Sometimes packs and groups find it difficult to find ways of doing things for their community and the environment in their program. The leaders may think that the children will find it boring, it is too time consuming or that it is difficult to find organisations to work with.
Most of the issues above stems from inexperience. Getting involved in the community, locally and globally, is fundamental to scouting, and scouts all over the world do it differently, and kids love to make a difference!
There are things to consider:
*Make sure that your help is needed!
This may seem obvious, but it is important that you do some research so you don't end up doing the wrong thing. Collecting clothes and toys is popular, but most organisations need money a lot more, and it is easier and cheaper to distribute.
* Don't go to big!
Find small projects, that you can manage and can see results from. Kids love to help, but they are impatient and forget quickly. Do a sponsored walk, a limmited collection, a garage sale or put on a show over a limmited period. Make sure that you give the kids feedback on the result, and that they know about, or are there when the money/collection is handed over. If you get a thank you, make sure that the kids hear, if possible: frame it and hang it on a wall in the hut.
* Find easy ways for everyone to help every day!
A good deed a day is a motto that has been in the scout movement from the beginning. Show the Cubs that a good deed doesn't have to be big and flashy: It can be something small like picking up a missplaced piece of rubbish a day, helping a school friend with a difficult math problem, standing up for someone who doesn't dare speak in assembly, sending a post card to someone who's ill or something as simple as putting a link to a charity web site on the group's web page or your blog. (i.e. see right margin!)
* Find good examples!
Show your Cubs that people help other people in many different ways! It's not just big, international, media covered events that count. LiveAid, Comic Relief, WorldHungerDay are great, but make sure your Cubs know that helping in a small scale is just as great; that world hunger is a big issue, but that there are other ways of looking at the world too, and that there might be people close by that need help.
2008/10/25
Autumn break
As this Akela is home ill, there will be no report from this week's meeting, that was about woodcraft: wild animals and plants.
Next week is autumn break, and no meeting. See you soon!
Next week is autumn break, and no meeting. See you soon!
2008/10/19
Forgot
During JOTA we were in contact with Scout groups in Turkey, Italy, Portugal, Sweden and more. We thought it was difficult to manage the chat at JOTI and never really got any good conversations going, but exchanged a few e-mails with someone in Australia.
Millions of thanks to Reino and SK6XJ; Henrik, Jocke & co for helping out with the climbing wall, Tompa, Eva, Michael, Marie and everyone else for pitching tents, lighting fires, smiling and being wonderful!
Millions of thanks to Reino and SK6XJ; Henrik, Jocke & co for helping out with the climbing wall, Tompa, Eva, Michael, Marie and everyone else for pitching tents, lighting fires, smiling and being wonderful!
2008/10/18
JOTA/JOTI 2008
Unfortunately the weather wasn't very inviting, but still some cubs, scouts, leaders, parents and friends thereof came to the field by the Scout hut in Falkenberg, when Falkenberg Scout group participated in JOTA/JOTI for the first time in approxomately 15 years.
Falkenberg Radio Amateur Club, SK6JX, helped set up the radio and we had at the most three computers with a mobile internet connection linked up to the JOTI site.
The Swedish introductory speach was held by the acting vice president of the Scout Association, Erik Sillén in Stockholm. In the picture above, Reino from the Radio Club is announcing that Falkenberg is on the air.
There was plenty to do around the little caravan that held the radio. Among other things our mobile climbing wall was up, and there was a quiz walk. 
When people got peckish, there was hotdogs and buns to barbeque over the fires.
Next year we're definately going to do it again, but indoors! October on the west coast of Sweden can be very rough. This year it only rained a little bit, the winds were managable and it was just 9 degrees Centigrades. It could be considerably worse!
2008/10/01
Autumn rain and Trangias
The weather was very unreliable this week! One minute the sun was out, the next it rained so hard that the roads got flooded. At least it wasn't very cold.
Since it was the first rainy meeting for the term, not all the cubs came prepared. To be honest, not all the leaders either. Most people had rain coats, but no trousers. Luckily, there were still lots and lots of clothes left behind that came to good use one more time, before they get passed on to charity.
The cubs learnt a little bit about pioneering and knots as they built their dens. When the tarps were up they assembled the trangias and made rosehip soup. Just when the soup was finished and most of the rusks had been eaten the parents came to get the cubs home. It had gotten very dark, and by the time the leaders had got all the equipment into the storage room some stars had come out too.
Around the world in 40 minutes
There were loads of people at the meeting on September 25th; Both packs were there, and lots of parents! Unfortunately no pictures.
While the Akelas were dealing with the parents inside, all the sixes went on a trail around the world and answered lots of very tricky questions about continents, countries, flags and languages. The cubs also did lots of practical things like spelling, throwing balls into buckets and throwing an old fashioned life line. And of course some games and songs!
Meanwhile, indoors Marie and Lotta had the parents reading the scout law, explained how the law and the promise makes scouting different from Woodcrafters and football teams, how Falkenberg scout group is a part of a family of millions and millions. They also told the parents of the seven different parts of the scout method: Law and promise, symbols and ceremonies, the six, learning by doing, the outdoors, caring for oneself, the society and the world and supportive and listening leadership. Then the parents were put into sixes and told to plan a meeting for their children, using as many of the seven parts as possible.
When the meeting was over everyone sang the scout song. Next week the cubs will take home a nice course certificate for their parents as proof that they all have passed the first module of the basic scout leader course!
While the Akelas were dealing with the parents inside, all the sixes went on a trail around the world and answered lots of very tricky questions about continents, countries, flags and languages. The cubs also did lots of practical things like spelling, throwing balls into buckets and throwing an old fashioned life line. And of course some games and songs!
Meanwhile, indoors Marie and Lotta had the parents reading the scout law, explained how the law and the promise makes scouting different from Woodcrafters and football teams, how Falkenberg scout group is a part of a family of millions and millions. They also told the parents of the seven different parts of the scout method: Law and promise, symbols and ceremonies, the six, learning by doing, the outdoors, caring for oneself, the society and the world and supportive and listening leadership. Then the parents were put into sixes and told to plan a meeting for their children, using as many of the seven parts as possible.
When the meeting was over everyone sang the scout song. Next week the cubs will take home a nice course certificate for their parents as proof that they all have passed the first module of the basic scout leader course!
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