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Girl Scout Pen Pals Meet After 67 Years of Friendship
A 67-Year Global Friendship Started When Two Girl Scouts in Two Countries Worked on Their Pen Pal Badges
Fast Forward a Few Decades to October 6, 2025. That’s when Denise Buenzli, a former R.N. with UW Hospital, finally met her Pen Pal from the Philippines for the first time.
By Sharyn Alden
Sixty years ago, 11-year-old sixth grader Denise Buenzli loved everything about being a Girl Scout. She loved being challenged with new ideas and opportunities she would never have had if not for her Milwaukee area Girl Scout troop.
Little did she know then, but the seemingly simple act of writing letters when she worked on her Pen Pal badge, would broaden her knowledge of life in another country and open the door to a lifelong friendship.
The Pen Pal Badge is geared to bridging gaps of understanding between girls living in different countries. The opportunities for learning are endless.
As a young person Denise was already inspired to try new things offered by Girl Scouts. Scouting also inspired her to believe in herself. “I gained that can-do attitude from Girl Scouts,” she said. “I learned to accomplish things I never thought I could do.”
Case in point –she had never thought of writing letters across the globe to a Girl Scout she had never met. At the time, it seemed a bit daunting, and what if the other Girl Scout wouldn’t find her letters interesting? Another thought crossed her mind. What if earning her Pen Pal badge meant she had to write not just one, but several letters back and forth over an indefinite period of time? Would she have the patience or interest to keep the letter writing up?
Denise went ahead with working on her badge, and guess what happened? The project changed her life forever.
Looking back, she found that Scouts instilled in her a can-do attitude, inspiring her to think for herself, to accomplish things she never thought she could do. Letter writing to someone she didn’t know was one of them.
She also discovered the skills and friendships she made as a young Girl Scout carried with her the rest of her life.
Two Girls, Two Countries, and Decades of Letters
It all began when Denise’s troop leader provided each girl in the troop with a Scout to contact in another country. Denise was connected with Agnes Lacatan, a Girl Guides member living in Hamtic Antique, in the Philippines.
Imagine the patience these girls had to have when they were waiting for a letter from their Pen Pal. It could take months for each letter to arrive and even longer if one of them sent a package.
Little did these 11-year-olds know then, but their newfound friendship would deepen and grow over several decades. They wrote back and forth through high school while their friendship deepened.
And then, miraculous things happened over the years that took them by surprise.
A Born Caregiver
If you were to title Denise’s journey from being a young Girl Scout to becoming a local Girl Scout troop coordinator, leader and professionally, a Registered Nurse, it might be this: “A Lifetime of Giving Back and Caring for Others.”
She found her professional ‘calling’ when she attended nursing school at UW Madison and became a Registered Nurse. She was employed as an R.N. for 40 years, including 38 years at UW Hospital
While Denise was busy working as a nurse, the correspondence between the two Girl Scouts stopped. A decade went by without knowing what happened.
Then everything changed
The Letter that Made the Difference
About 16 years ago, when the Internet was awakening, Agnes wanted to reconnect with Denise but she couldn’t find her because she didn’t know Denise’s married name. Her son, a pilot, intervened and used Google to see if he could locate her. What he found was an announcement from several years before in the Milwaukee newspapers mentioning Denise’s wedding in West Allis. It also mentioned she worked at UW Hospital in Madison.
One day, in Madison, Denise was notified by the hospital that she had received a letter personally addressed to her. She still has the letter—the envelope was addressed to “Mrs. Denise Buenzli, University Clinics Authority.”
And so, the continuation of this long-time friendship started anew.
The Reunion
Instead of sending letters back and forth across the globe, Denise and Agnes now turned to email, Facebook and Messenger to catch up. Then last year a new opportunity arose. Denise learned that Agnes was going to Edmonton, Canada to visit her son who was working there.
So, Denise flew to Canada.
It was October 6, 2025 and the first time each girl, now in their late 70s, saw each other in person and heard each other’s voice.
They couldn’t stop talking. They had pulled it off after decades of dreaming of meeting in person. Denise said. After this landmark meeting, Agnes traveled 26 hours back to the Philippines.
Believing in Yourself
Denise’s deep interest in Girl Scouts continued for over 40 years. She was the Coordinator/Community Chairperson for the Blackhawk Council, now called Girl Scouts Badgerland, for 25 troops on the west side of Madison.
She said scouting offers built-in, value-added, bonding opportunities not only around field trips and camping and troop activities, but also as a conduit for building long-lasting friendships.
She points out she would never have had the opportunity to enjoy a life-time friendship with Agnes if it hadn’t been for scouting.
It happened because she found the courage to believe in herself and get involved in earning her Pen Pal badge.
More importantly, she stuck to it, continuing to write to a Girl Scout across the world she had never met, not because she had to …the communication continued long after the girls had earned their badges, but because she loved being involved in doing something she would never have done if not for Girl Scouts.
“There’s magic in what you can do when you have Girl Scouts to help guide you,” she said. “This is a great example of how Girl Scouts offered life-changing opportunities for me starting when I was 11-years old.”
