Report for Kent County Scouts from Scouting Mpumalanga - 2004

Scouting in 'The Place Of The Rising Sun' - Mpumalanga South Africa

2004 was an exciting time in Mpumalanga for Scouting. Many projects and events were made possible in part because of the support that we received from Kent Scouts Via the 'Ice Cream Badge Project'.

The Super Scout project (supported by money raised by the sale of Ice Cream Badges) made it possible for many new groups to open and for existing groups to learn new skills to make their Scouting better. In 2004 five new rural groups opened with about 100 new Scouts joining the Association.

Here some young people from a rural school are preparing to be invested as Scouts. After a prayer they will make their promise to do their best to do their duty to their God and to their country, to help other people and to obey the Scout laws. Then they will receive their Scout scarves. Many other children look at the special ceremony with great interest.

When a new group opens they can receive a starter kit which has all the basic material that they will require to do Scouting activities, including handbooks of the programme.
Ice Cream Badges supported 15 groups to receive their kits.

This is the group 1st Gatshweni from the Nsikazi District showing us their starter kit.

During 2004 every Scout in Mpumalanga (more than 2500 children) had a chance to take part in a fun field day. A field day is a day when the Scouts come together to take part in new activities and to learn more about special life skills like First Aid and HIV/Aids prevention. Their pioneering skills are also advanced and the Scouts build towers and bridges. They also have a chance to work together with Scouts from other cultures.

These three Scouts are sitting on their tower to test how strong it is.

And in this picture you can see the opening time of a field day in Kamhlushwa near to the border of Mozambique where 180 Scouts and Girl Guides took part.

Amsterdam (a small village about 3 hours drive from Nelspruit). Ice Cream Badges (bought by Kent Scouts) helped to make this camp possible and all together about 500 Cubs, Scouts and Girl Guides enjoyed the programme for the week.

The Cubs had a mini Olympic Games day and they also learned more about the environment.

The Cub in the picture is showing us the insect that they found.

The Scouts learned about HIV/Aids on camp and other skills such as knotting, pioneering, tent pitching,
compass and mapping and so on. They also had a really great time on a mud obstacle course..
take a look at this - they forgot to take off their Scout scarves!

Scouting prepares children for the future by teaching them leadership skills and life skills. The Kent Scouts who took part in the Ice Cream Badge Project have helped make it possible for South African children to enjoy and learn from Scouting.