Never In A Million Years

Hey everybody! Its been awhile since you've heard from us so let me get you caught up...

The World Scout Youth Conference concluded an Rogla and it was a huge success! It was the best attended Youth Conference ever held with 186 participants from over 60 countries. We left having passed a declaration, recommendations to the triennial plan, and recommendations to the World Scout Committee. We also elected six new World Youth Advisors. These Youth Advisors will serve as youth representatives to the World Scout Committee and give a youth voice on issues impacting the scouting program internationally as well as advocating for more youth involvement throughout WOSM. After a long week of hard work it was time to recharge our batteries before the conference. 

On Friday we started the Interevent program with a tour of the famous Slovenian caves.  These caves take two hours to hike through along the river that winds through them. After our tour we continued on to the city of Portarose where we would be staying for the weekend. Our hostel overlooked the Adriatic Sea with a view of Croatia and Italy. Who can complain with accommodations like that?! The next morning our adventure continued with a trip to Piran. In Piran we participated in a scavenger hunt and Slovenia trivia game, had lunch at a small pizzeria by the sea, went swimming (where I found out that the Adriatic DOES have sea urchins), and did some shopping before our hike back to the hostel. 

On Sunday it was time to get back to business and get ready for the reason that we all came here. The World Scout Conference was ready to get underway. We boarded a bus to Ljubljana. Once arriving in Ljubljana we participated in the international street festival where cultural games were shared by all. Team USA shared one of our favorite pastimes with the wonderful game of football. After a few bruises were earned and even more new friends were made, we continued to check into our hotel before meeting up with the rest of the BSA delegation for dinner. Once dinner was completed we made it back to the hotel to prepare for the long week ahead of us. 

Never in a million years could I ever have imagined anything as amazing and life changing as this entire experience has been. It may be exhausting, but every last bit of it is fun. Somehow you find the energy to keep going when you are working for something bigger and greater than yourself and these two weeks are a fantastic example of that. I hope that throughout the rest of our time here we can continue to make BSA and the United States proud while still having fun and making memories along the way.

A People of Peace

It is hard to believe that we are finally in Ljubljana. These last few days have been jammed packed with fun,  fellowship and discussion. In order to achieve all the goals of the forum our delegation was separated into international teams. They were composed of scouts from various regions, with the hopes that the diversity of the group would all for better group participation. Within a few hours the groups were so close that the line between national borders were blurred, and all that remained was a group of scouts trying to make the world a better place.

The first session that we attended was the Keynote speech given by Mr. Ahmad Alhendawi, UN Secretary General’s Envoy on Youth. He encouraged the participant of the Forum to do their best to generate awareness to all of the major global issues, especially the pursuit to change the “troublemaker” image that many of todays youth are given. He said that it was the duty of the youth of the world to be the protectors of peace, and that we must continue the legacy of Baden Powell to be the best youth our nations had to offer.

During the Youth Forum the Youth Delegates of each NSO were tasks to select six youth to represent their interests as the World Scout Youth Advisors to the World Scout Committee. This year twelve very capable youth were nominated for the responsibility of being a world youth representative. The BSA Delegation spent hours trying to determine who we believed were the most worthy candidates might be, and after much debate we came up with a plan. 

Later, e

ach international team was tasked with the challenge of creating a resolution. Getting to see what every scout would like for the Movement is the major purpose of the Youth Forum. This process was facilitated by each group writing about where they would like to see scouting in the next three years, and then drafting team resolutions. This process was a lot more fun than it sounds. We were able to debate major world issues and what try to figure out how scouting could be used to solve these problems. Each group had amazing ideas, and I cannot wait to see what will be passed tomorrow.

These last few days have been amazing and eye opening experiences--one of the most prominent in my life. Needless to say this Forum has gone above and beyond all expectations, and there is no knowing the brilliant opportunities that the rest of the week has in store. Hopefully, we as scouts will be able to fulfill our responsibility to be the Protectors of Peace that Lord Baden Powell envisioned when he developed scouting.

