SAC Scouts Newsletter - Issue 126

Issue 126 Issue 1262018 May May 2018

From the Courtyard

From the Courtyard SAC SCOUTS NEWSLETTER

In this issue Scouts..

- Joint Activity

Our GSL tells us what’s on!

This is the last time that our newsletter will be featuring the GSLs contribution in its current format.

Ventures..

From here on, Section Leaders will be providing updates on their respective sections and more input

- Bouldering Along

will be provided from fellow scouters.

As GSL, I will contribute to content periodically as I believe it is time to give space to others to contribute for the future. This newsletter has been issued for nearly fifteen years now and it has been the result of many contributors and few editors. The latters’ efforts and commitment have made it possible to carry on for so long.

Med-Jam The final details are currently being finalised for the Mediterranean Jamboree being held during the first week of August. Campers will be divided into 7 sub camps each one hosting foreign Scout and or Guide Groups. Our Sub Camp (Skorba) will host scouts and or guides from Sweden, Germany and Israel. We shall also be joined by Sliema Scout Group in our Sub-Camp.

The camp programme is ready and includes many off-site events which are mainly recreational and

Coming up - MedJam—1st week of August

aim to promote Malta to the foreign campers. Parents are reminded that they cannot just turn up at the camp site as security will be tight and one must appreciate that there will be nearly one thousand four hundred campers on site. Twenty-six members from our Group will attend and we hope all members will be on their best behaviour.

- SAC Pasta Night— 25th August

From the Courtyard

GSL’S NOTE

Issue 126 May 2018

Pasta Night On 25th August our Group shall be organising its annual fundraising past night at our HQ. Efforts are being made to further improve on previous years’ pasta nights and this year we hope to provide that little bit extra of entertainment on the night.

We encourage all members to attend together with their parents and friends as this is one of our main fundraising events of the year.

The organising committee has already been in action for the last six weeks and we hope people have enough lead time to save the date – 25th August. More information via email and Facebook will be provided soon.

Feature of the Month

HQ upgrades

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New efforts are being made and have been kick-started to fix the façade at our Head Quarters. The process is a complicated and an expensive one, as it involves applying with the Planning Authority, getting the necessary approvals, financial bonds, architect’s support and obviously workmen as we do not have the skills to get the job done right. We are lucky to have support from parents on this project and hopefully by the end of this year this project will be complete. Over the last ten years our HQ has seen a massive transformation which has been brought about by the efforts of leaders and other members in the Group.

Notwithstanding the infrastructural changes done over the years (ceilings, flooring, beams, toilets, courtyard, internal walls etc) some minor things are still pending and we hope to get them done this summer. When one thinks about it, one wonders, where is the scouting in all this? Right?

From the Courtyard

Issue 126 May 2018

JOINT ACTIVITY

May saw the organisation of a joint activity between our troop and the troop of Fgura Scout Group.

The activity took place on Saturday the 26th May in the form of a short hike of around 3.5 hours, followed by a cookout. The scouts that attended all seemed to enjoy it, and feedback from both troops was that activities like this should be organised more often, although perhaps leave a bit more time for cooking as towards the end we were a bit pressed for time! Despite the unstable weather the previous few days, the 26th turned out to be a beautiful day, with clear skies and a slight breeze. And thank God for the breeze because the sun was a scorcher! Precautions had to be taken, and the leaders made sure that everyone applied sunscreen, kept their caps on as well as their scarves to protect the back of the neck. Baseball caps do a great job of keeping your face shielded from the sun, but the back of the neck can easily become overexposed to the sun if you don’t pay some extra attention to it. The hike took us along the beautiful northwest coast of Malta, from Gnejna to Majjistral Park, on the outskirts of Mellieha. The views were simply fantastic with the calm Mediterranean shining like a sheet of blue glass below us to the left, and the garrigue greenery still out, not having been burned to a crisp brown just yet. Thyme and wild

From the Troop

artichokes were flowering, adding a dash of purple colour to the landscape of green and blue.

The hike ended at Mellieħa Scouts’ HQ, where we had a challenging cookout along the lines of Ready Steady Cook.

Each patrol was given a set of ingredients and they had to use everything provided to prepare the meal. What exactly they did with the ingredients was up to them, as long as all items were used in the preparation. They had chicken, peppers, couscous, potatoes, eggs and an assortment of vegetables with which to work.

View of ‘Il-Karraba’, the landmark rock formation, from next to Gnejna Tower

Lunch was delicious, but the clean up had to happen at breakneck speed as we fell slightly behind on time and the coach to take us back home was on its way! Overall the activity went very well, and we’ll definitely be looking to organise more of the sort in the future. The next joint activity that we have coming up is MEDJAM 2018, where we’ll be camping with scouts and guides from various local and international groups.

