kudumail edition 14 en

www.scout.org/africa

ARO staff trained in farming skills

November 2012

Kudumail News from the Africa Scout Region

Inside Highlight ARO staff trained in farming skills

From NSOs The youth taking action to bring change.

Cub Scouts participate in a peace jungle expedition.

MoP-Kenya in a countrywide peace campaign.

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Community Development

Rovers turning waste into money

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Events calendar

Africa Scout Day 2013

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From ARO The Africa Regional Office takes part in NIYOA annual general meeting and the first AEYP

The Regional Office recruits a new staff member

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At the Starter stage, a Scout is expected to grow one crop, in Silver, they are expected to use the lessons learnt at the Starter stage to grow two crops and in Gold, the Scout is expected to grow crops and are provided with entrepreneurial skills that enables them to sell surplus produce while applying prudent financial management. At the same time in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, the Bulume Scouts Group based in the Tanga Location also embarked on a Food for Life project, with a team of 47 Scouts and two laymen.

They focused on re-establishing the school’s unused garden by planting vegetables like cabbages, spinach, beetroot, onions, tomatoes, carrots and potatoes. In preparation of the project, the Group leader Nokwanda (had attended the permit phase training and warrant course in Port Elizabeth) shared her newly acquired skills with the younger members in a bid to strengthen the development of her community.

The project was first experimented in South Africa (funded by the Irish Agricultural Society) and is currently being implemented in Burundi, Kenya and Uganda (funded by the World Scout Foundation) as well as in Benin and Niger (funded by Finland Foreign Affairs Ministry through the Guides and Scouts of Finland). The project is currently being reviewed to cover all Scout section including the Rover section.

NAIROBI - On 16th November 2012, the Africa Regional Office staff were taken through a Food for Life (FFL) Project training that was facilitated by Mr. Jonathan Omondi, the Youth Program Assistant (who was among those who received initial FFL training in South Africa in 2008). The training was aimed at equipping staff with basic bio-intensive farming skills that will enable them play a multiplier role, as members of the staff and the community at large. They were then taken through the practical aspect of the training where they made trench beds, did double digging, composting and site analysis.

The team aims at coming up with a model FFL garden though they have not decided what crop they will plant. The Food for Life project is a brainchild of WOSM-Africa that aims at contributing towards the fight against hunger through capacity building of Scouts on agricultural entrepreneurship.

FFL targets Scouts from the age between 7-15 years and applies the progressive Scout method in implementing the bio-intensive agriculture that is organic farming on minimal space for maximum productivity. The course is divided into Starter, Silver and Gold where each participating Scout is expected to work for food sustainability in their household.

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Kudumail November 2012

© 2012 World Scout Bureau – Africa Regional Office

FOCUS ON NSOs

Cub Scouts participate in a peace jungle expedition GHANA – The Samwood National Scout Training Centre in Sekyikrom, Ghana played host to 17 Cub Scouts and 13 leaders during the colorful Messengers of Peace jungle expedition on 3rd November 2012. It was facilitated by Mr. Victor Atipaga (who was among those who received training in Burundi during the 6th Africa Scout Jamboree) and assisted by Mr. Mohammed Issah Logoh.

The Cubs were taken through the concept of Messengers of Peace where they had discussions and exchanged ideas. After the training, they were divided into patrols, namely; cheetah patrol, dog patrol, goat patrol and wolf patrol respectively and were taken through various activities that included mountaineering, obstacle crossing, monkey ladder, tent pitching, basic first-aid, and inter-patrol games.

It was wonderful to witness the sense of competition and teamwork in the cubs that were all giving their best for the much-coveted best Cub Award that eventually was won by one King Solomon Lazdekpo. The Ghana Scout Association, Greater Accra Regional Scout Council and Nima Scout District were among those who supported the expedition.

MoP-Kenya in a countrywide peace campaign KENYA – With the Kenya general elections fast approaching, rovers from the Kenya Scout Association who make the Messengers of Peace Kenya are on the high gear of peace education through campaigns across the country. One such campaign is the Linda Amani Campaign.

The Linda Amani (Preserve Peace) Campaign was born from various faith-based organizations with a focus on interfaith action to prevent the reoccurrence of a humanitarian crisis that could be triggered by internal conflict and violence before, during and after the upcoming general elections.

The campaign seeks to address issues and spark discussions that would contribute to peaceful coexistence among Kenyans during this period of elections. The campaign seeks to mobilize Kenyan youth and the general Kenyan citizenry to work for peaceful, free and fair elections, as well as spur a change in the political narrative of Kenya, create and train peace ambassadors among vulnerable and marginalized groups.

They also seek to overturn the current political narrative in Kenya by introducing issue-based politics as opposed to ethnic based politics and to encourage increased participation of women and youth in politics. The campaign is anchored on the "Promise of Peace" and will be involved in various activities that includes, peace caravans, national peace summit, collection of peace petition signatures and peace concerts. Rovers from the Kenya Scout Association who make the Messengers of Peace Kenya are among the youth groups who will take part in this campaign.