Howdy from Slovenia with my new Canadian and Danish Friends

I was asked before leaving what International Scouting is like, this being my 3^rd event I kind of had clear answer. I thought I knew what to expect when I got on the plane and started by 24-hour journey to Slovenia, but when I set my head down on my pillow my first night and looked up and saw the clear, star filled night through the sky light and reminisced on the couple hours I have been here I already know this experience wont be like any other.

 After landing we were transported to the Ljubljana where we would meet a bus that will end our long trek to the 12^th World Scout Youth Forum in Rogla. After 16 hours of traveling with a 7 hour time zone change the last thing I wanted to hear when we got there was the bus wasn’t going to be there for another 6 hours. We then decided to explore the city, since you know we have 6 hours to kill, and we took full advantage of this opportunity. I am sure this picture can describe this incredible city better than I ever could.  

I completely fell in love with Ljubljana and can wait to be back next week for the Conference. 5 Americans in the incredible city, meeting locals, and taking pictures of everything filled the next couple hours until the bus arrived and the last couple hours of the trek to the 12^th World Scout Youth Forum began. We arrived right on time for dinner and were greeted by familiar faces from people I’ve met in other International Events, like ILT and the IAR Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina. The tiredness quickly drifted while I caught up with old friends until the late hours of the night.

The first full official day began and was jam packed with adopting rules of procedure and the forum agenda, divided into our international groups, and began our number one mission of the week; networking with fellow scouts from around the world. The week is early and has already exceeded my expectations. I’m looking forward to the next couple days in Rogla enjoying the beautiful mountainous scenery and the cool mountain breeze that you don’t really get in Texas. 

“One tree, many branches: Our Movement, 

Our Community, Our Future”

Hey there! My name is Rachel Eddowes, and I am a Venturer from Virginia Beach, Virginia (Tidewater Council). I am currently attending George Mason University in Fairfax, Virginia, double majoring in Communications & Conflict Analysis and Resolution with a minor in Spanish. In addition to classes I’m an active Brother of Alpha Phi Omega, the co-ed service fraternity based on the scouting movement.

My involvement with scouting started as a Daisy with the Girl Scouts of America*.  When I was younger I had the opportunity to live overseas, and was able to earn the International Friendship Pin. When I turned fourteen I became involved with Venturing as part of the Boy Scouts of America*, double dipping as I worked on and earned my Girl Scout Gold Award and Venturing Silver Award. Through Venturing I became involved with leadership training: I served on staff for my council's National Youth Leadership Training, in addition to serving on staff for National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience at Philmont Scout Ranch and Florida Sea Base. This past December I was part of the pilot Interamerican Leadership Training (ILT), helping to develop the syllabus and to execute the course. In 2013 I represented the Venturing program as part of the 2012 Report to the Nation Delegation, delivering the annual report of the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) to our nation’s dignitaries.

A cool international scouting experience (outside of when I was a young Girl Scout), was visiting an Ecuador scouting unit when I was participating in a study abroad in Quito. We spent three hours in a local park playing games--it was so cool to have fun and play with youth from another country yet still be connected through our ties to scouting! 

Yesterday Gus, Bear, David and Gerry, and I flew from the United States to Slovenia to represent the entire Boy Scouts of America at the 12^th World Scout Youth Forum (WSYF) and 40^th World Scout Conference (WSC). 

~~

These two world scouting events happen every three years. This year these events are taking place in Slovenia: the WSYF is taking place in Rogla between August 4-7, and the WSC is taking place in Ljubljana between August 11-15.

