Issuu

November 2014

Kudumail

News from the Africa Scout Region

www.scout.org/africa

WOSM and UNICEF Collaborate to Establish Global Communications Network through the U-report

Inside Highlight

WOSM and UNICEF collaborate to establish Global Communications Network through the U-report

Page 1 From NSOs

Scouts embark on Ebola Awareness campaign

!WSB-ARO/FILE

Walk for Peace Scouts and Red Cross volunteers say no to Ebola

Page 2 From ARO Africa Scout Foundation member, Chief Addy passes on Brave HIV-positive Kenyan boy, Teacher join forces to educate others Children’s Day

Page 3 Community President flags off Centenary Development Jamboree KUALA LUMPUR - The World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM) and the UNICEF Global Innovation Centre have entered into an agreement aimed at establishing a global communications network through the U-report. The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding was held at the World Scout Bureau – Kuala Lumpur Office in Malaysia on 18 November 2014. U-report is a real-time mobile messaging programme that allows young people from across the globe to communicate, share information and opinions as well as to vote on issues. It provides a channel for strengthening communication and dialogue with communities around core development issues. This collaboration, using the U-report as a tool to support WOSM achieve its strategic priorities and enhanced youth engagement, was endorsed by the 40th World Scout Conference in Ljubljana, Slovenia in August 2014. “WOSM will leverage its network of 40 million Scouts in over 200 countries and territories, which it plans to grow to over 100 million by 2023, and encourage them to participate in global and national advocacy and mobilization efforts through the U-report as part of efforts to create a better world”, said WOSM’s Secretary General, Scott Teare. The input of these young “social monitors” on community reports and polls on issues via SMS will help UNICEF and its partners gather data on community services and issues. This feedback is analysed and summarized in real-time, provided to local government and authorities to make informed decisions about social development programmes and monitor issues that matter most to young people. The U-report is currently available in Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Indonesia, Nigeria, Mali, South Sudan, Swaziland, Uganda and Zambia. It will soon be launched in several other countries in collaboration with the National Scout Organizations. Concurrently, the UNICEF Innovation Centre is developing RapidPro as the new real-time information system where applications like the U-report can be built using user-friendly and intuitive web-interfaces, and where mobile-based messaging can be integrated with SMS-based information, as well as other media channels. WOSM is a long-time collaborator with UNICEF and has conducted numerous joint projects worldwide for the health and welfare of children and youth.

Page 4

Events Africa Scout Day 2015 calendar

Uganda Scout Association Centenary Celebrations

16th Africa Scout Conference and 7th Youth Forum 23rd World Scout Jamboree

Page 4

November 2014

Kudumail

FOCUS ON NSOs Scouts Embark on Ebola Awareness Campaign

LIBERIA - A local community troop of the Liberian Scout Association located in the community of Bernard Farm, the outskirts of the Monrovia, has embarked on a month-long Anti-Ebola sensitization and awareness campaign. The campaign started since August 18, 2014.

The walk was carried out in partnership with organisations like the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) and Peace Ambassadors Kenya (PAK). This walk was also in line with their Messengers of Peace Programme. The walk was flagged off by Mr. Ray Charles Musau who is the Chief

Commissioner, Kenya Scouts Association and Mr. Kilian Nyambu from the NCIC. PAK was represented by Superintendent Francis Kooli who supported in the coordination of the walk together with the team from KSA.

Over 30 scouts are involved in the exercise. The main objective is to reach over 5,000 locals within the Bernard Farm-FDA community and its environs with the ‘STOP EBOLA’ message. Several methods are employed by the scouts during the sensitization including messages to wash hands, avoid shaking hands, touching dead bodies and sick people, eating bush meat, coming into contact of bodily fluids of sick persons, among others. In addition, the scouts have creatively developed public dramatization of their messages. The exercise has galvanized community members into taking preventive measures and alerting each other for signs and symptoms of the virus. The locals have applauded the initiative of the scouts. The campaign is initiated and supported by the People Empowerment Program (PEP) through its local leadership and its Dutch Foundation in The Netherlands. PEP is a local Liberian Non-governmental and not-for-profit organization whose mission is to empower people through transformative education as a means to combat ignorance, resource inequality, poor governance, human rights violations and gender disparity Story by Julu Swen and appeared on http://www.westafricanwriters.org/2014/09/14/liberia-scouts-embark-on-ebolaawareness-campaign/