The youth taking action to bring change

SOUTH AFRICA - In line with the World Organization of the Scout Movement and the Scout South Africa vision of ‘Creating a better world’, Scouts from different provinces in South Africa are working hard to see this dream materialize by involving themselves in various projects.

In Kwazulu-Natal, the Zola Scouts Group from the Wembezi Township started a vegetable garden at school in response to the need of children and people in their community living with disabilities, illnesses and in extreme poverty. While working on the garden, the group enhanced relationships between schools and community members. Through planning, developing and maintaining the garden the children developed their leadership skills and were able to set an example for others. The community benefited from the collaboration through learning how to plant food. At the end, the Scouts were able to buy groceries that were given to the sick and elderly.

In Mpumalanga, Scouts were part of the ‘Children and youth in the health and well being’ initiative. Under the Sonquba Youth Project, they participated in peer education on HIV/AIDS which was done through discussions, drama, music and debates with the aim of creating awareness, increase understanding and promote behavior change.

Still in the same province, Scouts Sally and Chantal have established the ‘Akha ingomuso lethu’ (Building our future) project with street children. The two leaders started a Scouting group called 1st Cho Cho community Scout Group at the children in distress home that currently looks after 459 orphaned and vulnerable children and their 242 care givers who themselves live in extreme poverty. The children are taught the Scouting history, principles and law, values and procedures using the Scout method. They get to improve their life skills, learn and play educational games whilst having great fun.

In the Mitchell’s Plain of the Western Cape, Forty parents, Scouts and Cubs from the 1st Merrydale Group, teamed up with 50 non-Scouts to implement a recycling project that focuses on renewable energy and reduction, re-usage and recycling of waste.

In preparation for the project the group received books from the Environmental Resource Management Department (ERMD) to learn about waste management and visited the Athlone Refuse Service station (ARTS) to find out more about the processes involved in separating waste material. The Group hosted a craft and arts workshop where the Cubs and Scouts displayed lanterns and other artifacts made from tins and plastic bottles. As members of SCOUTS South Africa children, youths and adults continue to make constructive contributions to their communities and strive to be representatives of a social force that promotes civic engagement and a culture of peace and tolerance. They put honesty, loyalty and commitment as synonymous to being a “Messenger of Peace”.

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The AEYP meeting

From the 4th to 8th November 2012, about thirty delegates and guests from different youth organizations from Africa and Europe met at the African Union Commission headquarters in Addis Ababa for the first Africa Europe Youth Platform (AEYP) meeting under the theme:” Decent Work and Youth Unemployment”. In the frame of the youth-partnership between the Council of Europe and the European Commission, the North-South Centre of the Council of Europe. This meeting was organized in partnership with the African Union Commission and in cooperation with the European Youth Forum (YFJ), the African Diaspora Youth Network in Europe (ADYNE), the Pan African Youth Union (PYU) and the Network of International Youth Organizations (NIYOA).

Some of the main outcomes of the platform meeting include: the approval of guidelines of the AEYP platform, the recognition of the NIYOA in Africa as full member of the platform and the creation of three working groups based on the approved areas of priority. The first working group deals with preparations towards the Africa-Europe heads of state summit in 2014, the second focuses on Youth unemployment and lastly MDGs and beyond 2015 development goals.

Participants had an opportunity to visit the Ethiopian Youth Federation, the Youth Division of the AU Commission and the UN Economic Commission for Africa who play an important role in promoting the work of the youth in Africa. The next AEYP meeting is scheduled for 2013.

The Regional Office recruits a new staff member

Ms. Mercyline Khaiga Busolo from Kenya has joined the World Scout Bureau, Africa Regional Office in the capacity of Accountant and Administration Assistant. Ms. Busolo holds a Bachelor of Commerce from Strathmore University-Kenya, with double major in Finance and Accounting and she is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA-K).

She is joining ARO from Labh Singh Harnam Singh Ltd, a bus body building company in Nairobi, Kenya where she had worked as the accountant for one and a half years and as the financial accountant for the last two and half years. She promises to serve the Movement to the best of her abilities. The Kudumail team wishes her all the best in her new position.

FROM THE REGIONAL OFFICE

The Africa Regional Office takes part in NIYOA annual general meeting and the first AEYP ETHIOPIA - From the 31st October – 8th November 2012, the Ethiopian capital was busy with youth activities, as different Youth organizations had gathered for two strategic events.

The NIYOA Annual Seminar

Under the banner of ‘Promoting youth rights for sustainable development’, the Network of International Youth Organizations in Africa (NIYOA) had their annual general meeting from 31st October-4th November 2012.