The WSYF was created as an educational tool to serve as a way for older youth in scouting to express their interests and concerns on topics surrounding issues affecting young people in different parts of the world, suggest ways of strengthening national youth policies and training young people for world citizenship, and contribute new ideas to the Scouting Movement on how to enrich educational programs for young people over 16 years of age.  Youth representatives ages 18-26 from each National Scouting Organization (NSO àfor us, the BSA) attend the WSYF; each country is recommended to send at least one youth with a maximum of five (up to two can be voting delegates, the rest are observers). In addition to discussing issues affecting youth, the youth attending the Forum will come together to elect the next Youth Advisors, and draft resolutions and declarations that will be passed on to the World Scout Committee. The theme for this Forum is “One Tree, Many Branches.”

Youth and national adult representatives from each NSO attend the WSC to formulate the general policy of the World Organization of the Scouting Movement (WOSM), consider proposed amendments to the WOSM Constitution, and elect the World Scout Committee members. We will also be voting on the host countries for a couple of international scouting events happening in the next coupe of years, such as the World Scout Moot and next WSC and WSYF. The theme for the Conference is “Shaping a Common Future.”

The Youth Advisors are youth who advise the World Scout Committee, and are a diverse group of scouts from all over the world. They serve as the voice of the youth, helping to ensure that WOSM provides for the youth in today’s society. Six are elected at every Forum and serve their term for three years.

The World Scout Committee is made up of twelve adult scouters from around the world. They promote the Scout Movement throughout the world, advise and assist NSOs, approve the annual budget, and supervise the organization of World Scout Events among other responsibilities.

One of the current committee members is Dan Ownby, a member of the BSA. He is currently running for a second term. Fun fact: he was part of the original planning group who came up with the Interamerican Leadership Training!

So, you’ve met the team. Gus represented the BSA at the Interamerican Region Conference this past year, Bear participated in a contingent trip to Kandersteg, David is part of the planning team for the 2019 World Scout Jamboree, Gerry played an integral role in establishing the Interamerican Leadership Training, and I was able to hang out with an Ecuador scouting unit. Today we start the next part of our journey for scouting (one tree) with the rest of the world (many branches).

*The Girl Scouts of America is a member of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts, or WAGGGS, and was founded by Juliette Gordon Low. The Boy Scouts of America is a member of the World Organization of the Scouting Movement, or WOSM, and was founded by William D. Boyce. These are two completely separate organizations chartered by the U.S. Congress, each stemming from the vision of Sir Robert Baden-Powell.

So you say you want to change the world?

As kids just about everyone tells themselves that one day they will “Change the world.” As kids grow up many will lose that vision for themselves, but a lucky few will keep that vision as a burning passion inside of them for the rest of their lives.

Hi everyone! My name is Gerry Souser and I am honored to be one of the BSA Youth Representatives to the World Youth Forum and World Scout Conference. I am from Alexandria, Virginia and am a member of the National Capital Area Council. I am currently attending Northern Virginia Community College and am studying Social Studies and am planning to transfer to a Leadership Studies Major. I began my scouting career as a Tiger Cub in 2001 and went on to earn my Eagle in 2009. After earning Eagle at a relatively young age I was quickly looking for a new challenge. Venturing was right there to fill the void. I earned my Venturing Silver in 2010 in doing so found a new passion… leadership.  I got involved in starting my Councils Venturing Officers Association where local ventures could come together to share ideas and experiences as well as take part in events. I also attended the National Youth Leadership Training (NYLT) and the National Advanced Youth Leadership Experience (NAYLE). After serving on two NAYLE staffs and on the National Venturing Cabinet as a Vice President I thought that my scouting career was just about over until I would have kids of my own in the program.  I am happy to say that I was wrong.

While on NAYLE staff in the summer of 2013 I got to learn a lot about international scouting from the Course Director Armando Agurrie. To this point my only international scouting experience had been visiting the World Jamboree in London in 2007. Mr. Armando told me about the Messengers of Peace program. Messengers of Peace (MOP) was founded in 2011 by WOSM to encourage scouts around the world to work together to bring peace through working together on projects. These projects could be anything under the sun. They can be anything from community development, to working for human rights issues, to service, to training. Upon completion of a project, scouts can log their efforts into scout.org where they can share their accomplishments with other scouts from around the world. To date over 582 million service hours have been logged by Messengers of Peace.

