100 years of fortitude
As scouting celebrates its 100 years of existence, Stanley Borg wonders whether Baden-Powell's words still prepare the young for life
The grease on which the male universe spins is that all boys want to be men, and all men want to be boys. Which explains why boys make catapults and pinhole cameras, devise tripwires, get immersed in the wonderful (though not textbook) world of physics and, to pride themselves in their effort, show off bruises so big that, just like Star Wars, refuse to go away. And why men dream of being able to launch their body and mind in such adventures by reading Conn and Hal Igguldens' The Dangerous Book for Boys and watching Ray Mears's Bushcraft Survival and Wild Food.
Men have an appetite for construction - it is the primaeval urge to survive by making tools that still echoes in an age when we can just buy tools and DIY kits. It is our way of leaving a mark on the world; of showing that despite not having to be so, we can still be useful and practical. Deep down, we are all scouts.
But then, scouting is not just for boys. Nor does it limit itself to camping and cooking things on an open fire. In fact, when in 1908, Lord Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys, which is the fourth bestselling book of the 20th century, he gave it a subtitle which explains the credo of whole movement: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship.
Scouting for Boys may have been written almost a 100 years ago, but it remains an appealing and valuable guide on modern issues, including youth, citizenship, social responsibility and opportunity, because, as Lord Baden-Powell writes, there is no such thing as a bad boy, only a bad influence.
This year, the scouts will mark their centenary since Lord Baden-Powell set up an experimental training camp for 20 boys on Brown Sea Island in Poole harbour. The camp was a great success and a year later, Lord Baden-Powell published Scouting for Boys, which generated so much enthusiasm that it led to the formal establishment of the boy scouts not only in the UK but also abroad. The girl guides programme was started in 1910 by Lord Baden-Powell's wife and in 1920, the first world jamboree in London attracted some 8,000 participants, proving that young people from different nations could share common ideals. The movement survived both World Wars, undertaking national service tasks and playing important roles in the resistance and underground movements.
As the movement grew, scouts around the world became involved with issues of drug abuse prevention, life-skills training, environmental conservation and education. Nowadays, what started as a small training camp has become the world's largest voluntary youth movement, with more than 28 million scouts in 216 countries. It is also calculated that some 300 million people have been scouts.
Malta has a long and great scouting tradition, which owes to Lord Baden-Powell serving as Assistant Military Secretary to his uncle, General Sir Henry Smyth, Governor of Malta between 1890-93. In fact, The Scout Association of Malta was the first overseas branch of the British Association, formed only months after the camp at Brown Sea Island. The Scout Association of Malta remained a branch of the British Association until Malta's independence, when it became a member of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement.
Also member of the European Scout Region, the Scout Association of Malta celebrates its centenary next year. In these 100 years, scouting has been the most active and strongest youth organisation on the island. After the aerial siege of the islands between 1940 and 1943, Maltese scouts were even decorated with the unique honour of the Bronze Cross "in recognition of their courage and devotion to duty in the face of continuous enemy action in the war for freedom". Lord Baden-Powell also had a special affection for Malta, and in what is possibly his last letter, written on July 21, 1940 from Kenya, he congratulates the Maltese "on the plucky way they have stood up to the infernal bombing... (the Maltese) have the spirit of fearlessness and patience".
Today, the Scout Association of Malta has some 2,700 uniformed members, boys and girls, forming the 39 scout groups within the four scout districts. The scouting mission is to contribute to the education of young people throughout their formative years. This education is based on a value system that, through the Scout Promise and Law, helps young people develop into future citizens who are self-fulfilled and play a constructive role in society.
Scouting may be 100 years old, but its social impact, values and function alongside school and family life are still valid today. And it looks towards the future with enthusiasm as new generations join in to play what appears, from the outside, a game but which in reality, is fun with the purpose of making them conversant in decision-making, and cooperation and giving them the responsibility of being the future leaders of social change.
