake to contact her.

More than 50 people responded to the request, but Vivian knew there was no way her group could handle that many people. She decided to choose the 22 teenagers who were the most injured, or without one or both parents.

Most of the teenagers were inside a multi-level middle school before the earthquake and did not survive the building's collapse. Through letters and phone calls Vivian found out her pen pal, Quin Reiting, 17, was trapped for two days and lost her parents. Vivian was amazed at what Quin said next.

"She said, in Chinese of course, that God had basically given her these cards and basically she has these cards, she can't do anything about it, she can't switch cards. All she can do is just play a smart hand," said Shaw.

Vivian and her friends are still communicating with the teens in China through letters, phone calls and emails and building a bond they hope will last a lifetime.