A few weeks after a mountaintop experience at NAYLE I received a phone call from Mr. Armando asking me to help with a new project called the Interamerican Leadership Training (ILT). I was ecstatic to say yes. Baden Powell once said that "Every Boy Deserves a Trained Leader." That quote would be at the heart of ILTs mission. The hope of this training was to bring together scouts from across the Interamerican Region (IAR) for a week of training, networking, and sharing of best practices. A project like this had never been attempted before. With 34 countries in the IAR this would prove to be a daunting challenge. ILT had been in the works for almost three years after a recommendation to Messengers of Peace from Guatemala indicated the growing need for such an event if the Region was going to successfully carry out Baden Powell’s vision. Funding was secured through Messengers of Peace (a 10 year grant for ILT), the United States Fund for International Scouting, and the William “Bill” Hillcourt Foundation.  A staff was put together with some of BSA’s top youth trainers and with consultants from several other IAR NSO’s. Now all that was needed was participants….

When I first heard about ILT the thought was that if there were 20-30 participants from 10-15 different countries the first course would be a great success. In December of 2013 at the first Interamerican Leadership Training there were 67 participants from 33 of the 34 countries in the Interamerican Region! The week was a much bigger success then was ever imagined. It was a week full of learning, sharing, networking, planning, fun, and inspiration! I feel that is safe to say that every single person who left camp on January 1^st was changed. But they were more than changed. They were motivated to share that change with the world through scouting and through their NSOs.

But the story of the Pilot ILT is far from over. As scouts went home, amazing things started to happen. Schools were being built, national trainings were being written and run for the first time, and communities were being changed. But even more than that came out of ILT. An international dialogue had been established. During the course participants were formed into teams for the week. Little did I know how close these teams would become over such a short time and how strong the relationships would stay once everyone had returned home. Far beyond any pre-course expectations a few teams decided to work across borders, languages, and cultures to spread the message of peace. From the Orange Team came Trees for the World, a project for one scout to plant one tree worldwide on April 27^th. On that day it was reported that over 8,000 scouts from 13 countries in 5 Scout Regions planted over 36,000 trees! To date over 13,000 scouts from 18 countries have planted over 50,000 trees and they’re not done yet! The project will happen again on September 27^th of this year. The White Team is currently carrying out their Books for All project with the goal of developing a book donation program as well as strategies for promoting good reading habits worldwide.  They are well on their way.

Scouting gives us all the opportunity to learn, grow, and share. Through all of this I believe that we are changed so that we may change the world. So you say you want to change the world? Scouting is doing just that! I cannot wait to land in Ljubljana in just three days as I continue to learn, to grow, to share, and to see what the world has in store in its future.

A Rowdy, Boisterous Gathering

One aspect of the WSYF and WSC is educating members of WOSM about what is happening in Scouting around the globe.  From local programs to regional events, Scouts will have the opportunity to learn about the different facets of our organization and how the types of events other groups hold advance our movement.  One of the most anticipated events is the World Scout Jamboree, and in 2019 the 24th World Scout Jamboree will be held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in West Virginia.  While in Slovenia, we’ll be talking with others about the opportunities we’ll have in 2019 when we meet at SBR.

My name is David Joyner, and my inclusion with the BSA’s delegation to the WSC is largely due to my work with the planning team for the 2019 World Jamboree.  I joined Cub Scouts in first grade and advanced through the program to become an Eagle Scout in 2009.  Along the way I’ve had many Scouting opportunities, from staffing my council’s summer camp to attending the BSA’s past two Sustainability Summits.  My favorite part of being a Boy Scout has always been the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s National Honor Society.  The experiences I’ve had with the OA have made me a better Scout, leader, and person.