Scouting Sunrise
The Scout Association of Malta will, together with the World Movement, celebrate the movement's 100th anniversary of scouting and join in the events that will be held on an international basis, such as commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lord Baden-Powell, participate in the 21st World Scout Jamboree, also known as the Centenary Jamboree and take part in scouting's sunrise on Wednesday.
The Scout Association of Malta has laid out a full programme for this occasion. Members of the association will be gathering on the Granaries at Floriana at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and stay there till the next morning. At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, scouts will bid farewell to the first centenary of scouting and herald in the second century. At that time contact will be made with the centenary jamboree site at Hylands Park in the UK as well as with the Kanderjam Jamboree site in order that the association's contingents at the two jamboree sites will be able to share this unique moment with their local colleagues.
The association's contingent to the Centenary Jamboree at Hylands Park consists of 84 scouts and one member from the Malta Girl Guides Association, while the contingent to Kandersteg consists of 46 scouts. The two contingents were recently received at the Palace in Valletta by President Eddie Fenech Adami who is also the Patron of the Association.
The official opening of the two-day event will take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the chief scout blows the kudu horn to declare open the activities. From then onwards, up till 9 p.m. the scouts present and the public will be able to enjoy themselves at various activities that are planned. Although these activities are various and varied and mainly consist of typical scouting activities they are, however, meant for the public's participation and enjoyment.
Scout groups who will be exhibiting their crafts and other scouting items at Mafeking Avenue. Beavers, cub scouts, scouts, ventures and rovers and the public will be able to enjoy themselves and learn more about scouting when they attend the presentations that will take place at the Life of the Founder Robert Baden-Powell, the Wolf Cubs' Den, the Beaver Scouts' Colony and the Gilwell House for Troop Scouts.
An interesting activity will be PAX House where a number of ex-scouts and veteran scouts will join in to recount to those present their experiences in the early days of scouting in Malta. The Scout Association of Malta extends an open invitation to all those ex-scouts and veteran scouts who wish to take part to be on the Granaries at 7 p.m.
At around 9 p.m. the scouts will gather around the Camp Fire and present a selection of stunts, songs and dance. The day will end with a bugle call sounding the Last Post.
At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, those present will assemble for a candle light prayer singing session. This will be followed by projections of the centenary DVD and scout districts' and groups' video clips on the Big Screen activity.
Although all the activities being organised are interesting and important the main highlights of the two day-event will be those of watching the sun rise on the first day of the movement's second century and the Scouting Sunrise ceremony itself when all members of the association will renew their scout promise. These two milestone events will take place on Wednesday early in the morning.
Scouts will walk down to Fort St Elmo to watch the sunrise at 6.05 a.m. and will walk back to the Granaries where at 8 a.m. they will renew their scout promise. Soon after, they will be joined by the Dr Fenech Adami and other VIPs in a short ceremony that will bring to an end the day's celebrations.
Besides the participation of members from the Malta Girl Guides Association a number of visiting scouts from Italy, Britain, Tunisia and from Bosnia and Herzegovina will also be taking part.
The Scout Association of Malta wishes to extend an invitation to the public in general to join in the celebrations.
Once a scout always a scout
20070728-lifestyle--scout2.jpgAlthough one may say that scouting exists for the benefit of young people and is primarily a youth movement, adults are needed to provide guidance and support - interview with Vince Cassar, chief scout.
I do not think there was any particular reason why I joined scouting. I joined the Lyceum Group in 1958 at the age of 10 years. It was my first year at the Lyceum at Hamrun, and I formed part of a small group of close friends who had just moved to that school from the primary school. We became aware of the possibility of joining the school scout group. We attended the first meeting, then the second and eventually became addicted to the idea.
Upon completing our studies at the Lyceum some of us left the group and re-opened the Lascaris Group that had been dormant for some years. After some years we all went our separate ways: Some left altogether while others remained active in some form or other for a further few years. I remained active throughout the years until today.
