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Archive - Archive 2004 - July 2013

Century-old outdoor training still good for kids |19 February 2011

Century-old outdoor training still good for kids

Seychellois scouts and guides at their exhibition in Reunion during the Indian Ocean Games last year. The tents they lived in can be seen in the background

The Scouts’ movement has been teaching children and young people to be just that for over 100 years.

Leaders in the organisation around the world will on Tuesday renew their claim that the movement gives children those qualities, as they mark Founder’s Day – the birthday of Lord Robert Baden-Powell, who started scouting.

They will flash their three-finger salute in front of superiors to show respect, and before their country’s flag as a mark of patriotism.

A scout yesterday summed up scouting as the movement that takes young people away from home, and hones them in the bush to make them more useful at home, school, workplace and community.

One might expect a knife-carrying group that goes away camping to be more adventurous – beckoning danger where it might be found – but when they return, Scouts are more careful with tools and equipment because they learn to be cautious, not careless.

They are told always to cut with the blade facing away from the body, so they are less likely to be injured.

If you ever wondered why dogs mark items including your car tyre and favourite fruit tree as they walk away from familiar ground, it is to mark their territory and also to ensure they make it back home by picking up their own smell along their trail.

Scouts learn such tricks, but not by using their liquid waste.
They learn how to find their way in strange lands by leaving marks as they go along.

If Scouts wait for others but get tired and decide to go, they know how to indicate by marks on the ground, or simply stones arranged in a particular way, that they have gone home.

As they leave, they will make marks helping others who know the codes to follow them, which undesired followers will not be able to do.

Should an intruder enter their territory by walking backwards, so that you think they were moving away and not towards you, a well-trained Scout will know the difference because sand or soil will be kicked at the heel backwards, and not forwards at the toes.

Swimming across a channel to an island with a lit torch to relight a fire that has gone out is another skill a Scout learns, to earn a badge similar to that of a lifesaver, who should be able to save you from drowning.

Cooking over an open fire is another skill they learn, for you never know where you might be stranded one day, and first aid is, of course, a necessity for all Scouts.

An injury or two may have been sustained while getting to the scene where you might be stranded.

People who have taken shelter next to a plane wreckage at night have in the past said how their survival skills helped, and their story could be similar to that of survivors from a shipwreck on an island.
Back to the founder, Lord Baden-Powell:

He was born in 1857, and his wife Olave in 1889.
They shared the same birthday, February 22, and you might say vision also for she founded the Girl Guide movement.

Most national Scout associations throughout the world celebrate this special day, which is seen as an opportunity to learn more about Lord Baden-Powell’s life and work.

His vision and writings remain inspiring to many and are still relevant to our times.
Scouting was born in July 1907, when Lord Baden-Powell gathered about 20 youngsters from different social backgrounds on the island of Brownsea in Dorset, UK.

They built refuges, learned the skills of life in the outdoors, shared their experiences and helped the local inhabitants. The enthusiasm generated was impressive. 

When he published Scouting for Boys in 1908, Lord Baden-Powell never imagined he had just written the work that was to change the lives of millions of young people the world over.

Drawing on his personal experiences, he invited youngsters to take charge of their own lives and be responsible for their destiny. More than a man of his time, he was a man of the future.

Scouting started in Seychelles in 1927, and today there are about 400 members of the association.

The Scouts’ Promise is not just words they memorise in order to pass tests. Rather, it embodies deep-seated values that will make them better people when they live by them.

The Scouts’ laws have been published separately on this page to shed further light on what the movement’s virtues are.

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