Malta scouts at world conference

The future of scouting is the main topic being discussed at the 37th World Scout Conference being held in Hammamet, Tunisia this week.

The Scout Association of Malta is represented at the conference by its Chief Scout, Vincent Cassar, who is accompanied by David Schembri, Group Scout Leader of the Qrendi Scout Group and member of the National Scout Council.

At the conference Mr Cassar is presenting the local association's Gift For Peace project, which calls on every scout in the world to make a contribution towards peace to mark the 100th anniversary of scouting in 2007.

Scouting will celebrate 100 years of non-formal education of over half a billion young people from all walks of life and entering another centenary under the theme One World, One Promise. The following year the Scout Association of Malta will itself celebrate its first centenary.

"Both 2007 and 2008 will give us the opportunity to look back at where we have come from as well as to establish our vision of the future of scouting - a movement that is even closer to the aspirations and needs of young people living in constantly evolving societies," Mr Cassar said.

"We must celebrate the future and use the centenary initiatives to improve the quality of our scout programmes to meet the needs of more young people, their families and communities locally as well as on a worldwide level," he added.

Recently the Euro Jamboree was held at Hylands Park, Chelmsford, UK. This event was a precursor to the 21st World Scout Jamboree also being held at Hylands Park in 2007 and which will be the main highlight of the international events for that year.

At EuroJam, 45 male and female scouts from Malta, together with their leaders, joined around 8,000 scouts and guides from another 51 countries at what proved to be a unique, friendly and enjoyable experience full of exciting events. For those taking part it was an experience of a lifetime.