Chiro

Chiro is a Flemish youth organisation, founded on Christian values, now only tenuously held, with 94,311 members.^[4] While mainly focusing on having fun, it also aims at developing youngsters' responsibility and skills.

The name Chiro is a combination of the Greek letters chi (χ) and rho (ρ), which are the first letters of Christos, the Greek form of Christ. It was introduced by Jos Cleymans in an issue of Het Katholiek Patronaat, describing the youth of Chiro (Chirojeugd). At first, it was only about a new way to entertain children on Sunday, while also teaching Catholic values. In 1941 Cleymans and some of his fellow priests founded the organization.

The members are divided into several sections according to their age. This division is not strict and not always applied in every individual group.

• Ribbels: 6–8 years old (not in every Chiro group)
• Speelclub: 8–10 years old, if there are ribbels, else 6–9 years old
• Rakwi: 10–12 years old, if there are ribbels, else 9–12 years old (rakkers (boys) & kwiks (girls))
• Tito: 12–14 years old (tippers (girls) & toppers (boys))
• Keti: 14–16 years old (kerels (boys) & tiptiens (girls))
• Aspi(rant): 16–18 years old

Famous Chiro members

• Bert Anciaux (Flemish politician)
• Rutger Beke (triathlete)
• Jean-Luc Dehaene (politician, he later transferred to scouts)
• Luc De Vos (Flemish singer Gorki)
• Stijn Devolder (cyclist)
• Piet Goddaer (singer: Ozark Henry)
• Marc Herremans (triathlete)
• Leif Hoste (cyclist)
• Oliver (Eurosong for Kids 2008)
• Kris Peeters (politician)
• Thor Salden (Junior Eurovision Song Contest 2006)
• Herman Schueremans (CEO Rock Werchter)
• Peter Van de Veire (radio presenter)
• Stan Van Samang (actor, singer)
• Johan Verminnen (singer)
• Inge Vervotte (politician)

For a more elaborated list, please refer to the Chiro website.^[5]

Chiro Organizations worldwide

Belgian Missionaries brought the ideas of Chiro into third-world countries. Today there are Chiro organizations in the Philippines (since 1952),^[6] Burundi, South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho, D. R. Congo (as "Kiro")^[7] and Haiti (as "Mouvement Kiro D'Haiti", since 1960).^[8]

All these organizations – including the original Chirojeugd Vlaanderen – are member organizations of Fimcap, which is an Umbrella organization of catholic youth organizations.

External links

• Official website (Dutch)

References

1. ↑ "Het ontstaan van de Chiro". Chiro website. 
2. ↑ "Het ontstaan van de Chiro". Chiro website. 
3. ↑ "Jos Cleymans". Chiro Wiki. 
4. ↑ "Cijfergegevens". Chiro website. 
5. ↑ "Bekende Chiro-Vlamingen". Chiro website. 
6. ↑ "History of Chiro in the Philippines". Chiro.ph website. 
7. ↑ "Africa". FIMCAP website. 
8. ↑ "MOUVEMENT KIRO D'HAITI". website of Mouvement Kiro D'Haiti.