The event saw 8 international youth organizations from 10 countries focus on: the mapping and reflection of the previous year’s activities, identification of priority areas in the next year and the election of the new board where the ARO was voted in as the secretary of the board. Guests from the North South Centre attended.

NIYOA is a body that acts as a platform for International Youth Organizations (IYOs) in Africa to promote their work with the mission of providing a collaborative platform to enhance and advocate the IYOs in Africa. WOSM Africa has played a key role as the Chair of the Network since its inception in Cape Verde in 2010. Some of the achievements so far include fundraising and planning for the first meeting in Cape Verde in 2010, mobilizing members for the Africa Europe Youth Summit in Libya in December 2010, the 2011 annual seminar in Nairobi and the last annual seminar in Addis Ababa in 2012.

WOSM has also ensured a consistent participation of NIYOA in the Africa Europe Youth Cooperation process including the Africa University on Youth and Development in Cape Verde, University on Youth and Development in Mollina, Africa Europe Youth Summit, Africa-Europe Youth Platform (AEYP) meeting and various regional seminars on the dissemination and promotion of the Africa Youth Charter (AYC).

There has also been growth of membership from 6 organizations to 14 organizations currently and strengthened relations with the Pan African Youth Union (PYU) as well as other partners. The Chair position has now passed onto the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS Africa).The Ethiopia Scout Association (who are the hosts of the 2013 Africa Scout Day) through their Chief Commissioner, Dr. Wayne A. Davis who is also member of the Africa Scout Committee played a vital role in the successful preparation and hosting of the NIYOA meeting.

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Memorable quote This day is thus an opportunity for all of us to take stock of our Scout promise and to renew our commitment to the advent of a better world for all.

- Mr. Frederic Tutu Kama-Kama, the Regional Director, World Scout Bureau - Africa Regional Office speaking during the 2012 Founder’s Day Celebrations in Nyeri

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

EVENT

DATES

COUNTRY

East Africa Zonal Youth Forum

8th – 13th December 2012

Uganda

3rd Zonal Conference for Central Africa zone (COSAC)

27th – 29th December 2012

Kinshasa, The Democratic Republic of the Congo

Africa Scout Day

10th - 14th March 2013

Ethiopia

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World Scout Bureau Africa Regional Office P.O. Box 63070 00200, City Square Nairobi, KENYA

[email protected] www.scout.org/africa Skype: worldscoutbureauafrica Phone 1: (+254 20) 728499553 Phone 2: (+254 20) 245 09 85

STAY IN TOUCH!

UPCOMING EVENTS

Rovers turning waste into money KENYA – The Uwezo Youth Development Project (UYDP) is a community based organization made up of 20 Rover Scouts and 10 Girl Guides who work around four thematic objectives of; environment and climate change, peace building, youth empowerment and poverty eradication, entwined in a three-fold strategy that focuses on capacity building, opportunity creation and developing partnerships. Their main goal being reaching out to young people and communities with knowledge, skills and opportunities that will empower and strengthen them to positively transform their lives and that of their communities. They are committed to realize a pool of empowered and resourceful young people who will be leading agents of sustainable development practices for environmental protection, improvement of lives and the creation of a better world for all.

Located in the coastal region of Kenya, the group has started briquette making, an eco-friendly fuel making business that was introduced through the Climate Action Teams Project (CATP) by the Climate Action Programme for Schools and Youth (CAPSAY), which is managed by Environmental Research Mapping and Information Systems (ERMIS) Africa. The briquette is made from rubbish like, waste paper, cardboard, water hyacinth, cow dung, coffee husks, charcoal dust, sawdust and agricultural residue (leftover leaves, grasses, coffee husks, stems and straws). Having tried out and proven the viability of fuel briquette production as an enterprise, Uwezo Youth Development Project now seeks to venture into commercial production to meet the demands of the wider market where 100 briquettes go for KES 300 (USD 3.5).

However, lack of efficient machinery and finances for the accumulation of huge stocks of raw materials to support large-scale production is still the greatest challenge. Getting through this challenge would help further UYDP’s efforts on climate change awareness, create several employment opportunities for young people as well as herald the emergence of eco flame briquettes as a household name in the provision of cheap and sustainable alternative energy in Mombasa and the wider coastal region of Kenya.

Recently a group of UYDP members trained teachers and student of Umoja Primary School in Shimanzi, Mombasa on how to make briquettes, which led to an increased awareness of the use of eco-fuel in the Shimanzi community. The briquettes are found to burn slowly, produce less smoke and are affordable unlike other fuel. Currently, UYDP is working in partnership with the Climate Action Programme for Schools and Youth (CAPSAY) on child-centered disaster risk reduction, climate change awareness, green business development and youth participation. This continues to widen the horizons of the group and its members as youth change agents who can inspire community climate action that is in line with UYDP’s slogan of “Empowering youth to transform communities”.

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kudumail edition 14 en

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