First South Central scouts camp instils life skills in youngsters

More than 120 cubs and scouts from across the South Cen­tral Dis­trict took part in the first an­nu­al dis­trict camp over the week­end, as the scout move­ment con­tin­ues to in­stil in young peo­ple life skills, dis­ci­pline and team­work.

Dis­trict Scout Com­mis­sion­er and deputy camp chief for Camp Pointe-a-Pierre, Cur­tis Din­di­al, said the pro­gramme was de­signed to keep youths mean­ing­ful­ly en­gaged while help­ing them de­vel­op life­long skills and re­la­tion­ships.

“It is the goal and vi­sion of scout­ing for young peo­ple and to­day at the South Cen­tral dis­trict, our plan of ac­tion is to en­gage our scouts mean­ing­ful­ly, where they will gain life­long re­la­tion­ships and have fun. Whilst they are learn­ing skills, they will be ac­com­plish­ing badges over this pe­ri­od of time and most im­por­tant­ly, they will de­vel­op friend­ships by in­ter­act­ing with var­i­ous scout­ing groups,” Din­di­al said dur­ing the camp at the Petrotrin Sports Club.

Un­der­scor­ing the im­por­tant role scout­ing plays in churn­ing out dis­ci­plined and pro­duc­tive young peo­ple, he said, “The way our cub pro­gramme and our scout pro­gramme is de­signed, there is no room for bul­ly­ing or any such in­frac­tions to oc­cur. Our cubs and our scouts, with the ex­pe­ri­ence of our lead­ers, al­ways try their best to give of them­selves, use their time wise­ly, whilst they are learn­ing by do­ing.”

He said the train­ing and skills young­sters re­ceive will al­so help them pre­pare for the Sec­ondary En­trance As­sess­ment (SEA) ex­am by teach­ing them prop­er time man­age­ment and ex­tracur­ric­u­lar ac­tiv­i­ties to man­age their stress lev­els.

Cubs and scouts from var­i­ous groups par­tic­i­pat­ed in a range of ac­tiv­i­ties, in­clud­ing swim­ming, golf, taek­won­do, camp craft, pi­o­neer­ing, as­tron­o­my and art. Par­tic­i­pants were al­so ex­pect­ed to vis­it the Wild Fowl Trust and take part in a tree-plant­i­ng ex­er­cise.

The camp end­ed yes­ter­day.