8th Kenya National Scout Youth Forum Report

8th National Scouts Youth Forum 2013 Report – Kenya Scouts Association

REPORT OF THE 8TH NATIONAL SCOUTS YOUTH FORUM HELD FROM 26TH TO 28TH SEPTEMBER AT THE ROWALLAN SCOUTS CAMP, NAIROBI

“Theme: Scouting Education for Life-­‐Inspiring Impact and Success Beyond Scouting”

Introduction The 8th National Scout Youth Forum took place from Thursday 26th to Saturday 28th September 2013 at the Rowallan National Scouts Camp in Nairobi. Participants shall arrive on Wednesday evening and departed from Sunday morning. The theme for the forum shall be “Scouting Education for Life: Inspiring Impact and Success Beyond Scouting”. The forum brought together 37 Rover Scouts, both male and female from a total of 17 counties.

Objectives The following were the objectives of the forum: • Provide a platform for young people to interact, develop friendships, share ideas and air their views on the leadership and decision making processes at Kenya Scouts Association • Provide mentorship and training on skills and competencies that lead to the attainment of proficiency badges • Disseminate relevant and educative information on national and global trends and processes that the youth can take advantage for networking and development • Identify key flagship projects that will address key challenges facing scouting and the youth in their communities and advance the interest of the youth in the movement and beyond

Agenda The forum discussed topics touching on a wide range of issues of local, national and even global scale.

These included:  SWOT analysis of the youth scenario at KSA and Kenya in general with specific recommendations  Messengers of Peace initiative; including general overview, developing community projects and maximizing the global online platform  Scouting Education for Life; as the theme for the upcoming 1st World Scout Educational Congress touching on what type of education Scouting offers, what kin d of society we prepare for the youth and the impact of Scouting on Society.  Introduction to the Youth and the United Nations Global Alliance’s programmes with FAO, WOSM and WAGGGS  A review of the Millennium Development Goals and insight into the Post 2015 Development Agenda processes  Personal development and Sustainability Beyond scouting; focusing on financial independence, entrepreneurship in scouting and the opportunities for youth in Kenya and beyond  The future of Scouting in Kenya and what is in it for young people  The National Youth Representatives proposed flagship initiatives to be implemented between 2014 and 2016

Other Activities During the forum, participants also got an opportunity to engage in the following activities:  Blood donation in aid of the victims of the Westgate terror attack  Swimming

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8th National Scouts Youth Forum 2013 Report – Kenya Scouts Association

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Alongside the forum there were other Rover Scouts taking part in a badge camp which culminated with investiture and earning of a number of proficiency badges A team of 5 Rover scouts participating in the CSADrive2013 were also undergoing assessment for their qualification of Jasiri Instructor badge.

Forum Committee The team that helped to successfully deliver the forum comprised of  Nelson Opany, National Youth Representative (Co-­‐Chair)  Grace Michuki, National Youth Representative (Co-­‐Chair)  Zablon Samba, In-­‐Charge of Welfare  Jonathan Wesonga, Forum Rapporteuer  Paul Musembi, In-­‐Charge of Logistics  Josephat Gitonga, Forum Director

Guest Speakers The following people graced the forum with their presence and also had an opportunity to either facilitate a session or just talk to the participants.

 Mostaff Matesanwa, Adult Resource Assistant at World Scout Bureau-­‐Africa Regional Office  Susanne Nylund, Food for Life Project Intern at World Scout Bureau-­‐Africa Regional Office  Josephat Gitonga, National Programme Executive at Kenya Scouts Association  Richard Iyaya, National Programme Commissioner at Kenya Scouts Association  Nick Odhiambo, Nairobi County Training Commissioner & former National Youth Representative  A team of Chief Scout Award Holders including Anthony Gitonga, Paul Maina, Phinehas Muita and James Munyi.

Key Outcomes  The SWOT analysis revealed very many issues that need to be tackled to make Scouting responsive to challenges of modern-­‐day youth in the movement  Rover Scouts are facing very many challenges as a result of hostile environments created by the commissioners at the county and district levels. Youth Representatives are not being supported to work effectively; sack threats and exclusion in activities are some tactics being employed to hinder their participation  Participants decried the lack of Scouting’s involvement in the humanitarian situation during the Westgate Shopping mall attack and called on KSA to put in place systems and facilities to ensure Scouts are able to effectively respond and help out in such and many other situations  KSA was urged to take advantage of the opportunity presented by Messengers of Peace to develop Scouting and create opportunities for the youth to excel. Participants further congratulated Nelson Opany for having been awarded as a Global Messengers of Peace Hero in Saudi Arabia.  A lot of emphasis needs to be placed of programmes that promote enterprise development and job creation among the youth  Participants were urged to develop interest in participating in national and global affairs such as the Post 2015 development agenda processes to enhance the scope of understanding as well as identify wider opportunities for them to excel.  The value and quality of Scouting in Kenya is on a gradually downward trend and participants called upon the leadership of the association to take deliberate efforts to help address the situation and ensure the movement doesn’t further lose its relevance and appeal to young people.  Participants felt that any cases of indiscipline should be treated in isolation instead of the blanket approach that “demonizes” Rovers in general. Furthermore, any such cases should first go through the National Youth Representatives as the most immediate line of attention.  Setting up structures for youth involvement is not enough. KSA needs to be sincere and support youth to participate effectively in its operations at all levels so as to make youth

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8th National Scouts Youth Forum 2013 Report – Kenya Scouts Association

involvement a reality especially at the county levels and guarantee a good future for the Association

Way Forward This year’s forum diverted from the custom of putting forward recommendations and setlled on concrete and specific projects to be implemented over a period of the next 3 years. This came out of the realization that previous recommendations have never actually been consideration. The National Youth Representatives working with the National Youth Committee were tasked to liaise with all relevant stakeholders and ensure that the following projects come to see the light of day.

