The ManicaPost
Senior Post Reporter
MORE than 600 scouts from the five scouting provinces in Zimbabwe recently descended on the magnificent Chinziwa Scout Park in scenic Bvumba for the national jamboree event.
Manicaland, as host province, did not disappoint as the carnival atmosphere that prevailed during the camp left each scout with a story to tell.
The theme for this year’s camp was: “Creating a better Zimbabwe” derived from the scout mission “creating a better world”.
Officially opening the national camping, the chairperson for Manicaland Scout Association, Mr Ernest Mungwari, called upon all scouts to lead by example wherever they are.
He said the theme was a call for each scout to avail themselves to serve their country and make it a better place than they found it.
“As scouts, you should show by your behaviour that you are different from other children who are not part of this movement. We want children who show respect to their elders, their teachers and their scout leaders. We do not want thieves among our scouts.
“We are training you to be leaders and you need to start showing your leadership skills now.
“We want you to be a corruption-free generation so that our country can prosper.”
The camping was also attended by the Chief Scout Commissioner for Zimbabwe, Mr Christopher Bwanali, and several delegates from the Scout Association of Zimbabwe national office.
A couple from Poland also attended the gathering and were touched by the energy exhibited by the participating children. They vowed to link Zimbabwean scouts to the rest of the world, thus putting Zimbabwe on the world map in scouting.
Scouting (or the Scout Movement) is a movement that aims to support young people in their physical, mental and spiritual development that they may play constructive roles in society, with a strong focus on the outdoors and survival skills.
During the first half of the 20th century, the movement grew to encompass three major age groups (8-10 years) Cub Scouts, (11-18) Scouts and (18-35) being Rover Scouts. It is the largest youth movement in the world helping many young people to help their countries and their communities.
The movement achieves this by training the young people to follow a set of 10 laws and a promise by which they should live and practise in their daily lives.
Over the years in Zimbabwe, scouting has been going down and many here in Manicaland can testify that the previous year that saw a lot of scouting activities in this province was a pleasant surprise to many.
Manicaland scout province under Mr Mungwari of the Tenda fame saw exponential development of the scouting activities in the province.
This saw Manicaland being chosen as this year’s host for the National Scout Camp this month.