Scouts and Red Cross Volunteers say no to Ebola

IVORY COAST – On 21st and 22nd October, 120 Scouts and Red Cross volunteers from Bouaké, the second largest city in Côte d'Ivoire, got together and had an awareness campaign with the theme, “No to Ebola” in 20 schools. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the Ebola hemorrhagic fever has claimed 5987 victims in West Africa with Liberia and Sierra Leone being hardest hit. Guinea and Liberia who border Ivory Coast are severely affected which has prompted the government of Ivory Coast in coordination with the private sector to tighten their preventive health measures and cross border interactions. Faced with this crisis that hit the zone, the Scouts of the Ivory Coast were not left on the sidelines as health problems threatened the very communities that they live in. Scouts and community volunteers were first trained by a specialist from United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on the basics of the Ebola virus, its symptoms, methods of

Walk For Peace

KENYA - About 100 Rover Scouts from Kenya embarked on a Peace Walk that saw them cover about 149km across 5 Counties to sensitize the general public and the local communities they interacted with on the importance of peace, keeping off drugs and environmental conservation. The walk was conducted under the banner “Advocating for Peace, a Drug free Society and a Green Environment”. A key activity to celebrate 104 years of Scouting in Kenya, the Scouts walked from Embu to Nairobi from 24th to 28th November, holding several public forums along the way.

contamination and preventive measures to adhere to. After the training, they formed 30 teams comprising of 4 Scouts and Red Cross volunteers and visited different primary and secondary schools in the city of Bouake to educate teachers and students about the Ebola virus. The campaign in the schools was made possible by the support of UNDP and the Regional Directorate of National Education. The sensitization is still on going and has borne fruits since the communities are well versed about the disease and new cases have considerably gone down.

November 2014

Kudumail

FROM THE REGIONAL OFFICE Africa Scout Foundation Member Chief Addy passes on

GHANA - It is with great sadness that we share the sad news of the demise of Chief Addy Isaac Newton. He was the immediate former Chief Commissioner who also played several vital roles in the Ghana Scout Association even after the end of his term. He will be remembered as a true selfless leader who promoted the development of the Scout Movement on both national and international levels. At the National level, he was a Scout and a leader who trained and inspired several youth and leaders of the Ghana Scout Association to be self reliant and patriotic based on the Scout Methods and also play constructive roles in their respective societies. He has been a Scout since the age of 8. Due to his high sense of dedication, he was selected as one of the two representatives from Ghana to the United Kingdom for the Golden Jubilee of the Scout Movement in 1957. He has served in several key roles in the Association in the capacities of International Commissioner, Deputy Chief Commissioner and Chief Commissioner just to mention a few. He successfully led in organizing the 2009 Africa Scout Conference and Youth Forum for the first time in Ghana in a record time of three (3) months. Internationally he played a key role in the formation and promotion of the West Africa Scout Zone and until his demise served as the Vice Chairman of the Africa Scout Foundation. In recognition of the above he was awarded the African Elephant, the highest award in the Africa Scout Region in June 2012 at the Regional Conference in Angola. Chief Addy, as he was known by all, was a familiar face in all World Conferences, Africa Regional Conferences, West Africa Zonal Conferences and other International Scout gatherings. His vast knowledge, sense of duty, honesty and respect for humanity made him a giant among others. Chief Addy lived and died as a Scout. Indeed, an African Scout Elephant has fallen. On behalf of the Africa Scout Region and on our own behalf, we would like to convey our condolences to his family and the Ghana Scout Association, as well as to his friends and admirers all over the world and join them in paying tribute to him. May his soul rest in peace!

Brave HIV-Positive Kenyan Boy, Teacher Join Forces to Educate Others

KENYA - On the International Day of the African Child (June 16), Elijah Zachary Lemein Simel, a Kenyan boy living with HIV, shared his heartwarming story of how his teacher, Stanley Kyalo, was instrumental to bringing normalcy to his life by helping him cope with the condition and making fellow students embrace him.

