DEBBIE DOWNING
I get asked this question time and again when I am out and about in my Scouters uniform, “Is Scouts still active?”, followed by, “I didn’t know Scouts was still around!”
Often the person asking this question was a Cub or Scout in their youth and invariably, I will be regaled with scouting stories of yesteryear.
A wise man once said, scouting is caught and not taught. Every Scout knows, once a Scout always a Scout whether you remain in the programme or not, it becomes a part of your DNA.
Scouts has tried to keep up with the times but the values that scouting instills in its members remain the same as they were 50 years ago.
Yes, we are definitely still here, active and going from strength to strength. We are lucky to have a dedicated team of volunteer adult Scouters, without whom Meerkats, Cubs and Scouts would no longer exist in East London.
One of the pillars of scouting, is service to the community and doing a good turn to someone every day.
We try and do many good turn projects throughout the year. But once a year, for Mandela Day, all our groups within East London from the littlest Meerkat to the oldest Scouter join forces and do a litter clean-up.
This year we chose to clean up Nahoon Reef. We collaborated with Land of the Living, who took all the collected litter to their recycling plant.
We spent two hours collecting litter and eventually we lost count of the number of bags we filled. We would like to thank every Meerkat, Cub and Scout who attended as well as the parents and siblings who came to lend a hand. It just goes to show that a little bit of effort and two hours of one’s time is all it may cost to make a difference in your community.
“Try and leave this world a little better than you found it, and when your turn comes to die, you can die happy in feeling that at any rate, you have not wasted your time but have done your best,” Lord Baden Powell, founder of scouting, once said.
I would like to think that this is exactly what we did on Saturday, we left Nahoon Reef a little better than we found it.
For information on Meerkats, Cubs or Scouts contact Debbie Downing on 079-971-4878.