1. Chief Scout Award Drive (CSADrive) • Aim: Scouting Education for Life • Focus Areas: Skill Training, Adventure and Values • Overview: Based on the Rover Scout Programme this initiative will target to motivate as many rovers as possible to work towards achieving the highest section award. It will entail undertaking of standard and progressive badge tests to learn essential skills and competencies, Chief Commissioners Challenge, service projects, adventure, instilling of scouting values and lots of other fun activities. This initiative builds on the inspiration and success of the CSADRive2013 where over 30 Rover Scouts successful undertook their journey into elite Rovering.

2. Messengers of Peace in Action (MoPiA) • Aim: Scouts Creating a Better World • Focus Areas: Peace Building, Community Projects and Partnerships • Overview: Since its introduction to Kenya last year, the activities of the global Messengers of Peace project in Kenya have existed in very low scale. Lack of a clear plan and coordinated approach has limited the scope to online activities with a few scattered events across the country. This initiative seeks to upscale these activities to a national scale through increased peace building activities, crew led community projects and the development of partnerships for a greater impact.

3. Jasiri Enterprise Challenge (JEC) • Aim: Promoting Sustainability Beyond Scouting • Focus Areas: Creativity, Innovation and Enterprise • Overview: Building on the Financial Management Training given by Equity Group Foundation, the existence of the Youth Enterprise Development Fund and the recent launch of the Uwezo Fund among many other opportunities available for the youth we seek to enable our scouts to access these opportunities for self development and job creation.

Through the promotion of creativity, innovation and enterprise development we believe scouts can live independent and economically sustainable lives while creating opportunities for others and spurring development locally and nationally.

4. Scout and Proud Initiative (SPI) • Aim: Showcasing Scouting to the World • Focus Areas: News, Interviews and Reviews • Overview: The Scouting movement globally, including Kenya is facing an image crisis where the public views and perceptions do not reflect the reality and totality of what Scouting is about. Being proud scouts we need to tell the world what truly are about. This initiative aims to get scouts to tell their own stories of their experiences and benefits they have gained by being scouts. It also targets testimonies form people in the public and private sectors who have interacted with scouting and can attest to the uniqueness and impact of scouting on individuals and society. By conducting interviews and reviews together with reporting on scouting activities and developing scouting educational material through mass media this

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8th National Scouts Youth Forum 2013 Report – Kenya Scouts Association

initiative will go along way in increasing the visibility and boosting the image of movement to inspire more people to want to be associated with us.

5. Scout Brotherhood Exchange (SBE) • Aim: Global Citizenship for Development • Focus Areas: Multiculturalism, Networking and Solidarity • Overview: Kenya holds a very unique place in the history of world scouting. Being among the first countries in the world where Scouting began, added to the fact that the founder chose it as his final resting place, being one of the largest Scout Associations in Africa and the presence of the Africa Scout Regional Office of the World Scout Bureau are special things that we can maximize on to growth scouting. Through this initiative we seek to create opportunities to share this uniqueness with the scouts and non-­‐Scouts form other countries in Africa and other parts of the world as a way of promoting global citizenship through multiculturalism, networking and solidarity.

6. Scouts Emergency Response Unit (SERU) • Aim: Reaching Out With Care and Support • Focus Areas: Disaster Preparedness, Emergency Response and Crisis Management • Overview: The movement boasts of having many youth with skills on disaster and emergency response; but has never really been keep to put in place structures to allow Scouts to be useful when situations arise. This project aims at setting up a well trained, well equipped and professionally coordinated unit that will always be ready to take lead on the Scouting Movement’s response to emergencies and disaster situations and other crisis that may arise across the country; working very closely with other stakeholders in the humanitarian work like the Red Cross Society.

Conclusion Despite the low attendance, the forum was very productive. Participants openly and freely engaged in constructive discussions that yielded the envisioned flagship initiatives which the forum believes have the potential of having great impact on the Scouting programme and the lives of individual youths. Participants called on all departments of Kenya Scouts Associations and the County Scouts Commissioners to give youth a chance to be themselves and to genuinely support them to play their role in the movement.

Moving forward, participants felt that for Scouting to remain relevant there is need to focus on providing education for life; practical education that is capable of propelling the young people towards self reliance and empowerment to become community solution providers to inspire impact and success among many other people. This should be supported by our ability to harness the massive opportunities that abound for our youth to excel in various spheres of life. Only then shall young people to be truly proud to be Scouts!

Report Compiled By:

Nelson Ochieng Opany & Grace Nyaruai Michuki National Youth Representatives – Kenya Scouts Association 4th October 2013 – Nairobi, Kenya

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