Every four years scouts from around the world gather for the adventure of a lifetime at an event called a World Scout Jamboree. This year the 24th World Scout Jamboree was hosted by the United States of America, Canada and Mexico at the spectacular Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia, USA – a 14 000 acre facility managed by Boy Scouts of America.
From the 22nd of July to the 2nd of August 2019 Christopher Park, Jonathan Diessel and Sabastian Cruz – three scouts from 1st Kengray – and Ewen McAlpine, a scouter from 1st Kengray, joined the South African Contingent of 143 youths and adults from SCOUTS South Africa and participated in this monumental event along with more than 45 000 other scouts and adult leaders from 152 countries. Our scouts had the opportunity to participate in activities such as mountain biking, zip lining, skateboarding, scuba diving, rock climbing, shooting and archery and river rafting. In addition, they had the opportunity to interact with scouts from around the world and develop lifelong friendships in the process.
The South African contingent also took in the sights of New York City and Washington, DC on their way to the jamboree – the first time many of the scouts had travelled outside the borders of South Africa.
Scouting aims to develop our youth into responsible citizens and useful members of society and to this end a World Jamboree offers scouts the opportunity to interact with youth from around the world to develop them into global citizens. The 25th World Scout Jamboree will be held in Saemangeum, South Korea in 2023.
Photos of the event can be viewed here.