Simel, who lives in the residential area of Kasarani in Nairobi, is 11 years old and contracted HIV from his nursing mother who was unaware she had the condition. The brave young man talks gleefully about attending Nyawai Academy school but revealed that it wasn’t always easy for him. “When I went to school, I was sad, not feeling healthy. Everything was hard,” said Simel. Simel started HIV medication and his health was restored, but what was also replenished was his connection to the man he calls “Teacher Stanley.” Seeing that Simel was struggling in class, Kyalo asked him what was wrong, and according to the teacher, they had an honest conversation “as friends,” with Simel explaining that he is HIV positive. “Teacher Stanley is really fun. Teacher Stanley, and me we are best friends,” added Simel. It was then that Simel asked Kyalo if it was possible for him to learn about his condition in class. Kyalo, who joined the academy in 2013, decided to reveal Simel’s status to the class and reminded them that Simel is still a normal boy. Effectively easing the students’ fears, Kyalo said the students took in Simel as one of their own and began to play with him like all the other children. “I think the people they are afraid of HIV, but I am here to tell them not to be afraid. It’s not that bad,” said Simel. Watch Elijah Zachary Lemein Simel’s story here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NydR2SOx0w Stanley was recognized by UNICEF as an African Child Ambassador. Kenya Scouts Association is proud of Stanley and Elijah; as they epitomized the true spirit of Scouting and Messengers of Peace. (NB: This story was published on www.face2faceafrica.com on 19th June 2014)

Children’s Day "The one thing all children have in common is their right. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard. " Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon DRC – On 20th November the Universal Children’s Day, Scouts in Butembo a city in North Kivu, in the north eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, celebrated this day in style. They visited the local school where they had various activities and sensitized the pupils on their rights as well as reminding the school administration on the children’s rights to survive and thrive, to learn and grow, to make their voices heard and to reach their full potential. The Scout organizers thanked the Provincial Commissioner Dr. Valentin Kabemba of the Association of Scouts in North Kivu, since he greatly supported the day’s activities. By resolution 836(IX) of 14 December 1954, the General Assembly recommended that all countries institute a Universal Children's Day, to be observed as a day of worldwide fraternity and understanding between children. It recommended that the Day was to be observed also as a day of activity devoted to promoting the ideals and objectives of the Charter and the welfare of the children of the world.

November 2014

Kudumail

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

Memorable quote

President flags off Centenary Jamboree

As Scouts, we have the opportunity to choose Peace as a daily practice by offering simple acts of kindness. Peace starts with me, with you and with all of us together.

UGANDA - Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni has flagged off the National Organising Committee for the Uganda Scouts Centenary Jamboree 2015 that is expected to take place at Kaazi National Scout Site from August 18 - 28. The event is expected to attract over 15,000 Scouts from all over the world.

Scott A. Teare, Secretary General, World Organization of the Scout PLEASE EMAIL US A PROVERB OR SAYING FROM YOUR COUNTRY. WE WILL PUBLISH THE BEST IN THE NEXT ISSUE! (africa@scout.org)

UPCOMING EVENTS The President also extended an invitation to all Scouts the world over to come and attend the Centenary Jamboree in the country since they a lot to offer as a Movement and as a country. “I have the pleasure of officially launching the National Committee for the Uganda Scouts Centenary Jamboree 2015. I ask all government ministries, departments and agencies, the private sector and general public to strongly support the organisation of this important international event. I welcome all Scouts from around the world to come and attend this international Jamboree. Uganda is prepared and ready to host you, “ he said. The launch was held at the State House in Nakasero. As part of ensuring the success of the occasion, the national organizing committee has also planned to establish expedition centres in the districts of Jinja, Mbale, Soroti, Nwoya, Arua and Mbarara to bring the Centenary Jamboree experience to the communities across Uganda. According to the committee, an estimated budget of Uganda Shillings 17 billion is required for the celebrations. The President who’s the patron of the Uganda Scout Association pledged government support towards the celebrations and it will ensure the success of the event. He advised the national organising committee to use the opportunity to develop the Kaazi campsite and construct the necessary facilities that can be used to host a variety of activities and social events to raise income for the Scouts. The chairperson of the national organising committee, Maru Karooro Okurut, who’s also the Minister of Gender, requested the President to extend invitations to all patrons of the NSOs in their respective countries to attend the Centenary celebration. The committee also endorsed and expressed their commitment in supporting Uganda Scouts Association’s bid to host the 16th Africa Scout Conference & 7th Africa Youth Forum. The committee members include Prof. Maggiee Kigozi, the Commander of Special Forces, Brig Muhoozi Kainerugaba and the Chief Scout and Inspector General of Police, Gen. Kale Kayihura. The Uganda Scout Association was founded by Rev. Canon H. M. Grace a church missionary and has a membership of about 117,000. The Ugandan government has been greatly supporting the association in many ways.

EVENT

DATES

COUNTRY

Africa Scout Day

13th March 2015

Main Celebrations TBC

Uganda Scout Association Centenary Jamboree

18th – 28th August 2015

Uganda

23rd World Scout Jamboree

28th July – 8th August 2015

Yamaguchi City, Japan

16th Africa Scout Conference & 7th Youth Forum

2015

TBC

STAY IN TOUCH!

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