In 2012 I was asked to join the youth planning team for the 24th World Scout Jamboree.  The group includes three members of the BSA, three from the Scout Association of Mexico, and three from Scouts Canada.  The nine of us have been advising the Scouters working on the event’s preparations by providing input on what young people want to get out of a World Jamboree.  The 2019 WSJ is the first to be hosted by a continent rather than a single country; Canada, Mexico, and the United States have been working together for the past several years to secure the bid and now plan the Jamboree.

World Jamborees have been a part of Scouting since 1920.  As the movement spread around the world, leaders like Lord Baden Powell saw the need to bring young people together to experience Scouting together and learn more about one another’s programs.  Just as each unit in the BSA abides by the organization’s structural and policy set-up but has its own traditions, National Scouting Organizations each follow the principles and guidelines of WOSM, yet maintain their own customs.  The idea to bring these customs together through the spirit of Scouting led to the birth of the World Jamboree, and has continued approximately every four years.  When BP was asked what the word "Jamboree" meant, he described it as, "A rowdy, boisterous gathering."  WSJs have been held all around the world, though Africa is the only continent yet to host the event.

The next World Scout Jamboree will be hosted by the Scout Association of Japan.  Scouts will gather in Kirarahama, Japan from July 28 – August 8 2015.  The Boy Scouts of America is already accepting applications to attend.

World Jamborees are one of the many ways to get involved with World Scouting.  Having only become involved with international programs in 2012, I encourage anyone in the BSA to look into World Scouting immediately.  Working with the 2019 planning team has been one of my favorite Scouting experiences and makes me wish I had gotten involved on an international level even sooner!  I can’t wait to see the other members of the planning team – Luis, Grecia, and Diana from Mexico, as well as Keegan from Canada – who are attending the WSYF and WSC, and I’m excited to make new friends from across the globe.

“Leave this world a little better than you found it” Lord Baden-Powell

It’s hard to believe that in a matter of two weeks we will be flying halfway around the world to get define what scouting is on a global scale. Needless to say I am so excited to go back to Europe on another scouting adventure.

My name is James Michael Britt, but all of my friends call me Bear. I am an Eagle Scout and Silver Award recipient from Indian Nations Council in Tulsa Oklahoma. I have held many positions in the national Boy Scouts of America (BSA) program and trained future leaders of the region as a staff member of the Inter-American Leadership Training course that was designed to teach Scouts from Canada to the Cape Horn to be the best leaders the world has to offer. Currently I am an Electrical Engineering Major and Cheerleader at Oral Roberts University.

I have been very blessed in my scouting adventures. I have been all over the world, but one of my fondest memories will always be attending Kandersteg International Scout Center (KISC). Kandersteg is the World Centre for the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM). The Centre began in 1923 with Lord Baden-Powell, who, after the first World Scout Jamboree, had a dream about a place where all Scouts from all over the world could meet: the Permanent Mini Jamboree.

In 2012 I went to KISC with a contingent from the Sam Houston Area Council, that changed my life forever. It was a two week excursion that can be best described as absolute rigid flexibility. Scouting programs in the United States usually offer an assortment of class based activities. Unlike scouting programs and camps in the United States, Kandersteg gives you a list of options and a timetable, and will let you build your own experience. While I was there I got to go whitewater rafting, climb a six level copes course, see some of the most beautiful places in Europe and experience a wide variety of cultures.  However, the pinnacle of the trip was international night. As with most WOSM activities there was a night that was set apart as an international exchange. It was a night full of fun and fellowship, and for a very brief  two hours all national borders were blurred. We were one group of scouts that wanted nothing more than to do a very simple task, change our world for the betterment of humanity.

Now I hope you are wondering, “How does this help me?” Well, it is my pleasure to tell you that the people that I was privileged to go to Kandersteg with will be going again in the summer of  2015, and I would love to answer any questions about how you might get involved with such an exceptional group of scouts.

It is truly awe inspiring to see scouts from all over the world come together under one purple and white fleur-de-lis. I am so excited to be one of five scouts representing the United States, and I hope that, together we can leave this world a little better than we found it.