The rest of the month of May was relatively quiet, with a number of our members having to miss out on

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From the Courtyard

JOINT ACTIVITY

Issue 126 May 2018

the weekly Wednesday meetings due to exam season. Nonetheless, attendance has been very encouraging throughout despite the pressure of exams. We heartily commend all those who still made time to come to our HQ on Wednesdays, or planned their study breaks in such a way as to be able to attend. We wish all our members the best of luck for their exams, and we hope that in true Scouting Spirit, they will do their best in their academic pursuits!

Above: One of the patrols making its way up to Gnejna Tower from Gnejna bay.

From the Troop

Left: Andrew Abela, preparing food for the cookout.

Coming up, we have Dlam Cappa on the 28th - 29th June, and during the meetings of the next couple of months we shall be trying to close off remaining sections of the Mastery badges that we are working on, namely the Cook mastery badge and the First Aid Mastery Badge.

We wish you all an amazing Summer!

Yours in Scouting Andrew Agius ASL

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From the Courtyard

BOULDERING ALONG

Issue 126 May 2018

From the Unit

Our Ventures love to keep active. This month find them bouldering in Mellieħa.

On the 27th of may the ventures went on an adventurous hike along the cliffs behind Paradise bay. It was a sunny Sunday morning with clear skies and since it was May the heat wasn’t unbearable. It had been a while since the ventures had such a daring hike and we were all very excited.

At

around

9am

all

the

ventures

had arrived at SAC HQ. We were greeted by our leaders who were well equipped and ready for the hike. They collected the consent forms of the underage ventures and made sure we applied enough sunblock on our white winter bodies in order not to get some painful and unpleasant 7

tan

lines.

The

ventures present spread out in the

leaders cars so as to make our way to Paradise bay. Isaac, one of the venture leaders who planned to route, drove first with the other leaders’ cars in close proximity.

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From the Courtyard

BOULDERING ALONG

Issue 126 May 2018

On arrival at the Paradise bay parking we were given the usual but important safety briefing in case of injuries or accidents that might occur along the hike due to the rough terrain. We then took off down to Paradise bay in order to find the correct path along the coastline. As soon as we found the right path we could already tell that we were in for a treat. The trail started off smoothly with a few bushes but soon enough we were climbing over large boulders of limestone which surround the clogged coastline of the area. The water was crystal clear on the day and even though the sun was out, there was a cool breeze.

We all quickly got used to the terrain and having to jump from one rock to the other, crawl through crevices and use all our limbs to balance our way across each boulder. However 'someone' (GDPR doesn't allow us to say it was Zarby) forgot his phone on top of his car and had to go back to fetch it, thankfully

From the Unit

we hadn’t covered much ground.

Even though the area was rocky, vegetation was still prominent. Many sagħtar trees and kappar were seen in bloom, these made our surroundings look gorgeous and really made us appreciate the Maltese archipelago. Even though we live on a small island we have a very large biodiversity and hikes like these bring scouts in touch with their country's environments. One of the nicest natural formations we came across was a brackish water pond. The summer heat tends to dry these ponds up however it was in good shape when we came across it and had numerous pond dwelling organisms. Another natural formation we came across is the rock window where many of us took some breathtaking photographs.

Since the terrain was tough we had a couple of shady breaks along the way where we shared a few words and some tasty snacks. After rehydrating we were back into bouldering. Towards the end we had to make

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From the Courtyard

BOULDERING ALONG

Issue 126 May 2018

our way to the cliffside in order to get back to the cars. This was easier said than done since there wasn’t a clear foot path to the top of the cliff. However we managed to boulder our way up until we found a decent path which led up to the top.

On the way back to the cars we stopped to check out one of Malta’s hidden gems known as il-Hofra talMellieha. This is another big hole in the ground, this time leading to a massive underground cave far bigger than the hole itself. It is possible to access the cave along one side of the hole, but it is less easy to actually find the hole. The cave is not on any maps but it is located somewhere in the bare countryside leading to Paradise Bay from the Red Tower and is used by many for rock climbing. The tricky part is that you only see it when you're just upon it. We all took numerous pictures and observed how the rainwater erosion formed the cave. We even came across an Argiope lobata (lobed argiope) spider which is one of the largest and rarest arachnids found in Malta. It had set up numerous elaborate and interweaved webs in the cave in order to catch prey.

The hike wasn’t very long and when we

From the Unit

finished at around 2p.m we had covered around 6km. However the terrain was no walk in the park, thus along the drive back to HQ we stopped for a light snack, such as the traditional

Maltese

ftira,

and

a

“coca friska” to celebrate a successful and very much enjoyed hike. It was well planned, adrenalin boosting and most of all helped the

ventures

de-stress

from

our

exams. We'd like to thank Isaac for preparing the hike as well as Andre and Zarby for taking their time off to accompany us along the hike.

Max Evers Unit Storyteller

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From the Unit

From the Courtyard

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BOULDERING ALONG

Issue 126 May 2018