We have a saying, "Once a scout always a scout". Once you experience scouting, it remains with you all your life. Ask someone who was once a scout and left or is no longer active and he will look back to those early days and remember them with pride and enthusiasm.
I moved from a scout, to a leader in my group, to secretary general of the association, to a national council member and finally to chief scout. Scouting is not only for young people or youth, it is also attractive to adults. As much as schooling is for young children but there is the need of adults as teachers, so while scouting is mainly for young people and young adults to enjoy and experience there is also the need of adult leaders. Without the two, scouting would not exist. The younger ones are there to enjoy themselves and go through a learning experience, the adults are there to show them the way and lead them.
Although one may say that scouting exists for the benefit of young people and is primarily a youth movement, adults are needed to provide guidance and support. It is evident that the delivery of the various training programmes has to be communicated through competent and dedicated adults.
Through their association with scouting and the younger members, adults continue to improve upon their own life skills, at the same time contributing to the well being of the younger generation.
Scouting is an informal educational process that endorses a progressive educational process. You move gradually from a cub to scout to venture scout to rover scout and at every stage your training is tailor-made to your age and capabilities. What you learn when you are a cub is enhanced and refined upon when you graduate to being a Scout and this process keeps on throughout your scouting life.
During your scouting years you learn to be useful and to help others without asking anything in return. This willingness to be useful to others by helping them to develop their skills, their character and to help them build a better life for themselves and for others is what has kept me going in my Scouting life up to today.
Scouting has given me that strength of character and confidence in oneself so important and necessary in today's world. It has also taught me to be honest in my duties and to respect others whatever their opinion might be. It has taught me to assume the consequences of my decisions; to keep commitments; and complete what I assume responsibility for. It has taught me to live according to values and support causes and ideals that are important.
I feel that all that scouting can give to the individual is contained in the scout promise that a new recruit takes when joining the movement : "On my honour I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country; to help other people at all times, to obey the scout law". This I feel puts in a nutshell all that scouting can give to an individual.
The mission of scouting is to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the scout promise and law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society. This mission is achieved by involving youth through their formative years in a non-formal educational process; by using a specific method that makes each individual the principal agent in his or her development as a self-reliant, supportive, responsible and committed person; assisting them to establish a value system based upon spiritual, social and personal principles as expressed in the promise and law.
Scouting was born from the desire of its founder, Lord Baden-Powell, to improve society; a goal he believed could only be achieved by improving the individuals in society. Indeed, he considered the "character of its citizens" as being a country's greatest strength. Scouting's purpose therefore, that of contributing to the development of young people, is set in this broader social context: Helping to build a better world through the education of young people.
Education includes the development of an awareness of and concern for others, the sense of belonging to a community and being part of its history and evolution. This implies learning to live with others as an active member of one's local, national and international communities. Scouting's broader social purpose is to help build a better world in which each individual has a contribution to make to the future development of society. Lord Baden-Powell said, "Try and leave this world a little better than when you found it".
The Scout Movement is currently developing and following a strategy for scouting that is led by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The movement is divided into six regions and the Scout Association of Malta is one of the 40 countries forming part of the European Scout Region.
This overall strategy has seven strategic priorities and each of the six regions has identified its own priorities within the overall strategy framework in order to focus on those issues that are of concern to the particular region. In general, the challenges faced by our region include the diversity of the region including the internal diversities within many countries. Overall Scouting needs to be encouraged to find ways of being relevant to young people and adults and being seen to be relevant. Work may be needed on the delivery of scouting at local levels, the image and the recruitment of volunteers. It is also a challenge to build on the good practices that exist across National Scout Associations so that this knowledge can be shared.
These priorities may not necessarily be relevant to our situation as we feel, and this is recognised by the European region itself, who acknowledge that our association is a healthy and active one and that, moreover, being a close knit society, our groups work closely together and the network between them is good.
Our main challenges and strategic priorities may, however, be summarised in those of enhancing our contribution to adolescents in supporting their transition to adulthood; developing new approaches to broaden the base of adult support; becoming more flexible, lean and innovative; strengthening communications, partnerships and resources.
