As compared to their 18-year-old elder sister Avamehr Vaghaiwalla who won the Eagle Scout (the highest award bestowed upon Scouts in the United States) in June 2021after two-and-a-half years of activities, 15-year-old twins Rashna and Rishad, will enjoy the celebration Court of Honor as Eagle Scouts in November this year after nearly five years of association. "Being in the first ever group of girls in our Troop 223, my cohort (of scouters) was fast-tracked in order to complete all the requirements for Eagle Scout,” stated Avamehr. The Boy Scouts of America (BSA) program granted entry to girls beginning 2019. Rashna too joined the same Troop as Avamehr in 2019 at the age of 11 while Rishad, who had joined as a cub when he was five years old, transitioned to Troop 223 at 11 years.
Avamehr’s accomplishment as the first Zoroastrian female to be awarded the Eagle Scout honor was brought to the attention of Parsiana by Homi Gandhi, past president of the Federation of Zoroastrian Associations of North America.
As part of the BSA program, the siblings would attend three-hour weekly meetings every Monday plus campouts on the first weekend of each month. At the one week summer camp at Camp Emerald Bay on Catalina Island they learnt water sports, archery, shotgun and rifles with Avamehr earning the canoeing merit badge and completing the National Leadership Training. Over the years all three Vaghaiwallas garnered the 50th Anniversary Environmental and Protection Award, Silver Palm, the Zoroastrian Good Life Emblem and served as senior patrol leaders of the girls’ and boys’ troops.
Additionally, each summer they went on backpacking expeditions to different destinations. While all three of them went to Philmont Scout Ranch, Avamehr also summited Half Dome at the Yosemite National Park. Rashna and Rishad’s sojourns took them to Desolation Wilderness, Lake Tahoe, Sierra Mountains, rafting on the California River, kayaking around the San Juan Islands, and the Olympic National Park.
From l: Eagle Scout winners Rashna, Avamehr and Rishad Vaghaiwalla
For her Eagle project, conducted primarily on Zoom, Avamehr partnered with the Salaam Baalak Trust and School in Bombay and was involved in the production of two educational videos for the children of the School on "The Danger of Smoking” and "Hygiene during Covid-19.” She led a group of scouts in researching, writing, narrating, designing and editing the video and simultaneously raised funds for school backpacks and encouragement cards for the children. Although she has joined the community of Eagle Scouts at the Troop 223G Eagle Court of Honor, Pacific Palisades, California, Avamehr continues to be involved in her troop as a junior assistant scout master. Currently the 18-year-old is at the University of California in Los Angeles and is interested in the STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields in conjunction with business.
Rashna partnered with Safe Place for Youth (SPY) which provides housing opportunities for the homeless youth for her Eagle project. She led over 200 scout-service-hours to build a structure in the SPY community garden of two planter boxes connected with a wooden bench to symbolize the coming together of the housed and unhoused.
Rishad partnered with the Veteran’s Hospital when he supervised over 200 scout-service-hours to build wooden benches and plant a rose and sage garden outside the Hospital on the Veterans Administration grounds. The garden salutes "those who have served and those who care for them.”
Tenth graders, Rashna is at Marymount High School while Rishad studies at the Loyola High School. Their mother Marina Batliwalla is actuary and principal at Mercer Investment Consulting, and producer and host of the Banking On Girls podcast which focuses on financial literacy for young females. Their father, Dr Behram Vaghaiwalla is a physician at the Veterans Hospital and associate professor at the David Geffen School of Medicine.
Besides taking an interest in scouting, the entire family has been involved in the activities of the Zoroastrian Association of California. Marina believes the children have learnt from Zoroastrianism "to lead with integrity and kindness” while realizing "the importance of service and humility, values which scouting also reinforced.”