Vanuatu branch of The Scout Association

Vanuatu branch of The Scout Association
Skots Blong Vanuatu
Headquarters Port Vila
Country Vanuatu
Founded 1956/1999
Membership 200
Affiliation The Scout Association

Scouting in Vanuatu (Bislama: Skots Blong Vanuatu) is recognised by WOSM currently a branch of the Scout Association of the United Kingdom covering the Republic of Vanuatu, however it is a fully incorporated Non Government Organisation since 1999. They are not, as yet, members of the World Organization of the Scout Movement (WOSM).

They are active in the Asia-Pacific Region Scouting activities. Two Scouts participated in the 19th World Jamboree in Chile in December 1998.[1] Scouting in Vanuatu also gets help from members of Scouts Australia and Vanuatu Scouts attended the 2007 Australian Scout Jamboree.[2]

Scouting in Vanuatu started in 1956. Before independence in 1980 there were two Scout organisations, one attached to Scouts de France and the other to the UK Scout Association. They merged in 1999.[3] Before Vanuatu Independence both the French colonial administration and the British colonial administration supported Scouting Organisations. After independence the Vanuatu Scout Organisations struggled to integrate themselves into a national movement until 1999. Even though the NSW Branch of Scouts Australia had spent 20 years assisting the Vanuatu Scout Organisations to achieve a national movement, by 1999 there was only one active Scout group. In 1999 Norvan Vogt, a Rover Scout from Queanbeyan Rovers, who was deployed with the Australian Youth Ambassadors for Development, was able to register the organisation, to establish a national HQ and to run a series of training activities This proved to be the catalyst for a sustained period of growth of Scouting in Vanuatu. Norvan was awarded a Baden-Powell Award for his efforts. Currently there are four active Scout groups in Vanuatu (1 in Santo and 3 in Port Vila) with over 200 youth members.

The Scout Motto is Rerem in Bislama and Sois Prêt (Be Prepared) in French.

The membership badge of the Vanuatu branch of The Scout Association features an outrigger canoe, a symbol in use since the New Hebrides were a colonial branch of British Scouting.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Scouting in Vanuatu Archived 17 February 2006 at the Wayback Machine.
  2. ↑ Port Vila Presse, 26 June 2005 Accessed 2 January 2006
  3. ↑ Asia-Pacific Region News, June 2004 Accessed 2 January 2007
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