Men have an appetite for construction - it is the primaeval urge to survive by making tools that still echoes in an age when we can just buy tools and DIY kits. It is our way of leaving a mark on the world; of showing that despite not having to be so, we can still be useful and practical. Deep down, we are all scouts.
But then, scouting is not just for boys. Nor does it limit itself to camping and cooking things on an open fire. In fact, when in 1908, Lord Baden-Powell wrote Scouting for Boys, which is the fourth bestselling book of the 20th century, he gave it a subtitle which explains the credo of whole movement: A handbook for instruction in good citizenship.
Scouting for Boys may have been written almost a 100 years ago, but it remains an appealing and valuable guide on modern issues, including youth, citizenship, social responsibility and opportunity, because, as Lord Baden-Powell writes, there is no such thing as a bad boy, only a bad influence.
This year, the scouts will mark their centenary since Lord Baden-Powell set up an experimental training camp for 20 boys on Brown Sea Island in Poole harbour. The camp was a great success and a year later, Lord Baden-Powell published Scouting for Boys, which generated so much enthusiasm that it led to the formal establishment of the boy scouts not only in the UK but also abroad. The girl guides programme was started in 1910 by Lord Baden-Powell's wife and in 1920, the first world jamboree in London attracted some 8,000 participants, proving that young people from different nations could share common ideals. The movement survived both World Wars, undertaking national service tasks and playing important roles in the resistance and underground movements.
As the movement grew, scouts around the world became involved with issues of drug abuse prevention, life-skills training, environmental conservation and education. Nowadays, what started as a small training camp has become the world's largest voluntary youth movement, with more than 28 million scouts in 216 countries. It is also calculated that some 300 million people have been scouts.
Malta has a long and great scouting tradition, which owes to Lord Baden-Powell serving as Assistant Military Secretary to his uncle, General Sir Henry Smyth, Governor of Malta between 1890-93. In fact, The Scout Association of Malta was the first overseas branch of the British Association, formed only months after the camp at Brown Sea Island. The Scout Association of Malta remained a branch of the British Association until Malta's independence, when it became a member of the World Organisation of the Scout Movement.
Also member of the European Scout Region, the Scout Association of Malta celebrates its centenary next year. In these 100 years, scouting has been the most active and strongest youth organisation on the island. After the aerial siege of the islands between 1940 and 1943, Maltese scouts were even decorated with the unique honour of the Bronze Cross "in recognition of their courage and devotion to duty in the face of continuous enemy action in the war for freedom". Lord Baden-Powell also had a special affection for Malta, and in what is possibly his last letter, written on July 21, 1940 from Kenya, he congratulates the Maltese "on the plucky way they have stood up to the infernal bombing... (the Maltese) have the spirit of fearlessness and patience".
Today, the Scout Association of Malta has some 2,700 uniformed members, boys and girls, forming the 39 scout groups within the four scout districts. The scouting mission is to contribute to the education of young people throughout their formative years. This education is based on a value system that, through the Scout Promise and Law, helps young people develop into future citizens who are self-fulfilled and play a constructive role in society.
Scouting may be 100 years old, but its social impact, values and function alongside school and family life are still valid today. And it looks towards the future with enthusiasm as new generations join in to play what appears, from the outside, a game but which in reality, is fun with the purpose of making them conversant in decision-making, and cooperation and giving them the responsibility of being the future leaders of social change.
Scouting Sunrise
The Scout Association of Malta will, together with the World Movement, celebrate the movement's 100th anniversary of scouting and join in the events that will be held on an international basis, such as commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of Lord Baden-Powell, participate in the 21st World Scout Jamboree, also known as the Centenary Jamboree and take part in scouting's sunrise on Wednesday.
The Scout Association of Malta has laid out a full programme for this occasion. Members of the association will be gathering on the Granaries at Floriana at around 6 p.m. on Tuesday and stay there till the next morning. At 8 a.m. on Wednesday, scouts will bid farewell to the first centenary of scouting and herald in the second century. At that time contact will be made with the centenary jamboree site at Hylands Park in the UK as well as with the Kanderjam Jamboree site in order that the association's contingents at the two jamboree sites will be able to share this unique moment with their local colleagues.
The association's contingent to the Centenary Jamboree at Hylands Park consists of 84 scouts and one member from the Malta Girl Guides Association, while the contingent to Kandersteg consists of 46 scouts. The two contingents were recently received at the Palace in Valletta by President Eddie Fenech Adami who is also the Patron of the Association.
The official opening of the two-day event will take place on Tuesday at 7 p.m. when the chief scout blows the kudu horn to declare open the activities. From then onwards, up till 9 p.m. the scouts present and the public will be able to enjoy themselves at various activities that are planned. Although these activities are various and varied and mainly consist of typical scouting activities they are, however, meant for the public's participation and enjoyment.
Scout groups who will be exhibiting their crafts and other scouting items at Mafeking Avenue. Beavers, cub scouts, scouts, ventures and rovers and the public will be able to enjoy themselves and learn more about scouting when they attend the presentations that will take place at the Life of the Founder Robert Baden-Powell, the Wolf Cubs' Den, the Beaver Scouts' Colony and the Gilwell House for Troop Scouts.
An interesting activity will be PAX House where a number of ex-scouts and veteran scouts will join in to recount to those present their experiences in the early days of scouting in Malta. The Scout Association of Malta extends an open invitation to all those ex-scouts and veteran scouts who wish to take part to be on the Granaries at 7 p.m.
At around 9 p.m. the scouts will gather around the Camp Fire and present a selection of stunts, songs and dance. The day will end with a bugle call sounding the Last Post.
At the stroke of midnight on Wednesday, those present will assemble for a candle light prayer singing session. This will be followed by projections of the centenary DVD and scout districts' and groups' video clips on the Big Screen activity.
Although all the activities being organised are interesting and important the main highlights of the two day-event will be those of watching the sun rise on the first day of the movement's second century and the Scouting Sunrise ceremony itself when all members of the association will renew their scout promise. These two milestone events will take place on Wednesday early in the morning.
Scouts will walk down to Fort St Elmo to watch the sunrise at 6.05 a.m. and will walk back to the Granaries where at 8 a.m. they will renew their scout promise. Soon after, they will be joined by the Dr Fenech Adami and other VIPs in a short ceremony that will bring to an end the day's celebrations.
Besides the participation of members from the Malta Girl Guides Association a number of visiting scouts from Italy, Britain, Tunisia and from Bosnia and Herzegovina will also be taking part.
The Scout Association of Malta wishes to extend an invitation to the public in general to join in the celebrations.
Once a scout always a scout
20070728-lifestyle--scout2.jpgAlthough one may say that scouting exists for the benefit of young people and is primarily a youth movement, adults are needed to provide guidance and support - interview with Vince Cassar, chief scout.
I do not think there was any particular reason why I joined scouting. I joined the Lyceum Group in 1958 at the age of 10 years. It was my first year at the Lyceum at Hamrun, and I formed part of a small group of close friends who had just moved to that school from the primary school. We became aware of the possibility of joining the school scout group. We attended the first meeting, then the second and eventually became addicted to the idea.
Upon completing our studies at the Lyceum some of us left the group and re-opened the Lascaris Group that had been dormant for some years. After some years we all went our separate ways: Some left altogether while others remained active in some form or other for a further few years. I remained active throughout the years until today.
We have a saying, "Once a scout always a scout". Once you experience scouting, it remains with you all your life. Ask someone who was once a scout and left or is no longer active and he will look back to those early days and remember them with pride and enthusiasm.
I moved from a scout, to a leader in my group, to secretary general of the association, to a national council member and finally to chief scout. Scouting is not only for young people or youth, it is also attractive to adults. As much as schooling is for young children but there is the need of adults as teachers, so while scouting is mainly for young people and young adults to enjoy and experience there is also the need of adult leaders. Without the two, scouting would not exist. The younger ones are there to enjoy themselves and go through a learning experience, the adults are there to show them the way and lead them.
Although one may say that scouting exists for the benefit of young people and is primarily a youth movement, adults are needed to provide guidance and support. It is evident that the delivery of the various training programmes has to be communicated through competent and dedicated adults.
Through their association with scouting and the younger members, adults continue to improve upon their own life skills, at the same time contributing to the well being of the younger generation.
Scouting is an informal educational process that endorses a progressive educational process. You move gradually from a cub to scout to venture scout to rover scout and at every stage your training is tailor-made to your age and capabilities. What you learn when you are a cub is enhanced and refined upon when you graduate to being a Scout and this process keeps on throughout your scouting life.
During your scouting years you learn to be useful and to help others without asking anything in return. This willingness to be useful to others by helping them to develop their skills, their character and to help them build a better life for themselves and for others is what has kept me going in my Scouting life up to today.
Scouting has given me that strength of character and confidence in oneself so important and necessary in today's world. It has also taught me to be honest in my duties and to respect others whatever their opinion might be. It has taught me to assume the consequences of my decisions; to keep commitments; and complete what I assume responsibility for. It has taught me to live according to values and support causes and ideals that are important.
I feel that all that scouting can give to the individual is contained in the scout promise that a new recruit takes when joining the movement : "On my honour I promise that I will do my best to do my duty to God and my country; to help other people at all times, to obey the scout law". This I feel puts in a nutshell all that scouting can give to an individual.
The mission of scouting is to contribute to the education of young people, through a value system based on the scout promise and law, to help build a better world where people are self-fulfilled as individuals and play a constructive role in society. This mission is achieved by involving youth through their formative years in a non-formal educational process; by using a specific method that makes each individual the principal agent in his or her development as a self-reliant, supportive, responsible and committed person; assisting them to establish a value system based upon spiritual, social and personal principles as expressed in the promise and law.
Scouting was born from the desire of its founder, Lord Baden-Powell, to improve society; a goal he believed could only be achieved by improving the individuals in society. Indeed, he considered the "character of its citizens" as being a country's greatest strength. Scouting's purpose therefore, that of contributing to the development of young people, is set in this broader social context: Helping to build a better world through the education of young people.
Education includes the development of an awareness of and concern for others, the sense of belonging to a community and being part of its history and evolution. This implies learning to live with others as an active member of one's local, national and international communities. Scouting's broader social purpose is to help build a better world in which each individual has a contribution to make to the future development of society. Lord Baden-Powell said, "Try and leave this world a little better than when you found it".
The Scout Movement is currently developing and following a strategy for scouting that is led by the World Organisation of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The movement is divided into six regions and the Scout Association of Malta is one of the 40 countries forming part of the European Scout Region.
This overall strategy has seven strategic priorities and each of the six regions has identified its own priorities within the overall strategy framework in order to focus on those issues that are of concern to the particular region. In general, the challenges faced by our region include the diversity of the region including the internal diversities within many countries. Overall Scouting needs to be encouraged to find ways of being relevant to young people and adults and being seen to be relevant. Work may be needed on the delivery of scouting at local levels, the image and the recruitment of volunteers. It is also a challenge to build on the good practices that exist across National Scout Associations so that this knowledge can be shared.
These priorities may not necessarily be relevant to our situation as we feel, and this is recognised by the European region itself, who acknowledge that our association is a healthy and active one and that, moreover, being a close knit society, our groups work closely together and the network between them is good.
Our main challenges and strategic priorities may, however, be summarised in those of enhancing our contribution to adolescents in supporting their transition to adulthood; developing new approaches to broaden the base of adult support; becoming more flexible, lean and innovative; strengthening communications, partnerships and resources.